Atlas Arran Ultra L RCA Grun Cable

Atlas Arran Ultra L RCA Grun Cable

DESCRIPTION AND FEATURES

State-of-the-art OCC copper interconnect.

A new generation. Technically and sonically sophisticated cables created to complement the world’s finest stereo components, the Arran family represents Atlas’ most accomplished OCC copper audio cables to date.

The Arran Ultra L RCA Grun is our top-of-the-range OCC copper interconnect, created as a true ‘no compromise’ design to complement the performance of the finest audio systems.

Arran uses the highest quality ‘6N’ (99.99997% purity) elongated-crystal copper manufactured using the OCC (Ohno Continuous Casting) process, ensuring the signal follows a faster, cleaner and more direct path. The cable utilizes a pair of conductors comprising six solid OCC strands surrounding a seventh central core, tension-wrapped in a microporous PTFE dielectric.

An advanced continuous screen with a copper shielding braid ensures minimal RF interference and noise susceptibility. The unique 3D-printed liner within the Ultra L plug reduces the influence of the connector itself to extremely low levels.

The cable also incorporates our precision dd (dual-drain) system, where twin symmetrical drain wires connect the screen to the cable return/plug interface, allowing cable termination without distorting, twisting or mechanically stressing the precision-laid screen, along with Atlas’ Grun Coherent Earthing System (Grun lead & spade adapter included).

The result is a beautifully balanced, temporally coherent, natural sound with a vanishingly low noise floor and deceptively wide dynamic range. Music gains both time and space; listening to music via Arran has a pervasive sense of calm; an extremely high level of detail is apparent, but only as part of a coherent whole, without any sense of artificial emphasis or exaggeration.

We designed every single aspect of Arran to minimize any audible signature.

Remove the influence of the cable itself, and only the music remains.

Atlas Ultra L (Latik) RCA.

Less is more. That’s certainly true regarding the design of analogue audio cables, where the goal is to render the cable effectively ‘invisible,’ or more accurately, inaudible, in terms of impact on the signal.

Ideally, cables shouldn’t add or subtract anything, but in reality, numerous factors combine to have an audible and measurable effect — which is a form of distortion.

One of the essential elements in the mix is the connector plug. Atlas recognized over a decade ago that the traditional CNC-machined metal-bodied RCA connector was a weakness, with demonstrably significant performance loss.

Our research showed that a Polycarbonate, and latterly ABS, for the plug body was a superior material, allowing us to create an RCA plug with a low dielectric constant, low-mass, non-conductive body but retaining the physical resilience and stability of a CNC-machined product.

The outcome was our original Integra connector, used in our entry-level Element and Equator cable ranges, but we quickly came to realize the superiority of the approach for all our cables, with further R&D resulting in the development of the Ultra RCA plug for our higher performance ranges.

The original Ultra was constructed from solid PTFE, a more complicated material to work with, but which immediately reduced the dielectric constant further and offered improved bandwidth and fidelity.

Ultra Latik. The ‘Next Generation’

In the spirit of continuous improvement, we’ve taken a keen interest in materials development and manufacturing techniques not previously available, bringing the opportunity to experiment further to minimize any impact of the plug on the dielectric, always a compromise in comparison to the ideal dielectric, air itself.

So, to design a plug with less material and more air content, we investigated new additive manufacturing techniques. Utilizing the latest 3D printing techniques, we incorporated a new ‘lattice’ structure in the Ultra design, reducing mass by 25%, increasing the amount of air in the plug body and dramatically improving the plug’s bandwidth.

During our research we experimented with many different printing materials, both natural (hardwood) and synthetic, and numerous structural variations, gaining knowledge and experience which will be invaluable on other projects in the future.

The resulting connector, the Ultra Latik RCA, represents a significant step forward in itself and has allowed us to create a new generation of designs acclaimed as setting new benchmarks.

When you effectively eliminate any residual plug character from the cable's true performance, all that remains is the music.

Less is indeed more.

The Atlas Dual Drain (dd) System

Normally screened cables suffer from screen distortion when they are prepared for production. (If you've ever wired a plug or connector which uses a screened cable, you've done this yourself, cutting back and probably twisting the screening braid for termination). This distortion of the screen has a measurable impact, effectively changing the impedance and therefore the performance of the cable.

Our ‘dd’ configuration is based on a simplified version of the techniques we developed for our top-of-the-range Mavros and Asimi interconnects. Twin symmetrical drain wires (each attached to 180° segments of the plug) are inserted between a 100% copper/Mylar™ foil and screen. The unique dd system connects the screen effectively to the cable return/plug interface, meaning the cable can be terminated without distorting, twisting or mechanically stressing the precision-laid screen. The benefits are in maintaining a consistent low impedance load to the plug, and a total 360° screening against noise and signal loss caused by RFI (radio frequency interference).

Grun Coherent Earthing System

Zeno is supplied as standard with a 1m Grun cable and spade tag adapter for connection to the ground post on your amplifier.

The benefit of an independent system ground.

One of the biggest obstacles to achieving the performance levels our equipment is capable of is noise. Low levels of RFI (radio frequency) and EMI (electro-magnetic interference) and noise on the signal ground each subtly modulate and degrade the overall noise levels of the system.

Although our cables are all designed to minimize the invasion of external interference, it’s not possible to completely eliminate it.

But the audible benefits of substantially reducing it via our Grun products are considerable.

And the impact of Grun is cumulative. Adding additional Grun-enabled products reduces the impact of unwanted ‘noise’ still further.

Grounding critical components via the Grun system doesn’t alter the tonal balance or character of the system but audibly removes the effect of noise you probably didn’t realize was there.

The result typically reveals a greater level of fine detail, enhanced stereo soundstage and an improved ‘ease’ and naturalness.

Ohno Continuous Casting Copper (OCC Copper)

In 1985, Professor Ohno, from the Chiba Institute of Technology, developed his patented method for the extrusion of a grain-free copper wire. (Technical papers are available from the Japan Inst. Metals and from Chapman & Hall, publishers.)

When a pure metal solidifies, its crystals grow in a specific geometrical pattern (typical to that metal) emanating from a nucleus, rather like the dendritic growth pattern of a tree. The size of the metal crystals grown can be varied by repeatedly annealing metal such as is done in the LC-OFC process. The structure of a strand of copper may be likened to that of a bag of sugar. Every grain of sugar has a crystal boundary. In a conductor, these crystal boundaries (potential barriers) act as a non-linear resistance to the flow of electric current. It follows that, the fewer the boundaries, the less the effect there is on an electric signal as it propagates from one end of the conductor to the other. Atlas cables such as the Arran and Mavros use OCC copper, whereas the top of the range Asimi uses pure OCC silver.

The Ohno continuous casting method reheats the extrusion as the molten copper is forced out of the mold, and very slowly and gradually draws the grain or crystal down the conductor‘s length, creating a ‘single crystal structure.’ Actually, because no copper is 100% pure, there will always be a few boundaries produced by impurities. The frequency of boundaries created are quite insignificant. A typical crystal in a copper conductor drawn to 0.3 mm diameter, using the OCC process is 125.00 meters long!

The benefits are obvious, with almost no crystal boundaries, the audio signal is no longer impeded down the copper wire and more information and detail is delivered faithfully to the receiving equipment.

SPECIFICATIONS

Construction Symmetrical/Solid

Conductor       OCC ‘6N’ (99.99997% purity) Copper

Dielectric        Microporous PTFE/PEF

Screen              Foil/OFC braid; Dual Drain

Capacitance  28.54 pF/m

Inductance     0.866 µH/m

Resistance     0.0199 Ohms/m

Outside Diameter      10.8 mm

Color/Finish   Blue Fabric/Luxe options

THE ATLAS DIFFERENCE

Conductor Purity

Manufacturing Consistency

Signal Screening

Harmony of Materials

Acclaimed in 30+ Countries

Custom Made & Shipped: 14-21 days

These cables are custom made to your specifications. The process takes 14-21 days. The cable is packaged and shipped via UPS Ground from New York. Custom-made cables cannot be returned.

ATLAS CODE, LENGTH

ARR-IC-RCA-0.5, 0.5M

ARR-IC-RCA-0.75, 0.75M

ARR-IC-RCA-1, 1M

ARR-IC-RCA-1.5, 1.5M

ARR-IC-RCA-2, 2M

ARR-IC-RCA-3, 3M