Chord Company SignatureXL Tuned ARAY Speaker Cable & 1M SignatureX RCA Tuned ARAY Interconnects Review

I remember when the first Chord Company Signature speaker cables were released, and I had the very first version of this cable to go with my Wilson Benesch Discovery speakers in the mid-2000s. They elevated the performance and managed to get the very best from the stunning Wilson Benesch Discovery's. At that time, I also had the Indigo RCA Interconnects, with the Signature range, and the sonic benefits in what I was hearing were clearly audible.

Fast-forward to today and the new Signature XL Tuned ARAY cables are enhanced with new technologies and build quality, thanks to the incredible R&D that Chord Company invests in. The availability of new materials and manufacturing allows them to take advantage of these and the build techniques used to manufacture the cables. Each cable is hand-built to order in the UK factory.

Build Quality and Features

Signature XL Tuned ARAY Speaker Cable

As with all Chord Company build quality is exceptional and their customer service is second to none as I have spoken directly with people at the factory when I have needed custom lengths tailored to my requirements, which has always been reassuring when spending considerable money on this type of product. The cables are terminated at the factory and feature the latest ChordOhmic banana plugs or spade connection depending on what you order for your speakers and amplifiers. It's hard to believe but the original Signature remained unchanged for 10 years which goes to show how good that particular build was and only changed once the Chord Company had access to the advancements in technologies for use in this line of products. Featuring a heavy gauge cable of 10 AWG, this coaxial-style cable is thick in its geometry due to the size of the core conductor which is made up of a silver-plated Oxygen Free Copper (OFC). With the advancements in research and technology, Chord Company now uses XLPE (Cross-Linked Polyethylene) as it has proved to be the better insulation producing a superior sound quality over the previous versions of insulations used in the Signature range. The cables have a metal braid and translucent PVC outer jacket and are available in either Black/Red or Black/Black for the positive and negative cables. Each of the cables is held together with binding metal clamps at each end of the cables and the Chord name and model are embossed onto each of the plates with directional arrows, it not only gives them a functional purpose but also gives the cables a beautiful high-end look and feel.

SignatureX 1M RCA Tuned ARAY Review

Similar to the build quality of the XL speaker cables the RCA interconnects are built to the highest of standards and have advanced the Signature to improve your system's sound quality to this latest iteration and are hand-built-to-order for each discerning customer. I remember the beautiful acrylic plug housing on the connections of previous models but with the advancements in the materials used and listening tests, the plug housings are now made up of PTFE which offers superior sound quality and benefits over the older acrylic plugs but still looks beautiful enough to pass on the Signature line name. The Signature conductor features the same high-quality silver-plated OFC conductor and the dielectric used for shielding and insulation is the XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) as used in the SignatureXL speaker cables, the sonic benefits are why Chord Company chose to use this material in the Signature line. Each of the RCA connectors features ChorAlloy-plated connections at each end ensuring the best connection to your amplifiers, preamplifiers, or source equipment.

I have been using these cables on multiple systems that I have been using here at The Speaker Shack, with the AVID HiFi EVO Three speakers, SVS Ultra Evolution speakers, and to what I am currently using the Tannoy SGM10 speakers. I have also used the stunning AVID HiFi Integra Integrated amplifier as well as my current system which is the brilliant Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 and M Scaler with the BerTTi stereo power amplifier. The SignatureXL speaker cables are connected from the amplifier to the speakers and using the Hugo TT2 as my preamplifier with the SignatureX RCA interconnects between the Hugo TT2 to the BerTTi power amplifier. The source equipment used for this review is my Cyrus Audio CD8SE CD player connected via an optical SPDIF connection to the Hugo TT2 and my Bluesound Node streamer via an optical SPDIF cable to the Hugo TT2 DAC. My previous resident cables have been a complete loom of the stunning Chord Company EpicX cables.

I have been listening to all types of music on this system streamed music via Qobuz and Spotify and with CDs via my Cyrus Audio CD player.

Sound Quality and Performance

Listening to the various systems and music with the Chord Company Signature range of cables they have proved to be a beneficial asset to the overall system sound quality and performance with the music that I am hearing, they do not add anything or take anything away but instead allow the music to flow with unhindered progress with a startling immediacy to the sound and overall resolution allowing the full bandwidth of your music to be heard. The larger gauge of the SignatureXL speaker cables allows you to take advantage of the more powerful amplifiers which produce high current, this benefits the music that you hear and this was shown in the delivery of bass and the power from the AVID Integra Integrated amplifier which has copious amounts of current on tap and like the new BerTTi power amplifier with the ULTIMA tech from Chord Electronics that I am currently using, it may be small but packs a huge punch in its sonic delivery and the Signature cables take full advantage of this level of quality of your components.

The Tannoy speakers that I am currently using as my reference speaker have some of the best midrange and top-end sound from a speaker which allows you to hear the beautiful textures and tonal pallet, especially in the vocals. With Imelda May’s stunning album 11 Past The Hour track Breathe the Chord Company Signature cables allows the rich vocals to have a great sense of immediacy to the sound, instrument separation and the air around the instruments feel more natural with such a wide image projected into my room, top-end detail is also improved with greater dynamics and resolution giving a beautifully holographic image of the music.

There is real emotion portrayed in the stunning track 11 Past The Hour with Imelda’s vocals allowing you to hear her beautifully rich Irish accent coming through the music, with the Chord Company SignatureXL cables the different layers of textures are revealed more clearly in her vocals while the bass has more solidity and conviction in its delivery, the sound most certainly feels more refined and polished from the music with the improvements that the Chord Company SignatureX cables brings to this track.

The Chord Company SignatureXL speaker cables and SignatureX RCA cables have proved to be quite an upgrade over the EpicX cables that I have been using and as long as the caliber of your equipment is up to the task then the SignatureXL speaker cables and SignatureX RCA Interconnects are certainly a worthy upgrade for any audiophile.

Conclusions and Final Thoughts

The Chord Company has succeeded with this revision of the iconic Signature series of cables. They have produced a worthy successor that allows your music to be heard to a level that makes the music more enjoyable and extracts the very best sound from your system.

The Speaker Shack awards the SignatureXL and SignatureX cables with the Reference award and stamp of approval as they are some of the finest cables to grace our system here at The Speaker Shack.

Price at the time of review:

SignatureXL Speaker cables 5M lengths terminated £4,000

SignatureX Tuned Aray RCA Interconnects 1M £1,000

Web - https://chord.co.uk/