Fusion Audio Romance series cables


On rare occasion I am dumbfounded by a products performance and or an enormous difference between the product and it's more expensive competition. I have been using the Fusion Audio silver Enchanter pc's on my Atma-sphere MA-1 mk.3's for quite some time now. I have also been using Eric's Interlocker i/c's between my modified RA Opus 21 cdp and my Aesthetix Calypso pre and also to the Atma-sphere's with spectacular results. Eric contacted me almost a year ago in regards to his new Romance line and wanted to know if I would give them a listen, naturally I jumped at the chance. Eric sent me two of his top model Romance pc's and a pair of the copper/gold ic's. The pc's were replacing two Kubala Sosna Emotion power cords on my cdp and pre. I was absolutely astounded by the increase in transparency that the Romance cords provided over the KS Emotions.The KS Emotions are credited for their midrange qualities, however by comparison the Emotions were veiled, gungy, and congested sounding. The Fusions are far more extended in the frequency extremes and had a much better grip in the lower regions. Instruments had much more life like timbre to their presentation. I was hearing more of the wooden body of the cello. Piano had become a far more realistically compelling instrument. The flute no longer had a slightly dry anemic quality to it. The bottom line is these cables breathed new life into my system. I listen to alot of neveau flamenco stuff that is very rhythmic with alot of assorted percussion and the Fusions speed, pace, and timing are exquisite. The soundstage with the Fusion Romance cords and Ic's became much larger and more three dimensional. I now had a more dense presentation stretching from rear corner to corner.If you want vocals that have that "in your room" spooky quality, the Romance copper/gold ic's are amazing. I am now using all Fusion cabling in my system with the exception of my speaker cabling (Eric has not released a speaker cable as of yet) I have a mix of Enchanter, Interlocker, and Romace cabling and could not be happier with the performance, and the Fusion cabling didn't drain my wallet either. The build quality is outstanding and Eric's customer service is second to none. These cables are a killer bargain. For you conspiracy theorists, NO, I am not affiliated with Fusion Audio in any way. Here are some of the cabling brands I have used long term in the past.

Purist Dominus
Cardas Golden Ref.
Kubala Sosna Emotion
Ridge Street Audio Alethias
Acostic Zen Silver Ref.

Darrin Turner
rhythmace4218
Every now and then, someone in highend audio captures "lightning in a bottle" with a product with performance and a performance-to-price ratio that sets it apart, makes it special. In my experience the Fusion Audio Romance 2IC is such a product. Fusion says that adding a romance ic is like adding a single ended triode character to your system. Having spent several years with set amps (300B/2A3), I really doubted the claim and, in fact, it is not the same to my ears, but to my astonishment it is similar! However SET has been described, it really translates into one thing and that is the ability of SET to communicate the soul of music and this is what the romance2 does - it communicates the essence of the music. And nothing is rolled off in accomplishing this feat, the opposite is true - more detail, more transparency. I have the Audience 2+2 speakers which use full range drivers with no crossover parts - very revealing. I like very much what they do but was struggling with the digital glare that was coming through on all but the best recorded cds. With the Romance2 IC, the glare was gone and I got more of everything else. Amazing, to me! I read in one of the threads here that the owner of the Romance ics could find no fault in them. In my experience, I would agree. I will also point out that the Romance 2s were, in my system, noticably better than the Romance 1s. I am using them between my Benchmark DAC, Modwright 9.0se pre and Spectron amp. In the past I have used Nirvana, gabriel gold, Cardas, nordost, audioquest and others. On top of it all, Eric Love makes it ridiculously easy to try his products and is a total gentleman and pleasure to deal with.
Owenlee, I use the Romance IC1 and like it a lot, however I am curious to know how do they stack up against the IC2. Could you please describe the differences between the IC1 and IC2 ?
The discussion here led me to try Fusion power cords. I'm glad to verify the other opinions being expressed - the Romance cords really are outstanding. They flat out killed some Lessloss cords I was trying, making them seem uninvolving by comparison. I consider the Cardas Golden pc (NOT the Golden Reference) the best mid-priced cord I've encountered, and the Romance is right up with the Cardas in transparency and bests the Cardas in dynamics.

Eric Love, the designer of these cables, sent me two versions. The Romance-1 is warmer but still highly detailed, and in my system the most natural sounding. The Romance-2 is more dynamic, and brighter but without edginess. I don't think there's a single best choice between them, which one works best will depend on the character of your system.

One of the best things in my very pleasant experience dealing with Eric is that he was willing to send me a couple of pre-broken-in cables to try and see for myself what worked best in my own system. Then I was free to return them or keep them as I pleased. That was a wonderful arrangement for an old timer like me who has learned the hard way over the years that even good reviewers can't always be trusted and it's always best to try before you buy.

Bob Olson
Bob,
Glad to see you took the acid test.Its always a risk buying expensive cables and having to resell them cause they don't work out when they are not a national brand.You name the brand I've owned them.
I've had 11 years of swappping cables and am very happy to say I'm done with that. There is simply no need to change them ever.
I just received a set of Romance RCA IC's for the new turntable.
They are so nice, silly good really.I was thinking about changing cartridges but it was just the crap ic I was using.
Peterd
Where do I start?, I received the cable today which Eric express international posted to me...

I am literally lost for words... WOW is an understatement. Why the hell did I not do this sooner?! There are so many cables out there claiming the same thing over and over again (and why wouldn't they?!) The search for utmost detail whilst maintaining musicality, is a journey within itself as more and more cables are always coming out. I can finally say that my journey has ended. The fusion romance pc2 is - hands down - the best cable I have owned to run my dac.

Eric, Thank you for your impeccable customer service, and an exceptional product. Both have certainly lived up to your reputation.