Tara Labs The One xlr I.0M Interconnects

Tara Labs The One xlr I.0M Interconnects in original box with fancy black bag.

Since their founding in 1986, TARA Labs (an acronym for “The Absolute Reference Audio”) has been in the innovative forefront of research and development in the field of audio cable design and manufacture. The cables under review here, TARA Labs “The One” speaker cables, ISM Onboard 0.8 interconnects (“0.8”) and ISM Onboard 0.8 XLR digital cables come in one step below the top of the line “The Zero” audio cables in TARA Labs’ complete product line. These cables all feature TARA Labs’ most recent proprietary technologies, including a conductor material called “Super Annealed Oxygen-Free Eight Nines Copper.” This solid core conductor material is composed of unbroken monocrystal structures that are said to achieve a smoother transfer of frequencies over a wide bandwidth. This conductor material is designed with a unique rectangular cross section pattern (“Rectangular Solid Core”, or “RSC”) claimed to achieve maximum frequency linearity. TARA Labs then places this RSC conductor material within a Teflon Air tube, utilizing air as dielectric. Finally, all of these cables incorporate TARA Labs latest “ISM Onboard” technology. This technology combines shielding techniques with the placement of an unobtrusive capsule directly on the surface of the cables (away from the signal path) that serves to absorb and ground Radio Frequency and Electromagnetic Interference (“RF/EMI”).

I refer readers to TARA Lab’s excellent website for a comprehensive discussion of each of these proprietary technologies. TARA Labs builds all their cables by hand and each is inspected at their own factory in Oregon. Upon arrival in their individual boxes, I found each cable to be of excellent build quality and craftsmanship, befitting their high cost. The 0.8 RCA connector plugs and XLR digital plugs were particularly excellent, the best design I observed in making a solid connection every time. All cables were easy to maneuver into place, although the solid capsule located near The One speaker cable’s terminations may require a little extra space when connected to amplifiers located close to walls. TARA Labs instructs that these cables require at least a few days of continuous break in time, and this was accomplished before any critical listening was performed.