The Orion Silver Line HFC Cables are fairly flexible, however, they are quite thick. In the case of the interconnecting cables (both the RCA and XLR), guiding behind the components might require a tad more attention, rather than just hooking-up-and-letting-go. Once done, things will physically settle in over a few hours. While the speaker cable is boa-thick too, there’s usually more available real estate around loudspeakers for hassle free cable routing.

I was super-pleased to hear much of the musicality and precision I heard at that unforgettable session in Magico’s auditioning space. Within the context of my system, I heard excellent overall detail retrieval, especially around low-level microdynamic nuance across the bandwidth. So I’m talking deep insights into playing technique and incidental expressions of the relationship between music and musician.

While that standard of truthfulness provides invaluable appreciation of what’s been listened to, it also offers a holistic picture of playback precision and overall musicality. In this case, and it’s not always so, the two are inextricably interconnected (pun intended) and copacetic.

One of the takeaway tracks from that San Fran visit was Astoria’s “Adiós Nonino” from the album of the same name based, of course, on Astor Piazzola compositions. This is a live recording of outstanding quality. The tonal accuracy, impact and low-note depth through the piano intro is quite remarkable. The VYDA Laboratories Orion cables slammed the intro hard while making the piano sound almost in the room. It’s as if the overall system’s transparency had stepped-up a level.

What that meant, of course, is that vocal presence, whether male of female was offered with an added sense of verisimilitude. Cassandra Wilson’s “Strange Fruit” from her New Moon Daughter album had all the percussive and acoustic bass atmospherics, at the track’s start, come through extremely well rendered and when Wilson’s deep vocal enters, the track takes an even more profound meaning. The insights into her vocal technique and lyrics voicing enhance the emotive connection. It’s a devastatingly sad, thematically disturbing track.

The same aura of reality, almost a sense of physical proximity to the artist, I sensed on “Little Amsterdam” from Tori Amos’ Boys For Pele album. The song’s lyrics were crystal clear and fully intelligible even when the track’s complexity is augmented by the entrance of the full band post-intro. And when Amos pronounces the ‘t’ at the end of the line “… it wasn’t my bullet…” the sound is natural and pristinely delivered. I also enjoyed the snap and attack of the well-captured snare drum which, with the electric bass, drives the track onwards. And boy, was Amos’ Bösendorfer seriously gorgeous and intensely deep…

“Snap and attack” as referred to above, are traits expertly offered by the Orion cables. Man, those drums and acoustic bass solos were hugely powerful on Tony Dagradi’s “Limbo Jazz” from the album Live at the Columns. Johnny Vidacovich on drums and James Singleton on bass smash it. The skilful engineers did an amazing job of capturing the power to its fullest (it’s a recording where compressors, etc. were shunned). My system, tied with Orion cables carry the jolting impact of this recording to the max – your electronics, and speakers in particular, better be up to the task. Equal dynamism was achieved with Dagradi’s sax, which can sometimes sound a tad edgy, however, the mix of my electronics, the Wilson Alexia V’s oh-so-sweet yet oh-so-incisive tweeter and the Orion cables provided the power, tone, detail and attack of the instrument without sharpness nor etch.

Yet another impressive trick up the VYDA Laboratories Orion cables was the transmission of signal which guides images well outside the speakers’ lateral plane. The soundstage is immensely wide, deep and tall – and that happens with many cables in the context of my well-treated room. However, the images were somewhat slightly more… projected. Especially across the soundstage where I sometimes felt the room’s boundaries almost disappeared (boy, I wish I had a little more room width…). While this was evident on many recordings regardless of genre, orchestral music rendered the effect more pronounced, more dimensionally extended.

On “Permission to Evaporate” from Aussie Joseph Lawadros’ Live at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and brother James Tawadros under the conductorship of Benjamin Northey, the sense of spacious ambience was superb. The various orchestra sections were spread far and wide while the Concert Hall’s acoustic signature was easily discernible (I’ve been to that venue so many times…) while the tonality of Tawadros’ oud played true-to-life. In other words, the tonal faithfulness of the recording confirms the Orion cables’ overall balance. They are natural, true-to-the-signal interface conduits.