TELLURIUM Q BLUE II CABLES REVIEW

This review of the Tellurium Q Blue II cable range is a shorter and more to the point review than my normal offerings and is meant as an addition to the excellent and full review by Janine Elliot of the Tellurium Blue II cables.

I don’t review all that many cables or cable looms, I tend to find what I like and stick with that, but the chatter about the Tellurium Q Blue II got a fabulous review and Outstanding Product award from Janine way back in October of 2020 and so I thought I’d get in touch with Geoff Merrigan at the Somerset UK-based company to see if I could procure a set, more out of being curious a to what all the palaver on social media was about with regards to this relatively modestly-priced set of cables. The prices are £111 for a terminated set of 3m loudspeaker cables with metre lengths of XLR and RCA interconnects coming in at £235 and £180 respectively. Now that, in the grand scheme of things is not a lot of money when we are discussing audio cables, but it is a substantial outlay to get on the first rungs of the cable ladder – for those interested prices for cables in the rarefied audiophile world can run into thousands for a metre of cable.

I’m not going to waffle on about the build quality and whatnot as if you are interested in more detail in that you can read Janine’s excellent review here. Suffice to say the packaging (a nice cardboard box emblazoned with the Tellurium Q logo and with red tissue paper around the cables inside) is very good. Build quality also looks to be of a very high quality. I’m going to make a point here and say that there’s a good number of cable manufacturers popping up, usually smaller Fred in a shed kind of operations, where the build quality can be left wanting, however, you have no such worries here and as well as your normal consumer rights you get a generous seven years warranty that covers defective materials or production faults. You also get a card with each cable that says who built the cable and who it was inspected by. In addition, there’s a unique hologram and QR code in each of the boxes so you can check on the free CheckIfReal app that your product is a genuine product.  I like this kind of thing and it lets consumers know quickly and easily if they have a genuine product or a fake. You also get RoHS and CE logos to signify that your purchase meets the required safety standards – another positive and something I encourage everyone to check for when buying cables, or any kit for that matter! This confirmation and documentation will be a big bonus point if and when you look to upgrade and sell on your cables. All the cables are sky blue with what look to be good quality terminations, though the tight-fitting heat shrink covers these and ensures inner cables won’t end up being visible down the line.

In addition to all the stuff I’ve mentioned in the above paragraph, Tellurium Q is twice the recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, about which you can read a bit more here. Not a biggie but it’s something that has to be a feather in the cap of the whole of the Tellurium Q team.

One minor niggle with regards to the Blue II is that the colour of the outer jacket of the interconnects and the speaker cables do not exactly match, but to be fair that’s a very minor whine about a cable that’s very nicely presented and put together.

For this review I’m plumbing everything into our smaller system that consists of an Auralic G1 Aries streamer, LAB12 DAC, LAB 12 Pre and an English Acoustic 21C. Speakers will be Xavian Perlas and Falcon LS3/5A Gold badges. To my mind, whilst not being hugely expensive, this system is highly resolving whilst being hugely musically entertaining and, perhaps more importantly, it’s a system I listen to a great deal. The room is heavily treated with GIK panels and is dedicated to only music playback. Power cable and block were all from Atlas throughout the system and throughout the review process.

I was sent the Blue I and Blue II to compare and contrast, but the main thrust of Janine’s review was a comparison and so I’m not going to repeat that process.

SOUND QUALITY

All cables sound the same, right? If that is your belief and your mantra then first of all what are you doing having read this far in a cable review, and secondly you may as well stop now. I’m not going to get into the whole cable debate thing here, but if you want to read my thoughts on that then you can hit this link to one of our most-read articles in our ten years of existence.

What I’m looking for in a cable system is something that lets me enjoy the full frequency range present in the music I’m listening to without emphasising anything nor leaving anything out. Some cables can be overly bright and some can sound dull. Some cables can seem to be leaving out finer details and some can sound confusing when things get hectic. I want balance, detail and a presentation that doesn’t get in the way of the music I’m listening to.

Let’s see.

I’ve had experiences in the past with some entry-level cables, and indeed I’m going to call these cables just that whatever the naysayers may suggest, sounding somewhat brittle the extreme upper frequencies. This brittleness may not be apparent on initial listening but once heard it cannot be unheard and has the effect of dominating the musical presentation and spoiling your enjoyment – it also makes extended listening experiences a tad taxing. That is not the case with the Blue II, and whilst the upper frequencies are well extended they are not dominant or with that slightly broken feel I mentioned. If your system errs on the side of being too bright then these cables will certainly tame that, whilst allowing you to enjoy the full gamut of the musical performance. Switching the Blue II speaker cables out for some much more expensive cables from Chord (Epic Reference) there was a sense of a more “open” top-end performance with a tad more definition when listening very closely. The Chord cables are better speaker cables than the Blue II, but then they cost ten times the asking price of the Blue II. Will most people with moderately resolving systems notice this in day to day listening, I doubt it, but those wanting ultimate performance will need to spend more – that’s just a simple fact of the matter and the brand you choose will be down to your own personal preferences and I suggest you go out and listen to as many as you can and make up your own minds. As it is, I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience with the Blue II speaker cables and really cannot complain at all for the frankly silly asking price £111 for a 3m pair.

Listening to the mid-band I found the sound of vocals particularly pleasing. Again, there was a feeling of rightness to the presentation with the Blue II and with nothing being overly dominant in the sound. Switching out for the Chord speaker cables and mid-priced Atlas interconnects there was a slightly more three-dimensional sense to the mids in the image – a feeling of there being a tad more space around the individual sounds in the mix. With that said, the Blue II in this system seem to punch above their weight offering up a very pleasing and musical performance. I genuinely never felt I was missing out other than when listening very critically. And I suppose this is one of the things we need to discuss for a moment – do we actually sit down and listen to the minutiae of a presentation when listening for pure enjoyment? If you are a music lover and want to get the best from your system without getting hung up on every last detail then the Blue II excels here, and particularly for the money Tellurium are asking.

Bass detail and speed was again well represented by the Blue II with a definite feeling that there was weight and slam when listening to the likes of techno.

Three-dimensionality is very good for this level of cables and, whilst the image was a little compressed in comparison to my pricier reference cables, there was still a very pleasing image thrown.

CONCLUSION

The Blue II from Tellurium Q represents to my mind an excellent performance point for the asking price. Yes, you can better them by spending more, that’s for sure, but for the vast majority of listeners, they will be a perfect balance of musical enjoyment tempered with a sensible financial outlay.

Where these cables really satisfy is in their ability to present the music in a natural and unforced way that allows you to forget analysing the tiny details and get on with enjoying your music. Nothing over-dominates the presentation and they sound, for want of a better word, harmonious.

Importantly the stuff that comes along with the cables should ensure that should you want to upgrade at a later stage then the cables should command a good second-hand value. However, they are that kind of fit and forget product that will appeal to folk looking to get the best from their system without breaking the bank or becoming over-obsessed (guilty) with their system.

In a good entry-level system or even a mid-priced system, these could well be all the cable you need or want. I’m so pleased I asked to review these cables based on the, quite right, enthusiastic chatter on the various social media groups. I have no hesitation to echo Janine’s thoughts and to offer up my Editors Choice Award.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Very well put together

Speaker cable is very flexible

Well packaged and with excellent proof of provenance that will give peace of mind to buyers and help maintain second-hand prices

Sound Quality:

Very well balanced and without any overriding issues

Value For Money:

Excellent

We Loved:

Fit and forget

Balanced and “harmonious” presentation

The flexibility of speaker cables allows for positioning in difficult situations

Very well finished

Proof of authenticity

Good performance across the frequencies

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Slight colour differences between speaker cables and interconnect cable

Elevator Pitch Review: Tellurium Q Blue II offers a fantastic and great value upgrade for those looking for good sounding and well put together loudspeaker and interconnect cables. They have a balanced and pleasing sound to them that allows you to enjoy the music without wanting to dissect it or feel that you are missing anything. They are still in the system if that is any indication.

Price:  £235 1m Blue II XLR interconnect (£180 1m RCA interconnect). £99 + £12 termination 2 x 3m Blue II loudspeaker cable.

Stuart Smith