Single Crystal Copper Effect – Audience OhNo III Speaker Cables
Audience OhNo III is a $975 USD set of Speaker Cables, with this price being for the version we have, which is around 3 meters long. For a shorter variant, you can get a smaller price, down to $825 USD for a 2-meter pair, and you can increase the length to as much as you need if you place a custom order. Today we will review the OHNo III cables and compare them with the cables that have the price closest to the Oh No III which is Ricable Dedalus Speaker MKII DS3 MKII (670 Euro).
Introduction
Audience is a high-end cable manufacturer from the USA best known for creating the cables for many studios across the world. They have a unique approach in the audiophile world, creating cables which are low mass instead of high-mass, basically being the ones to make a versatile, flexible cable, based on the idea that a higher mass would inherently be less transparent, as current travels along the edges of the cable, and not through the cable itself.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Audience has provided the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3HB0QBQ
Official Website – https://audience-av.com/cables/ohno/ohnoiii-speaker/
Build Quality / Design
Audience OhNo series of cables are designed to keep the price in the entry-level but achieve performance worthy of the high-end. Despite the idea that OhNo would be a word in English, this is just a coincidence, as the OHNO series of cables are actually named after Dr. Atsumi Ohno who invented the method of manufacturing mono-crystal wires, a method of producing wires without the crystalline barriers typically found in conventional wires.
Copper typically exhibits a crystalline structure with thousands of crystals per meter, so as audio signals move along this structure, energy is lost at every crystalline juncture. Ohno copper is a single crystal copper, providing an unobstructed path for the audio signal, and the purest transmission possible. Audience uses XLPE cross linked polyethylene for the insulation of the Ohno cable, and although this is an older cable, it still is very much relevant to the world and can still be purchased as an excellent option for your speakers.
You can order the Ohno III cables with both spade and bana connectors, and the version we got today is with those fork-like connectors. My idea was that this should place less strain on both the connectors of the speakers and those of the amplifiers, and to some degree this is correct, but some amplifiers do not accept this type of connector. Also, important to keep in mind is that Audience does not use thick connectors and flashy colors, as they prefer the experience of using their cables to be revealed by your ears and sonic experience rather than visual design.
Subjectively, Audience OhNo III is a cable that is incredibly flexible, not very heavy, but feels really well-made. It is easy to install, so much so that right now it is one of my favorites to use, although I have to confess that having reviewed the audience Studio One which is also lightweight and an upper echelon, I most of times use the Studio One as a daily driver, and use OhNo III on more backup systems and systems for experimentation.
Sound Quality
Pairings – happily, most of the speakers and amplifiers we’ve reviewed are compatible with the Audience OhNo III speaker cables, including those fork connectors, so for the DAC part I’ve used either FiiO K17, Dethonray Listening M1, or Rose Technics RT-5000. I’ve used Feliks Echo 2 and Feliks Euforia Evo as a Preamplifier, just to fine tune the sound, and for amplifiers I’ve used Topping B100 Monoblocks, Keces S300+, Burson Funk or I also have tried using the ECDesign PowerDAC-SX, but this one in particular is not compatible with the fork connectors, so I had to get creative and get some adapters, but I am not quite sure if this wouldn’t in part slightly alter the sound, so I focused more on the amplifiers that work natively with the fork connectors.
For speakers I’ve combined the cables with Elipson Heritage XLS 7, Pylon Audio Diamond 30 mkii, NHT C3, audience 1+1 V5, and KLH Model Five. OhNo III has an excellent synergy with all of those speakers, as the signature is rather transparent, and all of them work natively with the fork connectors of the OhNo III cables. You can grab the OhNo with a different connector too, so you don’t have to use this one, it is just what I got thinking that it would prolong the useful life of the speakers and amplifiers by not straining the connectors on them.
Overall Signature – OhNo III is designed to be a more affordable version of the Studio series of cables from Audience, to offer the world-renown performance of their cables, but at a more affordable pricing. I feel like this short description is exactly how the Ohno sounds like, as it bears the same dynamic, transparent and revealing character of the studio one series of cables, with a more pocket-friendly price tag, and while there are some upgrades to be had if you would go for the premium, with speakers that are in the more affordable range like NHT C3, you really don’t feel the difference as much as you do with speakers that are in the high-end range of things like Pylon Audio Diamond 30 mkii.
Tonality – Audience OhNoIII is a really transparent speaker cable, it does not change the tonality too much, and instead refines what the system is already capable of, enhancing the treble with its original brightness or smoothness, it tightens up the bass a bit, but only slightly, and allows the midrange to shine through better. I combined all the tonality characteristics in just one segment because it is transparent, and it doesn’t really change the way a system presents bass relative to the midrange relative to the treble. Volume control is also unchanged, and OHNO III sounds the same regardless whether you listen loud or quiet, although the effects it has are really easy to notice from very low volumes, as that is where usually a weaker cable and its characteristic distortion will affect the sound more noticeably.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – Give a cable the opportunity to do something, and most of them will play and in some way tweak the texture and dynamic response of a system – and OhNoIII is no exception. This is a cable that opens up a system, makes the dynamic range more obvious, makes music stand out more with better contrast and higher resolution. A big part on this is not that OhNOiii improves transient response, but that cheaper entry-level cables will actually dampen the transient response, but if you use a high-end cable as a reference you will understand how cables act like filters, there are windows that are transparent, and windows which are really transparent.
A good cable allows for information to be transmitted with less coloration and will result in the listener hearing a better definition, higher level of details from their system. This is a pleasing experience for everyone and Oh No 3 in particular makes a system more transparent, more dynamic, it works well for both newer and older music, enhances both classical but also rock and metal. It allows music to be the cleanest, most vivid variant it can be, for the price range. Naturally, as OHNO III is a downsized experience of the Audience Studio One, it has a similar approach to music.
Soundstage – Ohno III widens the sound slightly, creates more space between instruments and reveals a better instrument separation than most cables, gives music a higher degree of instrument separation and better overall imaging too. This is another area where a higher transmittance helps a lot, because there is less scattering and less blending between instruments / less crosstalk, which keeps music nicely separated, nicely defined and with an improved perceived resolution.
Comparisons
Audience OhNo III vs Ricable Dedalus speaker MKii DS3 (975 USD vs 670 USD) – Dedalus Speaker MKii DS3 is a much heavier, thicker cable with a more colorful approach, and handmade in Italy. Both can come with the connectors you need, at the lengths you need, but Dedalus Speaker mKII will inherently place more strain on the connectors of your speakers and amplifier because it is physically heavier. Also, having a more colorful cable is excellent, but at the same time, the stealthy approach of the audience OHNOIII makes it much easier to combine it in a system where the amplifier is not exactly in the middle of your system. This can be an issue , for example in my system the amplifier is usually next to the right speaker, so having less color and a more stealthy cable makes the whole setup less obvious.
Sonically, the two cables have a different approach, Dedalus Speaker MKii is slightly warmer, thicker, smoother, it colors the sound slightly, creating a thumper, sloppier, slower and more romantic sound. In stark contrast, Ohno III sounds faster, snappier, more transparent, more dynamic, more vivid, it has a more neutral presentation and in general will colour the sound less. There’s a difference in the way each presents textures too, Ohnoiii is quite natural, it keeps all textures intact, while Dedalus speaker mkii makes textures a bit smoother, less edgy and less aggressive. As I eye things, Oh No 3 is designed for a pricier system where you have most sonic tuning aspects sorted out and you want to squeeze a higher performance form the system, while Dedalus Speaker MKIi is made for a more entry-level system where it will refine that system, remove harshness and make it smoother, which is an issue especially with bookshelf entry-level speakers.
Value and Conclusion
As with most affordable products, audience OhNo III has a much higher value than the pricier cables the company has in their offer, but at the same time, it is a good idea to keep in mind that cables connect your system. They can be the weakest link, the spot where distortion enters your system, so you best get some quality ones for a high-end system, while at the same time, value is not as high as that of speakers, where an upgrade can result in an entirely different sound. Most cables can help reveal the full potential or fine tune a system, so make sure you’re happy with your speakers and DAC and AMP, to get the most out of upgrading your cables. At the same time, I know audiophiles and enthusiasts who actually told me that a good cable can make or break a system, and I trust they knew what they were doing and saying better, so with a transparent signature and good resolution, OhNo III is a safe bet for anyone who wants a high-end cable that won’t break their system, and will most certainly improve it.
At the end of the day, Audience OhNo III is a cable series that has transparency, resolution, clarity and a wide, uncompressed dynamic range at the center of their ideology, it is a series of cables that offer exceptional performance for the price paid, and which can help improve and highlight the best parts of a system, without changing the way it sounds. I consider this to be one of the safest, and price mindful cable purchases you can make.
PROs
- Stealthy, lightweight, flexible and ergonomic
- Can be ordered with a custom length and custom connector set
- Audience’s outstanding support for your purchase
- Revealing, rich, detailed and crisp sounding
- Wide dynamic range, making simple entry-level copper cables sound compressed
- Good price / performance ratio compared to most cables
Cons
- It really makes sense once you have a good enough system, will work for a cheaper system too, but it truly enhances and highlights a high-end one
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3HB0QBQ
Official Website – https://audience-av.com/cables/ohno/ohnoiii-speaker/
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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