REVIEW

As I said, the way I’m going to do this is to run some tunes playing the Statement (mark 1) cables, make some notes on the sonics and then swap the cables out for the Statement 2 cables as quickly as possible. I’ll be going back and forth between these set ups during the not taking part of the review but I’m not going to detail every time I do this as you all have lives and other things to be getting on with!

Statement Cables

Keep in mind this is just Statement 1 other than the speaker cables and jumpers.

Overall this is a very well-sorted sound and gels well in this system. There’s detail throughout the frequency band and there is a feeling of an accuracy to the sound, with a sense of instruments in the mix sounding like they actually should. There is an immediacy to the sound that suits my preference for a fast and somewhat (but not overly) clinical presentation – detail and speed with an overly accentuated top end can become fatiguing. The Statement interconnects are (to my ears) a cable that will suit music lovers rather than those looking to over-analyse the sound they are hearing, and, to me, that is sort of why we spend so much dosh on our HiFi systems, otherwise, we become analysts of sound and not appreciators of music. Now, the job here (my job) is to be analytical, but the kit we listen to needs to tread that line between analytical and enjoyment and the Statement cables tread that line wonderfully. Anyway, there are, to my mind, too many systems and products out there that are pushed in certain frequencies to give the illusion of accuracy and analysis.

Yes, I can see into the mix with these cables in place and I’m aware that I’m actively listening to the mix, but by the same token I can also fall into the music. One of the tunes that was playing when I was listening (and I did listen very closely and for a good few hours) was Blondie’s Fade Away and Radiate and one of the aspects of the mix that did stand out was the naturalness of the bass, but I was also drawn to small details like the soaring guitars at around 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

So, in a few words I suppose I ought to sum up the sound of the Statements, and I’d go for detailed and fast but without being pushed in any of the frequencies, though I did think bass was a tad more pro- nounced than I’m used to in my own cable loom.

Statement 2 Cables

The major discernible physical difference between the Statement and Statement 2s is that there is a bit of heatshrink along the length of interconnects (both RCA and XLR and I have no idea what is under there) and that they are a slightly different colour. I also suspect the 2s may be a smidge thicker, but they are still very flexible and easy to route.

My first reaction to putting the Statement 2s in the system (we are now running a full Statement 2 loom from DAC to speakers and everything in-between) was that there was an immediate and pretty obvious increase in volume. Actually, I’d say that the difference between the 1 and 2s is immediate and obvious when listening to exactly the same tunes that we heard before. Both cables rendered a silent background, but the Statement 2s seem to allow you to hear a tad further back into the mix, as if the noise floor has, indeed, been lowered somehow. I don’t think you need to listen too hard to hear this difference and it was evident on every single track we heard. This is a good thing and the only way I can liken it to is when you play about with grounding devices at different points in your system. On this latter point, I’ve played with a few grounding devices and find that they don’t work in all areas of a system and you do need to experiment, the Statement 2s seem to do something similar but it’s “just there” rather than you having to fanny about experimenting where you put a grounding device. This does allow you to hear very small details in the mix, for sure.

There is still that sense of naturalness to the sound as with the Statement 1s, but even more so in some way…can something be “more natural”, I don’t know and perhaps my choice of words is not correct. Perhaps a better way of describing the sound is from a sensory/reactionary aspect and what I would say is that the Statement 2s allow you to fall into the musical performance more easily and more rapidly than with the 1s. There’s a sound at 1 minute 37 seconds on I’m Always Touched By Presence that was much more apparent with the 2s than it was with the 1s.

As with the Statement 1s there is a sense of rightness and it’s clear that the synergy of a full loom of

2 works well in this system. Again nothing is pushed to the fore in the sonic presentation and nothing is omitted. What I did enjoy, and maybe this is contradicting my immediately previous statement, is the bass presentation which does seem to be more noticeable but not louder or further forward than the rest of the music…an odd one to describe, but definitely apparent.

The handful of words I would use to describe the Statement 2 cables from Tellurium Q is more detailed than the originals but without that detail being pushed down your throat, but with the same speed and sense of rightness.

I did mess about with my own cables in and out of the system too and my findings were that the interconnects between the DAC and the pre were better than my current (P)reference in that they did that seemingly quieter background thing that allows more of the very fine detail to come through , but that with the speaker cables and jumpers, the Silver Diamonds we use as (P)reference just seemed to be a more natural sound. This finding with the speaker cables interests e and I think some of my findings are likely to be down to exposure to my preferred reference speaker cables and having gotten used to their sonic signature - that’s sort of what a reference is for, after all.

So I suppose the question I need to ask myself is would I go out and spend my hard-earned money on a full loom of Tellurium Q Statement 2 and my answer is that I probably wouldn’t. That statement needs to be clarified and related to a comment I made somewhere in the introduction to this review and my cable methodology of carefully choosing what cable I think sounds best between specific pieces of equipment in our system. Now, a better question would perhaps be “Would I buy individual bits of Statement 2?” and the answer to that question would be a definitive yes. Between the DAC and the pre, the synergy between the Lampizator DAC, the Statement 2 and the Music First Baby Reference pre is better than with the cable I use on a day-today basis, but personally, I prefer our current speaker cables in this system (Tellurium Q Silver Diamonds) to the Statement 2 speaker cables – perhaps that’s why they haven’t been changed in such a long time (this may well change in a week or so when a new amplifier arrives and I start the whole listening to what I consider to be the best fit again). So, my advice for you, if you are looking for a cable in this price range, is to most definitely audition the Statement 2s but to take your time to listen carefully and to have the opportunity and time to pull them in and out of a system with your current cables…this should be the case with all cable purchases and, I suppose, all significant HiFi purchases of any kind.

Conclusion

The Statement 2s are an excellent-sounding cable. They allow for an easy listening experience without ever feeling that you are being purposefully fed something in their sonic character to make them stand out as being “different/better”. They are a detailed cable that I believe present music in a way that is fast and focused.

The big takeaway for me with the Statement 2s was that there was somehow an ability for them to allow you to hear things hidden way back (volume-wise) in a mix and I’d put that down to something to do with noise-floor, though our system is apparently silent anyway….another odd observation, I know, but if you have been exploring the world of grounding systems then these cables (the interconnects, at least) appear to be doing something similar.

I do not believe the Statement 2s (or any cable for that matter) are a one size fits all solution and I personally think that some components benefit from their attributes more than others. On this point, I highly recommend that you get a home audition with your own specific kit and then play around with how and where they are used. You may find that Statement 2 is a perfect match from front to back in your system, or, as I found, that they work better in some situations than others.

The awards I am giving these cables need a bit of explaining. I am giving the interconnects our top Editor’s Choice award as in our reference system they performed better for me than our reference. The Statement II speaker cables I am awarding our 5 Hearts award as (in our system!) I preferred our current Tellurium Q Silver Diamond speakers, though the difference is far from night and day.

At A Glance

Build Quality: