SignatureXL is the latest version of one of our longest running (and universally loved) products. The original Signature was our first high-frequency shielded speaker cable (2004) and marked a massive leap in speaker cable performance.
It was also the biggest, stiffest, brightest cable we’d ever made. The conductors were oxygen free copper, the insulation was gas foamed Polyethylene, Shielding was a three layer braid and foil combination, effective to high frequencies and the outer jacket a flexible polyethylene. It was just flexible enough to fit into a system. It didn’t need a press release or a review, it took off so fast by word of mouth, that for a while there was almost a permanent waiting list.
It remained unchanged for about ten years, until we could apply improved building techniques and materials such as more efficient shielding, silver-plated conductors and PTFE insulation that would produce a more neutral tonal characteristic and a cable better able to carry detail, dynamics and timbre. This became Signature Reference.
Signature Reference, like most of our cables, used PTFE insulation (often referred to as Teflon™) and until the arrival of Taylon®, was our “go to” material. Although expensive, it offered the best performance.
Material technology is constantly developing and improving and alternatives to PTFE are now available. While the high cost of Taylon® prevents us from using this in our Signature range, we were able to find a suitable family of insulation materials known as XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene). One version of this material looked particularly interesting and following listening tests, proved to be clearly better than the PTFE in Signature Reference.
