ESPRIT CELESTA AUDIO CABLES REVIEW

Esprit Celesta Cables are made in France and have an interesting and somewhat different design. Janine Elliot takes a listen for HiFi Pig.

Cables always get me thinking. Thinking whether I will actually hear a difference and wondering what exactly is inside the cable sheath without getting my razor blade to it. Some manufacturers are more giving of information than others, and some cables really do sound special and get my heartbeat racing. Esprit, based in Confolens, France (and a company I had the great honour of reviewing in 2019) is one such manufacturer that not only gives tons of information about their philosophy, but also are producing cables that do sound so special. That makes my life a lot easier and helps me to understand what they are trying to achieve. In a big brown box, Esprit sent me a loom of mains, internet and speaker cables from their Celesta range, which stand almost midway between their entry Alpha and top Gaïa cables.

Esprit started in 1996 with Richard Cesari, who had always had a great interest in music and HiFi, and who had originally been making cables for friends but realised how good they were so started producing them as a business. Being a saxophonist and drummer, he has good musical ears to be able to determine what would be a great sound. Like many, his motto was to make the very best cables money can buy. Now nearly a quarter of a century later that ethos still remains the same. As PR and sales Vivien Falize told me, “Richard often says that it is like a recipe: if you don’t know how to combine the ingredients, you can have the best there is yet still get it all wrong. However, when you know how to combine them, then you can achieve outstanding results”. He certainly has a skill in mixing those ingredients and producing a recette du succès.

Esprit isn’t just about cables, though. Richard first toyed with making a turntable and loudspeaker and later the RendistoR, an HF/RF noise-reducing passive unit fitted between terminals of the loudspeaker. Now his technical knowledge has been expanded further to produce a power distributor called the Volta. This is an 8-output power strip made of CNC aluminium aimed to make any system more “silent, more dynamic and transparent”.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Like many, Esprit has been trialing and researching different materials to see what works best. All Esprit cables use a symmetrical structure for the conductors and an asymmetrical structure for insulators. For the conductor this symmetrical structure (identical conductors for both phase (+) and neutral (-) ) makes for a more dynamic, more detailed and more silent performance, according to Esprit. It also helps tonal balance and timbre.  Asymmetrical structure of insulating materials (says Esprit) avoids the build-up of an electric load inside the cable, and here two different insulating materials are used.  All Esprit cables use 5N and 6N OCC copper as a conductor, and silver/copper mix for the top models. 5N copper is used in the Alpha, Bêta and Kappa Series, and 6N copper is used on all cables from the Celesta to the top of the range Gaïa. The copper is sourced from a Japanese company. Copper is nearly as conductive as silver, hence why most companies only use OCC copper. Esprit uses multi-stranded structures, with 0.07mm strands on all RCA and speaker cables and 0.32mm strands on XLR interconnects. Ultimately it is listening tests that validate their choice. Countless hours spent listening to each material allow Richard to know precisely what works best. Whilst some audiophiles are still skeptical about conductors, more folk are even further unbelieving over the importance of the correct dielectric. Insulation materials have their own sonic signature. As Esprit told me; “Stiffer dielectric materials such as High Temperature PVC tend to have a bit more bass, a slightly attenuated treble and quite a lot of punch. Softer dielectric materials, such as silicon, have a drier bass, as well as a more detailed midrange and treble”.

Two materials are used for the insulation; one wire is insulated with a stiff dielectric material, the other with a soft one. All this is in order to create a more balanced sonic performance.

SHIELDING, PROTECTION & POLARISATION

Esprit developed “progressive shielding”: On one third of the cable, there is no shielding. On the next third, there is one layer of shielding and on the last third, two layers of shielding. The connectors are either silver plated copper or pure copper. For example the Celesta loudspeaker cable comes either with pure silver banana connectors or spades made of 40micron silver plated pure copper connecctors. ESPRIT have their connectors made from a core of pure copper which is then sent to a plating company where multiple layers of pure silver and pure copper are applied. All connectors are soldered using 4% silver solder. The dielectrics are also polarised and they saturate them with a continuous voltage of 12V to make them more efficient. In effect it charges the dielectric with an electrical signal that isn’t the signal itself. This is a secret recipe only known to Esprit! The general idea behind this is to charge the dielectric materials with an electrical signal which is not the audio signal itself.

The connectors in all the cables supplied were of extremely good standard and, unlike some cables I have reviewed from some major manufacturers, the bare wires don’t show themselves after you have bent the cables. I cannot believe how some manufacturers don’t pass this simple test; all cables will get caught and come under pressure sat behind your HiFi cabinet.

THE ESPRIT CELESTA CABLES

For this review I was sent a series of cables which I used in combination across my whole system.

The Celesta Mains cable is ‘one up’ from the Alpha and is very similar, however optimized for shielding, insulation and screens around the 3 groups of 2mm connectors. The bead around the cable also contains ferrites which are different to the cheaper model.  This is available at £410/1.5m – €510/2m

Esprit Celesta Power Cables

The Celesta RCA interconnect arrived in 1.2m length with their EH100 RCA plugs with 10micron silver-plated copper. The conductor is 720 strands of pure copper with an asymmetrical twist, symmetric electrical structure and asymmetric dielectrics. The cable contains a ferrite ring. This is available €710/0.65m – €1570/2.4m

Esprit Celesta RCA interconnecct cables

The Celesta XLR interconnect is similar in internal construction with a silver-plated copper XLR connector with partial shielding. This also comes in at €700/0.65m – €1570/2.4m

Esprit Celesta XLR Cables

The Celesta Loudspeaker cable has 1120 strands of pure copper with an asymmetrical twist, asymmetric dielectrics on air and partial screen on air. Ferrites are added at the loudspeaker end and they have arrows to connect them the right way round. Banana connectors (as supplied) are pure silver, though forks can be ordered which are 40micron silver-plated pure copper. This is available at €960/2m -€4420/10m.

Esprit Celesta Loudspeaker Cables

All these cables are impeccably assembled and presented, and priced very competitively. They arrived run-in which made my life very easy, considering the time I had for review. Indeed, once I connected them all up I found it very hard to switch off! To compare the above prices with the top Gaïa, that silver/copper speaker cable weighs in at €18,090(2m) and the interconnect is €23,300 (2.4m).

SOUND QUALITY

Normally I don’t expect to be amazed by cables until many hours of running in, but I was very pleased from the time the valves of my amp got up to heat and the sound was very impressive from the off. This was going to be a very special time for me. Some times cables have one good character and fail on another, but I found it very hard to criticise these at all, apart from the fact that I’d have to give them back of course.

My first listening was going to be good old CD through my Krell KPS20i. That machine never fails to amaze me despite the format’s limitations. Built like a tank it also uses the excellent and reliable Philips CDM-9 pro transport. With Esprit Celesta XLRs connected to the MFA pre and XLRs to the Synthesis power, plus the Celesta speakers, this was nearly a complete Esprit set up apart from the power cable; I did tests on that separately later on. Playing the inevitable Chasing the Dragon “Bach Cello Suite No. 1 (recorded with spaced pair Neumann M50’s) this had superb bass and depth of sound. The performance was quite engrossing and musical. “Watching the Wheat” on harp (crossed-pair figure-of-eight mics) had enticing top end and detail of the fingers playing the strings. Depth of sound both between and behind the speakers, even on this solo work, was especially good. The guitar solo “Lute Suite III” (2 U47 mics left and right plus a third in front of the guitar) from Bach was also very detailed and you can get really close to the musician with the close microphone. The speed of performance, detailed musicality and unwavering dynamics was second to none.

Time to get a bit more detailed with bigger musical groups. I was honoured to be recently reviewing the reel-to-reel of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20, in Eb played by the excellent Locrian Ensemble. This format beats vinyl or digits in terms of musicality. Tape is so good and this one is no exception. Using the Esprit RCA interconnect between tape and pre-amp the dynamism of performance is there to tell, with great detail from each musician plus a sensitivity that many cables just can’t give; these cables seem to tell the whole story, the truth and nothing but the truth.

Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No 6 in D (BBC) had excellently clear flute solos, detailed cello lines, some powerful horn playing and translucent strings. The speaker cables gave a very tight reign on the music with extended bass and good transients. This symphony is called “Le Matin” (No.8 is called “Le Soir”), originally started as 4 quartets depicting the different times of day. I could listen to these cables any time! Also on this recording is Mauro Giuliani’s Guitar Concerto No. 1. After the long introduction the guitar (played by Eduardo Catemario) gave great depth of guitar acoustics including close mic’d fingerboard that sounded very firm and quick through the loudspeakers.

These cables are very revealing. Nothing gets past them. Elton John’s “Belfast” sounded intentionally very eyrie and the electronic violins came across like …… well, electronic violins. This is an excellent track with lots of Irish folk instrumentation, recorded in London’s great Air Studios, but these cables could show the imperfections of this recording with ease. For some extreme clarity I turned to “Mumbo Jumbo” for five guitars (Naim vinyl). This work has extreme dynamism, so watch your speakers if you play this too loud; the thick sounding instrumentation didn’t become cloudy from these great wires. “Albatross” also on this disc was equally on track. To think that “Albatross” began its life as a bit of light-relief mucking about improvisation by Fleetwood Mac when they were recording a different piece in the studio.

I really wanted to find weaknesses in the cables so decided to play the modern classical work by Paul Kletzki ‘Symphony No. 3’. This is a very powerful and passionate work by someone better known as a conductor than composer. This work really is grim and grey, around 45 minutes of continuous perturbation, enough to depress anyone who isn’t already depressed by Russia, Ukraine of Covid. This work is a bit like Hindemith on a bad day, but what really made this work worth playing was that the cables opened up so much of the music. I could hear all the solo lines and the powerful urges that kept flowing. The cables were so transparent, precise, but still allowed delicacy to evolve when the composer let it. I actually enjoyed listening to the work! All 45 minutes!

Finally to the CEE 7/7 / Schuko mains lead. This again was of excellent build quality and the home-grown plug and socket were of sound quality. Using them I found them to be very quiet in operation and with a good bass improvement. RFI/EMI was reduced further than a cheaper stock cable I compared it with.

CONCLUSION

Let’s get to the facts. These cables had a super dynamic range, and got me closer to the music than many cables I have tested, whatever the price point. They were also impressively transparent, yet extended the bass further than I expected my LS5/9s could go. Their build quality was excellent, the spiralled speaker cables looking excellent suspended along my music room floor. The excellent speed and detail made me sad to pack them away for their homeward journey to France. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone wanting an interconnect, speaker cable or mains lead.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Excellent use of conductors and dielectric producing very good-looking cables

They arrived in smart black boxes with small French flag logo at the bottom

Sound Quality:

An extended bass and top end with no harshness

Very open soundstage and excellent dynamics

Value For Money:

These cables are exceptionally good; giving a very accurate performance at all levels

Being at the lower end of the Esprit range, they still use construction and component skills from the top end

Highly recommended

We Loved:

Dynamics

Bass extension

Transparency

Build quality, especially the connectors

We didn’t Love so much:

That I had to return them!

Prices:

Celesta Mains cable  £410/1.5m – €510/2m

Celesta RCA interconnect €710/0.65m – €1570/2.4m

Celesta XLR interconnect  €700/0.65m – €1570/2.4m

Celesta Loudspeaker cable €960/2m -€4420/10m

Elevator Pitch Review: Cables are not always easy to review. Sometimes differences can be quite petit, but there are others that can make a profound change to the music you play. What makes Esprit worthy of a listen is the fact that they give a true account of your sources; these cables have a brilliant bass and a detailed top that has no amount of harshness. These cables are very transparent which, after all, is what you really need.

SUPPLIED BY ESPRIT AUDIO

Janine Elliot

REVIEW EQUIPMENT: Pre-Audio GL-1102N/AT33sa (turntable); Manley Steelhead (phono stage); Krell KPS20i (CD); Ferrograph Logic7 (reel to reel); Astell and Kern SE180/iFi xDSD (DAP/streamer) Synthesis Roma 98DC/MFA Baby Reference Pre (amplification); Graham Audio LS5/9 plus Townshend Supertweeter (speakers); IsoTek mains conditioner, Townshend rack; Other cables used; Tellurium Q, Ecosse.