Chord Co’s bargain Sarsen

The Chord Company’s latest loudspeaker cable, the £8/metre Sarsen, is said to “redefine performance and value in the entry-level sector”. Chord Company’s most discreet cable design to date is a miniaturised cable that uses established design principles to produce a small cable with a big performance. It’s narrow diameter and flexible nature enables Sarsen to be used in a multitude of applications where space and concealment are priorities. Sarsen’s mix of materials produces a speaker cable with a diameter of less than 4mm. Its conductors are built from multi-stranded oxygen free copper and, like other Chord Company speaker cables, are arranged in a twisted pair configuration.
Sarsen has FEP insulation, which is a form of PTFE that has slightly different electrical characteristics that the Chord Company believes to be better suited for use with non-plated copper conductors, such as those featured in Sarsen. The two conductors are then covered with a PVC outer jacket chosen for its excellent mechanical noise-damping abilities. Sarsen’s sonic performance belies its compact dimensions: bandwidth, and particularly bass, is influenced just as much by materials as it is by diameter; the combination of the oxygen- free copper conductors and FEP insulation enables it to deliver a “truly remarkable performance with extra detail, dynamics and transparency.” Like many of The Chord Company’s speaker cables, Sarsen is built in the UK.