Chord Company Rumourx

Chord Company Rumourx £18/m

Chord Company’s recent track record has been astonishing, with a stream of interconnects and speaker cables over the past few years, each securing a place at the top of their respective price point.

Along with all the five-star verdicts, the company has dominated our cable awards too – and the Rumourx isn’t going to buck that positive trend.

The original Rumour was introduced way back in 1996, and at the time was only Chord’s second attempt at a speaker cable. It says much for the original design that it has remained pretty much the same until now.

Chord’s development work with high-end ranges such as Chordmusic and Sarum T showed that it was possible to make significant improvements to the Teflon dielectric material that the company used. A more reasonably priced alternative XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene) was found, and this has been substituted into the Rumour recipe.

This surprisingly thin-gauge cable uses silver-plated high-purity copper conductors and measures just 6mm in diameter. The conductors are twisted to improve interference rejection and covered in a flexible white PVC outer jacket. The terminations on our review samples are Chord’s classy silver-plated Chordohmic 4mm banana plugs.

We try the Rumourx in our reference set-up, and it performs consistently regardless of partnering system.

With the Chord plumbed in, our systems deliver a crisp, clean and dynamic presentation. We’re impressed at the musically cohesive nature of the sound and the way our systems render subtle dynamic shifts with such finesse. There’s plenty of punch to the likes of Queen’s Under Pressure, and the ability to latch on to that irresistible rhythm track with unwavering precision.

While rivals such as Audioquest’s Rocket 22 deliver more sonic refinement and body, the Chord does enough in both regards to avoid complaint, while adding more punch and rhythmic drive.

Tonally, the Chord is well balanced, falling, as is the company’s way, just a little on the lively side of neutral. The important thing is that, whatever music we play, our system sounds at home. While the Chord Rumourx can’t take full credit for that lively and entertaining sound, it certainly plays a big part.

Audioquest Rocket 22 £20/m

We have high hopes for Audioquest’s Rocket 22. This speaker cable is the step-up option to the Rocket 11 that won our Accessories Award last year.

The 22’s design uses higher quality copper conductors with a polished outer surface that’s claimed to give a ‘sweeter’ high-frequency performance. The conductors use strands arranged in concentric layers, with this configuration claimed to reduce unwanted interactions between strands and so lower distortion.

Each pair of conductors is then twisted to improve rejection of external interference. There are four pairs of conductors per channel, and while our sample of the cable was terminated to be single-wired, the construction opens up the Rocket 22 to be biwired too.

The cable also uses Audioquest’s Noise Dissipation System, special layers of shielding that reduce the impact of radio and electromagnetic interference.

While this is a chunky cable, it’s also extremely flexible and shouldn’t cause any issues when installed. It’s available in two colour options – black or white

The Rocket 22 isn’t a cable you should judge on an initial quick listen. Straight out of the packaging, it sounds a little thick and murky, but given a few days of use, the sonic presentation opens up considerably. We use it as part of our reference stereo set-up, as well as with Naim’s Uniti Star and a pair of Dynaudio Special 40 speakers with consistent and pleasing results.

In both systems, we enjoy a spacious and refined presentation, one that sounds noticeably larger scale than when we substitute the Chord Rumourx and Ecosse ES2.23+ alternatives.

The sound is impressively detailed, uncovering low-level information and arranging it in a stable and cohesive manner. All that detail isn’t overtly highlighted either; it exists in an even-handed delivery without emphasis. All of this makes for an easy-going balance that makes the Rocket 22 suitable for a wide range of systems.

Despite its civilised nature, there’s still enough dynamic punch and rhythmic drive to allow the energy and attack of Nirvana’s Nevermind to shine through.

The Rocket 22 continues the work of its Award-winning sibling. In a talented set-up, the price difference between this and the 11 can be justified by the clear improvement in detail and authority.