TELLURIUM Q STATEMENT 2 CABLES

There’s nothing more guaranteed to spark a minor audiophile fracas than a discussion around cables, to the point that I’ve written a comprehensive, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek piece around the whole cable war debate – you can read it here. Whichever side of the DMZ you find yourself on, the following review isn’t going to change your opinion and so if you are a cable believer I suggest you read on, but if you are a cable-sceptic then I suggest you stop right here, do not pass GO! and go pour yourself a nice glass of something you enjoy and listen to some tunes through your system and the wires it came with, though I pretty much guarantee very few will actually be using those cables if they are honest. Anyway, my views on cables are that they can and do have an effect on the sonic character of a system, and as such they are absolutely relevant to discuss and review.

If you are still reading this then I will assume you find yourself in the “cables make a difference” or “I’m as yet undecided but interested in the debate”. If you are still reading this and are in the “cables cannot and do not make a difference” battalion, then you have passed GO! despite having read the rules of engagement and you are welcome, but you will not be collecting your £/$200.

So, I find myself reviewing a product from a company that did make me sit down and actually listen to the cables in my system. Up until being sent a pair of Tellurium Q Ultra Blacks many years ago I was firmly ensconced in the “nice thick copper cables will work fine” trench. Those cables opened my eyes to the possibility that perhaps my previous unwillingness to bother listening to anything other than studio-quality copper cables was getting in the way of me getting the best (to my ears) out of my system. Some after-market cables I have used have had a positive effect sonically and some have had a detrimental effect on the sound. This last point is quite interesting as the cable-sceptics amongst us (still here?) will tell us that anything other than straightforward copper cable with ample girth and good dielectric can only have a detrimental effect on the final sound - that is, they can only take away and not add to the details we hear in our system. I do get this argument and I was in complete agreement with it up until about ten years ago and the vignette described above with regards to the TQ Ultra Blacks.

Tellurium Q is a British manufacturer of audio cables with a great reputation wherever we go in the world. In this review, Stuart will be taking a listen to their top-of-the-range Statement II (2) interconnects and loudspeaker cables.