The No 10 will deliver a smooth and full-bodied presentation and since it is a 24AWG wire the dynamic range is excellent, certainly superior to some competing 26AWG cables.

The No 10 will murder those stock 4-wire OCC Plastic One type variants sounding way more vivid, less compressed, and delivering a richer tone across the board. However, even good quality 4-wire 26AWG cables such as the Satin Audio Medusa and to a lesser extent the Grandiso from EA will sound just a shade diminished or more neutral in comparison.

What will strike you right away is the quality of the low-end performance with dynamic driver hybrids. It is not as outright punchy as OC Studio’s 8-wire copper Orpheus MK5 but it has an excellent body and a confident level of solidity to really make quality dynamic driver IEMs such as the Campfire Audio Solaris sound ‘big’.

With most of the monitors we tested below, the No 10 sounded articulate with excellent headroom and a fairly vivid midrange presentation. At the same time, the No 10 does not sound too forceful with treble, in fact, it is fairly wet which I tend to prefer with the likes of the Solaris and something like the 64 Audio A18. The No 10’s timbral balance is a little more on the even-harmonic side for me. You get a slightly rounded overtone to midrange instrumental timbre compared to the cleaner sound of something like the Saladin or EA’s lighter-sounding Grandioso. This is not a lean, bright, or analytical-sounding cable. Instruments sound full, rich, and powerful with the No 10 and vocals sound big and smooth with little in the way of sibilance.

Treble is a little on the relaxed side but it is buttery smooth and nicely weighted. This is an excellent cable for dynamic driver depth and a natural-sounding performer on dark synth wave songs. I have been using the Solaris and the No 10 combo with the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch on some Toxic Avenger tracks because of the beautiful timbral bloom they deliver on their mid-bass synth sounds. It is a very potent matchup, to be honest with you. The echoey bass synth layering sounds really rich without being too forceful with the No 10 and Solaris combo. “Phat and languid” to a point but with excellent detail.

Given its reasonably liquid-like smooth overtone, I tended to match the No 10 with an otherwise neutral or clean monitor or a dynamic driver low-end that I wanted to flesh out a bit more. I really enjoyed how the No 10 teased out a fuller sound and some enhanced low-end quantity on the neutral IEMs without being overly physical at the same time. The additional richness and warmth also played well with monitors that perhaps have a lighter timbre in their mids or could do so with more solidity.

The 64 Audio A18 is a classic example of such an ideal pairing with the No 10. The upgrade in dynamic range from the stock cable is palatable but more than that the timbre, which I always feel is a bit on the lean side is much juicier with the No 10 pairing. It does not slam as hard as some 8-wire copper cables such as the OC Studio Orpheus MK5 but it is satisfyingly smooth and full-bodied with the A18. Whilst I shied away from the Satin Studio Medusa when paired with the Campfire Audio Solaris due to the lack of low-end punch compared to its stock SuperLitz wire, this was not the case with the No 10. This was a weighty yet smooth pairing with very little in the way of brittle or lean treble overtones.Whilst the SuperLitz does an excellent job of competing with the No 10 for low-end impact and sub-bass weight, it can’t inject the same level of separation and headroom from the mids onwards that the No 10 offers.The No 10/Solaris pairing has a much better mids and treble performance for me than the SuperLitz.

--------------- Click here for detailed post ---------------