Tellurium Q Ultra Silver II

REVIEW
Alan Sircom
Jul 22, 2025

Tellurium Q Ultra Silver II updates the popular high-end Ultra Silver cables. We have loudspeaker cables and XLR interconnect cables from the original and new ranges to compare. They look similar from the outside, but sound different. The new ones sound even less forced and uncolored than the outgoing models. There’s more about how it sounds and how it compares in terms of its functionality. Otherwise… we’re done!

You see, Tellurium Q is famously gnomic about what goes on inside its cables. Other brands are eager to highlight the rarity of the shielding material, the purity of the conductors, and the intricacy of the layout. Other cable companies will couch these choices in ‘sciencey’ sounding white papers. Tellurium Q does precisely none of this. So Ultra Silver had ‘stuff’ inside, and Ultra Silver II also has ‘stuff’. The configuration of said ‘stuff’ is different between the two, and the difference is because of ‘reasons’.

Arbitrary reasoning

The logic behind being so cagey is simple: people ascribe sonic performance based on arbitrary reasons rather than actual performance. The expectation that a silver-plated copper woven cable will deliver a specific performance is based on its specifications rather than how it sounds. This logic becomes a little shaky when the cable lines have names like ‘Black’ and ‘Silver’. People can latch onto these names and presume that ‘Black’ sounds dark and broody, and ‘Silver’ is bright, fast, and detailed. None of these things relate to the cables themselves.

However, while the ‘how’ of Tellurium Q remains a secret, the ‘what’ it does is public domain. Tellurium Q focuses on reducing any phase distortion in the signal path. This is because it feels this acts as a form of filter. In a way, the impact of that filtration created by a cable varies in line with the performance of the rest of the system. This means that using a cable like Tellurium Q’s Statement in a lower-end system isn’t going to ‘throw open the window’ too wide. However, the benefits the cable bestows on a system won’t be fully realised.

The three families

As a result, Tellurium Q has three distinct ‘families’ alongside Statement. There isn’t a single path of entry, however. ‘Blue’ cables generally sound a little warm and are ideal for counteracting the top end of a brighter system. ‘Black’ is the balanced-sounding cable, while ‘Silver’ is detailed and expressive for systems that have the high-end chops to accept that degree of detail. Each range has a standard version, an ‘Ultra’ version, and a top ‘Diamond’ version. So, in Tellurium Q world, Ultra Silver II is only bettered by Black Diamond and Silver Diamond. And the Statement range. That puts Ultra Silver and Ultra Silver II in very high-end audio territory.

I’m mindful that comparing old with new only benefits those with the outgoing cables. So, in absolute terms, Tellurium Q Ultra Silver II has the perfect high-end coupling of top-end expressiveness without sounding shrill or thin. Yet with full and deep bass and a midrange that is always extremely musical.

The cables ‘shimmer’ in all the right ways. The rolling off of a reverb tail is rendered perfectly through these cables. Voices are expressive and natural. Bass notes are deep, precise and sinuous.

Moving from structurally dense classical music, such as Mahler or Wagner, to the brightly lit sounds of K-Pop and Ultra Silver II tracks, the changes are extremely well captured. Set aside the original cable for the moment and just enjoy Ultra Silver II as a damn good XLR cable. It is also an equally good loudspeaker cable.

Balancing Act

They manage a careful balancing act throughout, playing high frequencies that are delicate to the point of fragility without any issue. And like their predecessors, the Ultra Silver II are remarkably consistent. The interconnect and speaker cable share a similar sound signature. In performance terms, they match very closely.

Ultra-Silver-II-XLR-2

However, comparing old with new is interesting. It shows how far Tellurium Q has come in the intervening years. The clean, ultra-detailed sound remains, but the new Ultra Silver II is even cleaner and more direct in its approach. It sounds like everything is just a bit more focused, and there’s less in between you and the music.

There is a caveat here that has also been beefed up between Ultra Silver and Ultra Silver II. These are not cables that suffer audio fools gladly. It demands a detailed and precise system. The Tellurium Q cable will expose any hint of inaccuracy, brightness or dull spots in the presentation. This isn’t unforgiving in performance, but it will show up what your system is doing with effortless precision. I dislike the term “reviewer’s tool” (I had that once, but antibiotics cleared it up quickly). Still, this precision insight is excellent for exposing weaknesses.

Greater insight

Ultra Silver II is better than Ultra Silver. You have more insight into the recording and the system, thanks to greater clarity and differentiation between instruments. And the change comes with no significant price hike between the two.

Should you buy Ultra Silver II? If your system is up to the task! Should you upgrade from Ultra Silver? Actually… yes! They are better enough to justify the expense. If you have a system that allows you to upgrade one cable by trickling the others down through your system, do that rather than making a sweeping change.

But once you hear it, you’ll crave a sweeping change. If Tellurium Q had kept Ultra Silver in the range, introduced Ultra Silver II as ‘Hyper Silver’ and charged half as much again, no one would have batted an eyelid in complaint. That’s how improved this is over its predecessor. Best of all, though, all this performance comes at no price increase over the original.

Make no mistake; Tellurium Q aims squarely at high-end audio with Ultra Silver II. You could spend twice as much and not get as good a sound.