⌈ VERMÖUTH AUDIO is an Indonesian manufacturer, founded in 2010, with its headquarter on Bali. HENDRI RAMLI is its founder and chief designer. He currently offers five lines of cables, with the Reference being at the top of the lineup. The line included the reviewed power cable and interconnects, both balanced and unbalanced; we are still waiting for a matching speaker cable. ⌋

he Reference Power Cable is one of the thickest cables on the market. Except, obviously, some extremists, such as the triple cables by KBL Sound, the Synchro Master Power, or by Argento Audio, the Flow Master Reference Extreme Power; also my Siltech Triple Crown is thicker. But these expensive and very expensive reference cables, while the Vermöuth Audio’s reference power cable is not particularly expensive. But it is thick.

Why is it so thick? | Does it mean that it is designed to power a „welding machine"? as every now and again some of my friends who visit me ask, for whom the idea of audiophilism is as understandable as the Polish tax system. Of course not, but such reactions are understandable. The thickness of power cables, but also of all other audio cables is the result of several different requirements.

One of them is the lowest possible resistance that can be reduced by increasing the diameter of the conductor. However, this does not always translate into sound improvement and there are companies that believe that there should be a little metal in the cables as possible. In my experience, you need to find the middle ground between these two extremes. But it's also true that most of the top cables - except for Crystal Cable - have a large diameter. This is especially important for power cables. And that's why they are often thick - like the Reference Power Cord.

The cables "grow" also for a different mechanical reason. One of the later identified problems in cables is the triboelectric noise, which is a result of vibrations of conductors - and the conductors do vibrate when current flows through them - which generates noise added to the signal. To counteract this unwanted process designers use properly selected, thick, multilayer vibration dampening systems. They also help to keep the cable’s structure intact - and any bending, twisting, etc. Of the cable can potentially change its geometry, and thus its electrical properties.

Design | In the case of the Vermöuth Audio Reference model, it is made of 39 strands of wires of various thickness in two groups. The designer chose conductors made of the UP-OCC, a copper of a very high purity, obtained in the Ohno Continuous Casting process; UP = Ultra-Pure, OCC = Ohno Continuous Casting. It guarantees a purity of at least 6N, and also long crystals, which is why it is often referred to as "monocrystalline copper" - crystals are not divided within a given cable unit. As Hendri said when we reviewed the Reference RCA-FT01-Rho-Ho, the production of this copper is done by Wanlung Taiwan, one of the four OCC copper producers in the world .

Hendri Ramli with Power Reference in his workshop before termination.

The conductors have different thicknesses because of the skin effect, but also because they vibrate differently which makes it easier to counteract. They are distributed within the cable using PTFE tubes, i.e. Teflon. The whole is wrapped with a mylar tape covered with an aluminum layer, and on the outside there is a copper braid - these are two shielding layers. This is a complex structure, hence the Hendri Ramli’s cable is so thick with its diameter up to 19.2 mm. Interestingly, it is quite flexible, which allows user to conveniently connect any - just not too light - devices.

Plugs | Another element attracting attention, I mean apart from large diameter and flexibility, are fantastic plugs. This is another element affecting the performance of a cable, which is why it is taken very seriously by the manufacturers. Some of them use the best available plugs offered by specialists - say Siltech in their Triple Crown with Furutech FI-50 R NCF and Oyaide Tunami GPX V2 The Ultimate with their your own F1 plugs.

But some of them go even further and purchase only the inside of the plugs and prepare their own, even more complex external bodies. This is how plugs are made for the tested cable. Its contacts and the element in which they are located are parts of the Furutech FI-28 (R) plug. This is a great plug, the metal parts of which are made of PCOCC copper, rhodium-plated and cryogenized - its variant patented by Furutech is called α (Alpha).

The Furutech’s plug’s body is made of carbon fiber sunk in a stabilizing material Hendri decided to order a custom body of his own design – also made of carbon fiber, like Furutech’s, but longer and much more rigid one.

| HOW WE LISTENED TO IT

The Vermöuth Audio Reference Power Cord participated in an A/B comparison with A and B known. For comparison I used two „High Fidelity’s” references: the Siltech Triple Crown, powering the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition (№ 1/50) Player, and the Acoustic Revive Absolute-Power Cord, used for the Soulution 710.

All three cables were plugged into the Acoustic Revive RPT-4EU Absolute power distributor, which using the 2,5 m long Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9500 was plugged in to the Furutech FT-SWS outlet. The latter draws power from a separate power line (from fuse box) featuring the Oyaide Tunami cable.

Recordings used for the test (a selec- tion)

• Aquavoice, Silence, Zoharum ZOHAR 168-2, Master CD-R (2018);
• Chet Baker, Chet Baker sings and plays, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90028, HQCD (1955/2006)
• Peggy Lee, Black Coffee, Decca/Esoteric ESSO-90143, SACD/CD (1956/2016) w: 6 Queens of Jazz Vocal, „MasterSoundWorks”, Esoteric ESSO-90143/8, 6 x SACD/CD (2016)
• Pet Shop Boys, PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits, Parlophone/Toshiba-EMI TOCP-66252-54, 3 x CCD (2003)
• Pink Floyd, The Division Bell, Parlophone ‎0825646293261, „20th Anniversary Edition”, 2 x 12” LP + 2 x 7” SP + CD + Blu-ray (1994/2014)
• Roger Waters, Amused To Death, Columbia/Sony Music Labels (Japan) SICP-30785~6, BSCD2 + Blu-ray (1992/2015);
• Starboy, The Weeknd, XO
• Republic 5727592, CD (2016)

Hendri’s power cable offers a well-balanced sound; by „offers sound” I mean the way it modifies performance. Everything has its place, it is nicely ordered, refined. It’s tone based on the midrange that is very open. So the gravity center of this cable’s performance is placed higher up the scale than Siltech Triple Crown’s and much higher than Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9500’s. It reminded me the Hijiri SM2R „Sound Matter”, but it wasn’t quite the same.

The truth is that it is a sound composed of various familiar elements. This particular composition, however, offers something different than with each of the aforementioned reference cables - it delivers Vermöuth Audio’s "own" sound. One of its features is the fact of how internally well-organized the sound is, and the second one is basing the performance on the the very open, fresh midrange. It is about opening to consonance, to drawing out elements from the warmth, to presenting the sound attack in a stronger way.

So what we get with this cable is a presentation that introduces energy into the system and something that could be called "vitality". It is not about spontaneity nor brightness. It's about something between energy and smoothing. These are two pillars on which sound is built with this cable. Let’s take, for example, Starboy’s The Weeknd. It's a pop, warm, "holiday" music with a strong bass and dominance of electronic instruments - you can clearly hear that in two tracks prepared together with the Daft Punk. The cable from Indonesia showed warmth, density, and greatly - because smoothly - presented the lead vocal.

It all happens with a very nice, dark background. Although the Reference Power Cable is not particularly resolving - you can’t expect it at this price level - or extremely selective, it perfectly organizes the sound. I think it is due to the calmness "behind" the sounds. So there are large, clear, strong phantom images, but softened in that they blend in with this black, velvet background.

Both band’s extremes are slightly - in relation to the midrange - withdrawn. It does not mean that they are not there, that's not the point. The thing is, that when we listen to records like Starboy’s, or Aquavoice’s Silence and even low-recorded rock albums, for example, The Division Bell by Pink Floyd, the bass is well-extended, full and powerful with this cable. It's just great for the money because in addition to a nice timbre and focus it also has something of the softness of more expensive power cables. But also a comparison to expensive reference cables shows that the energy at the bottom is somewhat tempered, that it does not develop in an equally natural way. But, as I say, for a price range below PLN 10,000, it offers a great bass performance.

It felt similar when looking for the characteristic features of the top of the band. It is never bright, it never pops out in front of the sound - it is warm and rather completes the midrange than it opens. Interestingly, the spatial effects, especially those surrounding the listener, are exceptionally well presented. Both Aquavoice and Roger Waters' Amused To Death had an amazing aura, the sound surrounded me and came from behind the head as well as from the sides.

In turn, the soundstage’s depth is averaged - the back layers are pulled forward. It worked best with the mono recordings of Peggy Lee and Chet Baker, but I could also hear it well on the Pet Shop Boys’ PopArt: Pet Shop Boys - The Hits. Although the latter do not have extensive depth in themselves, with more expensive cables we get something like dioramas, and with the Vermöuth Audio cable the back layers were placed quite close to the foreground.

| SUMMARY

The reviewed cable is made with the same level of care as much more expensive products of well-known companies - I am talking mainly about plugs, but also about the design of the cable itself. It costs relatively little, and the offers excellent performance, presenting a smooth, fluid sound. But this is not a warm sound, because the midrange is open and the sound attack is quite "stiff". It will open the system sound without brightening the sound. The bass is beautiful, nicely extended and slightly softened. Same as the top of the range, only that the later is slightly overshadowed by the midrange. It’s a really inexpensive but great sounding cable.■