Chord Company has introduced an upgrade to two of its most popular loudspeaker cables. They have upgraded the two-decade-strong Rumour and popular Shawline, with the introduction of a new insulation material, XLPE.

The move follows the introduction of Taylon® as a phase-stable insulation material in the Sarum T and ChordMusic speaker cables. The company say that the known benefits of Taylon® have seen Chord Company revisit the insulation used in other cables.

Despite the high cost of Taylon® prohibiting its use outside of the flagship models, Chord Company has discovered another option to PTFE (XLPE), which they say has been identified as beneficial.

XLPE made its first appearance in the September-launched SignatureXL speaker cable (debut at October’s Festival of Sound show, London) and has now trickled down into the two new models..

The latest cables to gain from XLPE include the new RumourX speaker/installation cable (which replaces the existing Rumour) and the new ShawlineX, (similarly replacing its predecessor). .

About ShawlineX  

ShawlineX builds upon the Rumour and subsequent RumourX, taking the existing conductor layout and upgrading it with a specially chosen PVC internal jacket aimed at reducing mechanical noise. Further upgrades include a high-density, dual-layer foil and braid shield used in the (more expensive) Chord Epic speaker cable. Like RumourX, the twisted-pair conductors are silver-plated and insulated with the new XLPE dielectric.

ShawlineX’s refinement of RumourX introduces high-frequency effective shielding. ShawlineX is finished with a 93% coverage metal braid and translucent PVC outer jacket.

About RumourX 

The original Chord Company Rumour, which was launched in 1996 and was one of the narrowest speaker cables available at the time (16 AWG), was only the company’s second attempt at producing a speaker cable. Apart from cosmetic alterations, Rumour has remained unchanged for many years. Now, more than two decades on, RumourX brings the latest advances in technology to this loudspeaker cable. Previous versions used PTFE insulation (often referred to as Teflon™) and until the implementation of Taylon® in the flagship ChordMusic and Sarum T ranges, this was Chord Company’s ‘go-to’ material; although expensive, PTFE offered the best performance.

While Taylon® is cost-prohibitive across all of the Chord Company ranges, one version of XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene) material looked (and sounded) interesting during testing say Chord Company. When it proved to be clearly better than the PTFE in the original Rumour speaker cable, it was implemented and renamed RumourX.

RumourX is based upon silver-plated OFC conductors in a twisted-pair configuration with XLPE insulation and a PVC outer jacket. It’s narrow gauge (6mm) and its  construction makes it useful for installations and hifi systems where a discreet, easily hidden cable is required. 

More about XLPE

With material technology constantly developing and improving, alternatives to PTFE, such as XLPE, have allowed Chord Company to make improvements where the prohibitive cost of Taylon® otherwise prevents its use at a given price point. Additionally, the new speaker cables have been developed to  complement the company’s ARAY technology interconnects.

In addition to the new XLPE dielectric, all factory terminated speaker cables are now supplied with the new silver-plated ChordOhmic speaker plugs.

RumourX is available now priced at £18 per metre

ShawlineX is available now priced at £30 per metre

ShawlineX and RumourX cables are available both off-the-reel or terminated at the UK factory with ChordOhmic 4mm banana plugs or ChordOhmic spade connectors for a supplement. Demonstration sets are available at most Chord Company retailers.