WK Audio TheRed loudspeaker cables

We were impressed by  TheRed power cord by Polish-based manufacturer WK Audio. So impressed that we made it our Power Cord of the Year in our 2023 Awards. In turn, Witold ‘Witek’ Kamiñski of WK Audio was so ‘chuffed’ that I came back from the 2023 Warsaw Audio Video Show with a suitcase filled with the then-newest product in the WK Audio line; TheRed loudspeaker cables.

If you saw TheRed power cord, you’d know what that meant. For speaker cables, it means four substantial and completely individual conductors – one each for positive and negative conductors, two per channel – each using a combination of two high-purity copper conductors. The cables are sleeved in the distinctive bright red found in the power cord, and each end finishes in a wooden terminator/vibration damping box to the Furutech-based loudspeaker termination of your choice. The structure of the conductor differs depending on whether that cable is used for ‘send’ or ‘return’ purposes. Additional vibration damping is used throughout the cable.

Class and Control

As the cables I used were the ones demonstrated at Warsaw, they arrived entirely burned in. These are excellent cables, with all the class and control exhibited by the power cord, with extra weight and majesty to the sound. TheRed is powerfully dynamic but never in an unconstrained or wayward manner. It’s mighty sounding like your amp and speaker just got a boost.

I’m worried about people getting the wrong idea about ‘majesty’. It’s ‘majesty’ in terms of ‘exuding soft power’, not ‘glacial pomp’. Things bounce along well with TheRed, and although it might not be the first choice for the beat-oriented, it’s especially good at picking out a bass line. Like the bass, the soundstaging is constrained more by the music than the cabling and is given the perfect opportunity to run wide and deep. 

But what I liked most about WK Audio’s TheRed loudspeaker cables was the lack of artificiality. Music sounded like music, not an overbright spotlit sound. Vocals and instruments sounded more like the real deal, and sitting in a three-dimensional space when the recording was at its best. Like all the best of the best in audio, you are transformed.

The cable doesn’t suffer musical fools gladly, and poor (read: thin and compressed) recordings are not given a soft landing or a place to hide. Yet it doesn’t eviscerate the recording, and there’s a sense of cohesive holism that few cables, regardless of price, can match. WK Audio hit the ground running here, creating a world-class performance with its first loudspeaker cable. Its sheer refinement in the midrange, higher frequencies, excellent bass depth, and superb imagery would make it a top-tier performer. But its vocal projection pushes it even further to the top of the tree.

Hide the snake

The downsides? WK Audio’s TheRed loudspeaker cables are currently only available in 2.5m or 3m lengths. There is also an interconnect gap in TheRed line-up. Finally, if you try to sneak cables into your system, four giant bright red snakes are not the easiest to hide!

This is WK Audio’s first signal cable. Judging by its performance, it won’t be the last. This bright red cable shouldn’t be high-end’s most apparent but its least-known star. It should be at the top of every high-end wish list. Since this review was published, TheRed interconnects have joined the party, and a new line is in production, too. If there is any justice in the audio world, WK Audio’s TheRed cable family should take its rightful place among audio’s cable elite!

Price and contact details

Price (as reviewed): €12,000/2.5 m stereo pair

Manufacturer

WK Audio

www.wkaudio.com

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