Stung by the bee!

To say I was shocked was an understatement! It was not like I was the first time being exposed to exotic cables, but this has taken me by surprise from an altogether different angle. How many times when you have changed cables, you are awed by their quietness? Every time!

But not for this cable, Honey Bee from NBS to be exact. It is totally not quiet, and that is what totally bowled me over! This is indeed the first cable that enabled me to listen into space and dimensionality, to listen into the black “quietness”. I know I sounded silly and berserk, maybe I sounded like I don't know what I am talking about. But seriously, Honey Bee lets you listen into that “quietness” that constitutes space and dimensionality.

Many cables kill noise and interference, at the same time, killing part of the music, if not all. Over quiet passages, you get nothing but total silence with other cables. Honey Bee has got the uncanny ability to convey that space in front of you. That sense of dimension, that sense of eerie quietness, like walking into a room and hearing that quiet reverberation of air.

When listening to Fang Xin Lei (芳心淚), I was able to fully appreciate this persuasive cable. The fore to aft layering was spot on with instruments taking a solid stand in their acoustical space. No matter fast or slow, there was just no confusion in the imaging quality. The presentation was of the grain-less and lifelike one. They have got the reach-out-to-touch quality and solidness!

Remember the last NBS Junior write up, that was really a super fast cable. And I thought I would still be greeted with that same killing speed. Hell no! Honey Bee was full of poise and unwavering composure. Music tracks were able to grip on the intended pace and rhythms rather than on killing speed. It has got so much control that you would not mistaken it for any lesser cable, not anything below 5K!

At this playing ground (10K), I doubt any cable would come with recessed frequency extensions. But Honey Bee really awed me with their ability to convey the full top to bottom with no hesitation, they were just magically direct and pure. Nothing resembling that bright golden yellow coloration that they came in. This does make me wonder, was the overly rich and colorful presentation from some silver cables that I liked so much the correct presentation? I cannot decide which was supposing the correct one, but Honey Bee was able to give you that "correctness" in their presentation!

When I played The Drums of Jiangzhou, I confess, I have never heard such detailed, rich, defined, visceral and vivacious bass from my setup! Microdynamic was superb as you could depict the variance in strength of hitting and the varying tightness of the drum skins. Whether fast or slow, Honey Bee's rock solid and superbly defined bass just got me so hooked! Please do not mistakenly think that the highs was lame, they were in the same league as the lower registers. With hi hats, the highs were sparkling yet un-intrusive, and cohesively formed a believable drum kit within the sound stage! Tangible and vivid!

Another quality that shocked me was how Honey Bee could depict size and height. For each and every track I played, I would not fail to spot those changes in the vocal and instrument sizes! When playing pop CDs from Janice and Fish, the changes clearly tell you that the tracks were not mixed and recorded all at the same place/mic distance/equalization. Not only this, the height of instruments was never so clearly delineated in my setup! Hey, it was not that I have not obtained proper height in my sound stage, it was just that the top to bottom horizon was never so clearly separated as the left to right pane. In short, separation was never so great!

This cable is about portraying the space and dimensionality with rock solid imaging, and the "correctness" that got me tearing within. It is all about Nothing But Signal and no nonsense filtration, and I can assure you that once hooked, you will make a beeline to get one yourself!