Elara, Final Touch Audio
A power cable like Elara has the seemingly simple function of powering our precious electronics, that is, it should transport electrical current from the wall socket into our audio machinery. Apparently, this is a very simple task, to serve the last stretch of the power supply, without too much concern about what happens earlier to our poor conduction electrons. As is often the case, the apparent reality of audiophile beliefs is superficial, at best, when investigating the phenomenon of electric current, it turns out that it is not solely an electrical matter per se, but above all an electromagnetic one. The electrical signal propagates in the form of an electromagnetic field in the space around the conductors, that is, outside the cable and does not directly depend on the movement of electrons since this movement is almost negligible in terms of displacement. In an alternating current circuit, electrons do not flow in a single direction, but oscillate back and forth around an average position at the same frequency as the voltage, for example 50 Hz in Europe. Although there is charge movement, it is not this motion that transports the electrical energy, instead, energy travels through the electromagnetic field that propagates in the space around the conductors, as described by Maxwell's equations. It is the field, not the electrons themselves, that conveys energy from the generator to the load. But if the electron movement is almost zero, we’re talking just a few millimeters per second, how is it that everything seems so instantaneous, almost at the speed of light? Precisely because the phenomenon depends on the electromagnetic field, this field is established almost instantaneously along the circuit, regardless of whether the electrons prefer a direction of movement or not. For completeness, it must be said that each individual electron, based on the uncertainty principle and thermal distribution, moves at extremely high speeds and in a completely chaotic manner, a motion known as thermal agitation, but this has nothing to do with current in the classical sense. These are random fluctuations, present even in the absence of current. In short, electric current is not a fluid that flows freely through a pipe, it is a collective, emergent phenomenon involving quantum actors whose exact position escapes our observation.
From this, it follows that the electron near the power plant, where primary energy is converted into electrical energy, stays right there and does not move along the path of high-voltage wires, just like all other electrons from the medium-power transformer to the building meters to the electrical panels and the outlets where we plug in our power cables, will be on average stationary in their place. From these premises, the construction and design choices aimed at optimizing a component such as the power cable, too often underestimated, become fundamental, but it will heavily affect the reproduced sound. Since electrical energy propagates outside the conductor, it seems obvious to deduce that its geometry will be crucial to the final result, as well as the use of dielectric and shielding. A power cable is above all about design choices, a set of construction techniques and materials used that, together, can favor the proper transmission of electrical energy in its purest form, in order to best power the electronics that make up our audio playback systems.
We finally arrive at the cable in question, we have been testing Elara for a while now. Directly from Greek mythology, the only power cable offered by Final Touch Audio. Finally, there is no choice, someone who simplifies and offers a single model without too many commercial thoughts or calculations, only the best in one single solution. The premise is highly intriguing, a company that offers only one, it’s either that or nothing. Final Touch Audio is a small family-run company born out of pure passion and dedication to music, music is understood as the final result, the point to be reached. To get there, competence and technique are fused through artisanal skills in a product made entirely by hand and treated as a unique piece, a single work that repeats itself each time as a production process marked by the same phases but different due to the high craftsmanship of an entirely manual job.
Elara immediately stands out for its high flexibility, and that’s a good thing, because some of my Danish cables are very stiff, often built with multiple larger-section twisted wires that can create quite a few installation problems. Elara is very well finished, of medium size with an overall diameter of one point sixty-four centimeters, and an outer covering of semi-transparent mesh material that feels like a micro-perforated sleeve wrapped around apparent sheets of natural material, though the actual composition is not disclosed, the impression is close to that of natural fibers. Visually it is a clear step forward, with its connectors made from a special tellurium copper alloy, custom-made by the German company KME for IeGo, there is no rhodium or silver here, but a composition of tellurium copper with high hardness, abrasion resistance, maintaining excellent conductive properties, and extremely low transmission losses but above all, an excellent positive effect on sound performance. On the other end of the cable, for IEC connectors unlike most other manufacturers who use brass or phosphor bronze with much lower conductivity, IeGo uses only pure copper with advanced treatment. The material used for IeGo connectors is top-quality Red Copper 1020 with 99.99 percent purity from the renowned Japanese company Furukawa. In addition, all IeGo power connectors undergo continuous cryogenic treatment with liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius for 20 hours. Before using the cable, it was burned in for 10 days with a cable burner device, so once inserted into the main system we moved straight into critical listening.
I decided to use Elara to power the new Telegärtner M12 Premium switch, thinking it would be a light introduction with low expectations. The pizzicato double bass by Anna Butters at ETA in Los Angeles, precisely in the track Easy Way Out from the album The Way Out of Easy by Jeff Parker in Qobuz streaming, gained more body, more intelligible vibrations naturally supporting broader portions of space, and the percussion gained both roundness and weight making them appear exactly where they should be but more easily, more credibly to the eye. The sax, always the same, but now more towards the natural sense of expressiveness, not that it wasn’t right before or lacked something, but there was a change, I must say somewhat unexpected, after all it’s just a switch powered by a single cable in a whole system, but so it was and we were surprised.
Still focused on bassist and composer Anna Butters, I played the track Bishop from the album Mighty Vertebrate on Qobuz, a blend of electrified sounds and fused styles that easily fill any space, now the vibrations are more present, rich, full and energetic, there’s a sharper sense of rhythm, it’s all about the downbeat and upbeat, engaging and natural at the same time.
