The original aim of the Atlas Asimi project was to take a completely fresh look at cable design and, where necessary, to develop new techniques to create a cable which would satisfy the most critical listeners for years to come. For this latest generation version, we again went back to basics, re-assessing our existing design & manufacturing processes, exploring different construction methods and experimenting with new materials.
The Asimi Ultra features pure silver conductors, manufactured using the highest-quality ‘Ohno Continuous Cast’ technique for drawing pure silver. Silver cables have a reputation for poor sound quality in some quarters, we believe the Asimi definitively shows the problem is with low grade materials and poor manufacture, resulting in a cable with a coarse grainy structure which compromises sound quality. By contrast, in the manufacture of Asimi, we maximise the silver’s conductivity by ensuring that there is typically one grain in approximately 125 metres of conductor, allowing the signal a continuous unbroken path –in effect, the signal has a faster, cleaner and more direct path to follow.
The cable consists of a pair of conductors, each made up from six bundles of 12 multi-conductor wires, plus a thicker centre wire. This in turn is covered by a continuous copper/Mylar™ electrostatic screen and a silver-plated copper shielding braid, ensuring minimal susceptibility to RF interference and noise.
Theoretically, the best dielectric (insulation layer) is air. Suspending the conductor in free air would be the best method to transfer maximum fidelity, if not very practical. Realistically a dielectric is necessary to protect the conductor, although all conventional dielectric materials impose their own signature distortion and loss on the signal. We developed a new technique, using a microporous PTFE (Teflon™) tape, which is wound around the core conductors, then covered again and stabilised using a protective FPE (Flexible PolyEthylene) dielectric. Our process allows the required conductor geometry to be maintained and offers greater manufacturing consistency. Termination is with our low mass, high bandwidth, cold-weld XLR or Ultra RCA connectors, both of which have minimal effect on the integrity of the signal.
The result is the best cable we currently know how to make. Asimi, perhaps more than any other product, is responsible for Atlas now being viewed as one of a handful of top manufacturers worldwide.