Please report your findings

Thanks, Terry. I'm looking forward to trying it.


P.S. care to describe your findings?

I'm moving this thread to the Accessories section where cables live.

it would be interesting to see how you and your wildly different system deals with it and whether you think it deals with the music similarly in effect to the BMU.

The cables used in all NVA interconnects don't 'seem' to have a direction to them, so don't worry on that score. My TIS hasn't been removed in recent times, but I've done this with SC and SSC aplenty over the last eighteen months and I'm damned if I can remember which way round each conductor should be, let alone overall alignment. I've given up fretting about it

CD runs out of resolution? Best save that for another discussion methinks [grin]

So have I - and it came as a pleasant surprise to find that NVA amongst a very few others, isn't one of them.

Worst for directionality for me was the Chord Solid mk1, which really was incredibly directional in the setups I tried it in, so much so it really did shift the perceived stereo image over if one was the 'wrong way round.'

I'm getting a better handle on what the TIS cable is doing. I think it's not fully burned in yet as it's marginally improving. It's highly musical and great flow and I've been blasting out music all day, some serious listening and some while I'm pootling around the house. I'll try and write my thoughts up tomorrow.

NVA TIS

Construction of the NVA TIS (The Interconnect Statement) is good and weighty with the kind of build that gives you the confidence it's not going to fall apart. It's multiply screened as described in the website:


The phono plugs are an odd design with a retractable connecting shield that gives the impression of a poor connection until you learn to push harder, when it suddenly snaps into a tight fit.

Comparison is with my favoured Yannis 222 ConnectLitz silver interconnects with WBT 0110Ag plugs. This is a very fair comparison since the pricing is largely similar.  There are no direction markings on the TIS and NVA claim they are directionless.  Nevertheless, I was careful to preserve the pairing while switching them around. Normally I would mark arrows on them, but not, of course, on loan equipment. I used the interconnects primarily in the preamp to power amp position (my most critical single-ended interconnect). I also tried the DAC to preamp link, but here the TIS and Yannis were a closer match.

I started with some extended listening to rock & singer/songwriter music. There are a few areas where the TIS sounds better than the Yannis: 1) in the positioning, separation and focus of percussive instruments in the soundstage; 2) in the potency and depth of the bass while retaining tightness and impact; 3) in stereo separation and wide soundstaging. The overall impression when playing such music is of a highly musical, non-harsh yet vivid presentation of a wide soundstage with clearly delineated voice and instruments and a very firm fundamental bass accompaniment. I stress non-harsh as some silver cables can be rather strident when unsympathetically matched. No such problem here, the TIS has no apparent harshness yet is highly detailed in the treble.

With classical and especially choral music, the two cables are closer in performance but I still hear better detail resolution on the TIS with difficult massed voices.  Choral music is so complex that it often runs out of resolution in the CD format, and SACD shows a distinct advantage here.  The TIS responds by allowing slightly more insight into the layering of vocals and positioning around the venue. I do detect some foreshortening of depth here, where the Yannis has a small advantage. However, where the TIS may lose slightly in depth perception it wins back in immediacy and sheer verve across a whole variety of music. Meanwhile, that powerful bass performance underpins the proceedings and is wonderful on very deep organ pedals in the Durufle Requiem, Widor's 6th Symphony and selected other recordings with exceptional deep bass.

At £560 per 1m pair, these are not inexpensive interconnects. Roughly equal in price to the Yannis, and considerably less expensive than the best interconnects I have heard (the Coherent 6D), I think the TIS is excellent value for money with its high end exciting and detailed sound, which is more than a match for my high end system. I shall be sending them on very reluctantly, which is as good a recommendation as I can give.

Steve