Douglas Connection Alpha Bi-Wire speaker cable review

I recently purchased a 2.5m pair of Douglas Connection Alpha Bi-Wire speaker cables. These use the Furutech U-4.1T speaker cable and were terminated with the finest banana plugs Doug offers, the Furutech CF-202 rhodium plated carbon fiber banana plugs! Retail price for these cables was $1,466, but Club Polk members receive a generous 10% discount, so they cost me $1,319 plus shipping.

First, I have to say that the break-in time for these cables is a serious consideration! Even with several days time time on the audiodharma cable cooker before they were shipped, they took quite a while to settle into my system. It took 10 days of playing them for roughly 8 hours a day, so about 80 hours.

After a tumultuous break-in journey, I started hearing some of the same magic I heard from them on day one when I first put them into my system, namely the holographic midrange performance. That's easily the most noticeable element of their overall performance, the way they treat the midrange information. They put a noticable emphasis on these frequencies, as well as provided a distinct "wrap around your head" type effect along with them. This holographic presentation allowed all of the instruments and voices that reside in these crucial frequencies to expand out into their own space - putting me right in the center of it all.

Treble frequencies were extended and airy, without any glare or harshness. I noticed a certain shimmer or brilliance to the highs, perhaps from the rhodium plated banana plugs. There was discernible texture in the highs, and this is a performance attribute that I critique harshly, as I don't like "one-note" highs. I actually want to hear a cymbal strike, not just a "tssss" sound. With these cables in my system I could easily hear the detail and depth in things like percussion strikes or a saxophone or trumpet's sharp staccato attack. There was a deeper aspect to the high frequencies which I find that a lot of systems and setups aren't able to get quite right.

Bass energy was slightly reduced from what I was accustomed to. Perhaps it was a result of increased agility and speed, which made these low frequencies sound more lean than usual. My speakers were still digging as deep as always, but the overall energy level of the bass output was somewhat reduced. Another theory is that the cables slightly reduced the distortion that was previously present in these frequencies, making the bass tones sound less boomy and more well-defined. It also could be a specific reaction with my particular speakers. I've had similar experiences with reduced bass in the past when I tried MIT cables with these speakers. Perhaps they are just overly sensitive to a cable's inductance or capacitance - likely just a system synergy issue. I will have to try other speakers with these cables in the future, in order to listen to their bass performance.

Soundstaging was excellent, throwing a wide sweet spot that didn't waver when I moved my head around. Imaging performance was also above average, with each sound having its own space to expand into without overlapping adjacent sounds. Seriously impressive coherency and focus. Lastly, tonality was spot on. Jazz instruments actually sounded realistic, not like I was listening to recorded music. This is one of the hardest elements of a system's performance to nail, and I am very impressed with the perfect tone and realism that I heard with these speaker cables in my system. Very commendable performance.

I had made some upgrades to my analog XLR interconnects a week or so before I put these cables into my system. To be honest, my system was sounding so good before I put the Douglas Connection Alpha Bi-Wire cables in, that I couldn't fathom how it could get any better. It seems like these cables allowed me to realize the full performance of those other cable upgrades I had just made, as well as acting as a new reference point for my system.

Since the speaker cables are that last link between your system and your speakers, it's important to have something transparent that will allow all of your other components and cabling upgrades to shine. I feel that these accomplish that goal and set a new bar for how my system can sound. I now consider them a reference in my system.




System as tested was Tidal & Qobuz via Auralic Vega G1 -> Benchmark LA4 preamp -> Benchmark AHB2 power amp -> PMC twenty.22 speakers.

Analog interconnects are Audioquest Yukon XLR. Power cables are Shunyata Delta V2 NR from wall to PS8 distributor, on LA4, and on Vega G1. Shunyata Delta V2 XC cord on AHB2.