Review: Discovery Plus 4 phono cable din to RCA Interconnect


Category: Cables

For the 50 plus years in this hobby/business I approach products such as cables with a somewhat skeptical point of view. God knows I purchased a lot of cables over the many years in this hobby.

About a year or so ago I purchased my first set of cables from Discovery Cable that is run by Joe DePhillips. As we both live in the same area it was a logical choice to do business with him. The first was his Signature Cables in balanced configuration. Was and remain most impressed with these cables, while not the wow factor from the get go, over the course of the past year, they have impressed me far beyond expectations. Constructed very well and easy to work with and install and deliver all the performance one could wish for, certainly a leap in performance that was well worth the time and resources used.

So here it is about a year later and the trusty Audioquest Emerald tonearm cable went south on me. This came with the Audioquest PT7 tonearm as a package some years ago. No brainer here I could have opted for another Audioquest tonearm cable and know the match would be as good as it once was. But as tempting as that was, gave Joe a call at Discovery Cable and discussed some of the options out there.

We finally came to rest on his Plus 4 cable, next to his top of the line Essence cable. We made a price and a couple of days later he arrived with the cable in hand.

The Plus 4 cable in tonearm setup is about as close to audio jewelry as one can hope to see. Extraordinarily made, expert craftsmanship and top flight connectors. Clearaudio 5 pin din at the tonearm side and his special proprietry RCA connectors on the preamp side.

These had the decided wow factor from the get go, perhaps to much of the wow factor. Certainly the Lyra Clavis MC phono cartridge was elevated in its presentation, at one point I thought to much. But nonetheless pressed on Joe said it would take these Plus 4 cables about 75 to 100 hours to full come into their own.

He was right, a friend of mine was over here and we were evaluating a stack of LP's. While we were in the midst of playing, these cables finally came into their own. This was the wow factor several times over and now the Lyra Clavis is performing at a level I had not heard. We both kinda looked at each dumbstruck at what we were hearing in playback.

This is the tonearm cable I had long searched for, but has escaped me for years, something that would let the Lyra Clavis really come to life and the Plus 4 did just that.

I am not going to go into long hyperbole here. The long and short of these cables from Joe DePhillips is quite simple. If you want over the top performance coupled with a price/performance ratio that can't be beat. Then look no further than Discovery Cables. One can surely spend a whole lot more and not even come close to these cables.

If interconnects, tonearm cables or speaker cables need replacing in your system or if cables are on your short list, then look no further. Discovery cables deliver the performance your looking for.

Associated gear
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Similar products
Audioquest, Tara Labs, Monster Cable, XLO, Musical Design, MIT, etc
ferrari
The day of the AQ Emerald phono cable has come and gone. The Discoveryt Plus 4 is clearly superior to the venerable AQ Emerald. The detail, speed and transparency of the Discovery is something one has to experience for themselves. Everything we as audiophiles look for in a phono cable is there in the Plus 4 and then some.
More detail please? Does it sound the same as your old cable? If not, how does it sound different?
Thanks,
Art