In this review we check out the Chord Company Signature XL cables. Prices start at €1,595 Euro per pair.

Disclaimer: The Signature XL cables have been supplied by Chord Company’s German distributor on loan.

Chord Company

Chord Company, established in 1985, is a prominent British manufacturer of high-performance audio cables, renowned for its expertise in the HiFi market. Based near the iconic Stonehenge, the company designs and handcrafts its cables in the UK.

Over the years, Chord has introduced innovative technologies like the ARAY and Super ARAY conductor configurations, along with Taylon insulation and ChorAlloy, to optimize sound quality.

Chord Company offers seven individual ranges of cables, all in different price segments. The most affordable C-series is their entry-level lineup, while it goes all the way up to their flagship ChordMusic line. Prices for the C-series cables start at €75 for a 0.5m RCA cable and go up to 5,750€ for a 1m RCA cable in their ChordMusic range.

In each range you find different analogue and digital connections. Chord offers RCA, XLR, speaker, RJ/E (Ethernet), Coaxial, HDMI, power and optical cables among others.

They also offer a range of power strips, called the PowerHaus, which starts at €795.

In today’s review we look at the Signature XL speaker cable though.

Signature XL

The Signature XL is Chord’s third highest range of cables. It is one of their biggest and thickest cables they make, being a 10 AWG silver plated high purity Oxygen free Copper cable.

Chord uses a XLPE (cross-linked Polyethylene) insulation for this cable. According to their product page, Chord has found this insulation to be sonically standing above PTFE in their Signature Reference.

The Signature XL series is purely for their speaker cables, which Chord sells with Banana plugs or spades. These connectors use Chord’s ChorAlloy plating, which is said to offer better performance throughout the board.

Of course, Chord also offers other analogue and digital versions of this cable. Here you can get RCA, XLR, DIN and tonearm cables under the name of Signature X. Digital cables (USB, Ethernet, Coax, AES/EBU) are called Signature Super Array.

A set of 1.5m long Signature XL speaker cables will set you back 1,595€. The 3m pair I received sells for 3,195€.

Build Quality

The build of the Signature XL is exactly like you’d expect from a cable in this price range – flawless. Though I think there’s not so much you could potentially do wrong. The low wire gauge makes the cable stiff and rather unflexible, but that is also normal for solid core cables.

The housings of Chord’s banana plugs are made of aluminum, which gives them a quality feeling. When I first inserted the plugs into my speaker terminals (on both the amps and speakers), I needed a bit more force than usual. Probably because they were brand-new, and the plugs ask for a bit more contact to the terminals.

The cable itself is split in two colors. Most of it is held in black, while the last bit of each end is white. You will also notice these small metal splitters. On these splitters you find arrows of directionality, telling you which way to use the cables. These arrows should point towards your speakers.

Chord Company suggests a break-in period of 100 hours for each cable before it releases its optimum performance.

Package

Chord’s Signature XL cable arrived in quite a big round case, which raised the question of my fiancée if I bought cymbals for my non-existent drum set. Meaning you will get a big transport case for the Signature XL cables. 

The review continues with Sound on page two.