A Revelatory Experience | Sablon Panatela Speaker Cables

Product reviewed: Panatela Speaker Cables Manufacturer: Sablon Audio Specs: 2.5M unshielded cables, spade terminations Ownership interest: I purchased these directly from Sablon. Time used: Approximately 2 months Similar products: Auditorium A23 (4M); Zu Audio Libtec (3M); Zu Audio (2.5); Wire World (3M) Why review: I finally feel like I get these, and I firmly believe others should give them a try Short opinion: Spectacular! These really opened my ears up to what cables could do. Thankfully, they’re priced where I get to enjoy some amazing sound! Summary The Panatelas opened my mind and ears to layers of music, sound, and audio enjoyment that I never knew existed. They’ve reinforced my evolving opinion that with better equipment, properly matched, comes more of everything enjoyable about audio! These seemingly innocuous little cream colored, cotton-sheathed speaker cables have taken me to a higher level of enjoyment. Sablon Audio Mark Coles is the man behind Sablon Audio. Since first making his acquaintance earlier this year I have gotten the chance to get to know him more. He’s been nothing less than a gentleman and a professional to deal with. Mark strikes me as a down to earth guy. His designs invoke for me a simplicity of delivering a product with a lot of bang, but without all the trappings of glitz. Visuals What is striking about these is that there is nothing really that striking. They’re configured with rather simple looking spade connectors. They are sheathed in a cream colored sock. They’re not glitzy, and I like that. They don’t draw attention to themselves, and seem content to just lay there doing the work of transmitting a more robust and fuller spectrum of sound from your equipment to your speakers. Shipping and Packaging Mark keeps the minimalist theme going with delivering his products. Candidly, I’ve seen a few different approaches to this, but rarely recall any of it with any specificity. The bottom line is this – Mark packs up his cables is straight-forward bubble wrap, tape, and simple boxing. He ships from across the pond over in the UK using a speedy 2 day service. Installation These are straightforward cables. There really is nothing fancy about them. Follow the Sablon Audio lettering from amp to speaker, and that's really it! That said, if I had one minor request for Mark, it would due to provide an optional banana termination. These sure make swapping out cables a lot easier. But then, I only need to do that when I try something new... Manufacturing The way Mark describes how he made these cables sounds to me a lot like Mario Batali making a delicious Bolognese. A little mix of conductors, differing in terms of materials, gauge, stranding, insulation etc, and then pulled together to achieve a delicious sounding mix allowing the best of each element to join in the symphony of sound. Well done, Mark. Initial impressions These cables provided an instant impact in my system. It was freaky just how significant and notable the differences were! I've had a pair of Auditorium A23's in my system since last year. They've been great. But as good as they've been, the Sablon Panatela speaker cables really opened up my listening experience in a way that I never knew or expected could happen. to be continued...