Background:
Always looking to upgrade my audio/video system, I turned to upgrading the speaker cables since I was never really happy with the current speaker cables I was using. So one day, I received a catalog in the mail from a company called Mapleshade Records that has been around since 1986 and was selling speaker cables that have been getting favorable press on the Internet since 1998. Looking at their Clearview line of speaker cables, I decided to call Pierre Sprey, President of Mapleshade to get the skinny on his Clearview line of speaker cables which look more like thin wires. Based on my system, he suggested I try his Clearview Double Golden Helix speaker cables. This review is based on a couple of weeks worth of comparisons in two different audio/video systems using their suggested eight foot length speaker cables.

Description of Speaker Cable:
Having gone to the Mapleshade Records website and looking at their catalog, neither will fully embrace you with the sight of the actual product. It comes in a small clear package and the speaker cables are wound together in a coil that you need to unravel. These speaker cables are fairly stiff and very thin and put together in a helix pattern. If you are used to the garden hose variety of speaker cables, these will look positively anemic. The Double Golden Helix uses a solid copper wire that is silver coated that uses their own proprietary shielding and grounding to add warmth, clarity and bass over their standard speaker cables. I ordered the eight foot length that had their ends bare which Pierre said will give me the best out of the speaker cables. You will need to handle the speaker cables somewhat carefully when you uncoil them out of the package. One end of the speaker cables has what looks like a connecting wire but in reality is the shielding/grounding wire. Lastly, the coating on these speaker cables are very thin, only .0002" thick! It is this way according to Mapleshade that the coating not interfere with the sound in any way and only let the true nature of the music through.

Installation:
Installing these speaker cables can take some getting used to due to their stiffness. I bent the ends in a J shape in order to install them onto my speaker posts. Make sure to install the cables to the speakers with the grounding wire nearest the speaker. Unlike other speaker cables that I have used, these can easily stay off your floor which is what is recommended by Mapleshade. Also, because of this stiffness, they are a bit harder to manage and take a bit of prodding to get them where you want to install them behind your equipment. Other than that, they are light and bendable.

Listening:
In my system, I was able to compare it to my current speaker cables, a set of Synergistic Research Alpha cables and on loan a $1200 pair of Cardas Neutral Reference cables. First, I listened to Norah Jones CD called, "Not Too Late", I used the second track, "Sinkin Soon". In every comparison, it was very surprising for me to clearly hear a difference the Clearview did for my system. There was sense of depth and scale to the recording that neither the Cardas or Synergistic Research cables could capture. Also, the soundstage was wider while the highs were more airy without being harsh vs. the other two cables.

Next, I tried Yo-Yo Ma's SACD of, "Silk Road Journeys", and went to track two, "Byambasuren Sharav: Legend of Herlen" and again found that the soundstage widen, there was depth to the music, bass was richer and the highs were extended without being harsh while the two other speaker cables sounded constricted and rolled off.

Last up I used Oscar Peterson's SACD of, "The Very Tall Band", and used track nine, "Caravan", to listen to the drum solo at the beginning of this track to determine bass response. Again, the Clearview won. The drum notes were cleaner without being muddy. It presented a more true-to-life experience while the other two speaker cables were a bit muddy in the lower registers especially the Synergistic Research cables. The snap of the drum head was captured much better with the Clearview cables.

So now I am convinced that these speaker cables are good but how will they compare when I bring them to my neighbor's house that uses only top-line Cardas cables in a $100K system? Read on.

My neighbor has a top-flight system. VMPS RM30 speakers, Bruce Moore tube monoblocks, Bruce Moore custom preamp, Ayre C-5xe CD player and SME Model 10 turntable all using Cardas Golden Cross cabling. We listened to my recordings, we listened to several jazz records he had on his SME Model 10 turntable, and our conclusion?

It was very hard to tell the difference between the Clearview from the Cardas Golden Cross. There were times we may have detected a little more warmth with the Golden Cross or a little more detail and air with the Clearview. One thing we did agree on, the Clearview easily held its own against the Cardas Golden Cross. This made the Clearview cables the clear value winner in this Cardas comparison. The Clearview cost $280 a pair while the Cardas Golden Cross costs $2000 a pair. Which one would you buy if performance were at least on par with each other?

Conclusions:
If you haven't figured it out by now, I highly recommend these Clearview cables. Without having to shell out large amounts of money, you can find performance that equals or exceeds some of the best speaker cables out there. Mapleshade Records provides a 30-day no questions asked return policy on their speaker cables. Pierre and his staff stands behind their products and are very confident based on my phone conversation and their catalog, their Clearview speaker cables can compete and beat the best speaker cables out there. At least in my comparison, his Clearview cables can equal them at least and trounce lesser speaker cables easily.

Price:
$280 for an eight foot pair and $340 for a twelve foot pair.

Warranty:
None stated in the catalog or website. At least there is a 30-day money-back trial period if you are not happy with their products.

Company Information:
www.mapleshaderecords.com
Pierre Sprey, President
1-888-236-2753
1100 Wicomico St. Suite 535
Baltimore, MD 21230

Associated Equipment:
Pioneer VSX-74TXVi as processor
Parasound HCA_1205A power amp
Yaqin and Musical Fidelity Tube Buffers
Magnepan IIIa speakers
Velodyne HGS-12 subwoofer
Audioquest Interconnects
Synergistic Research Alpha Speaker Cables
Cardas Neutral Reference Speaker Cables
PS Audio Power Cords

Bruce Moore custom preamp
Bruce Moore 225W/channel tube monoblocks
VMPS RM30 speakers
Genesis subwoofer
SME Model 10 turntable
Cardas Golden Cross Speaker Cables and Interconnects










Recommended: Yes