The Chord HDMI Silver Plus 1.3 is the latest version of Chord's original and award-winning HDMI Silver Plus. Like its predecessor, the 1.3 version has been awarded Best HDMI Cable in the What Hi-fi 2007 Awards. The HDMI Silver Plus 1.3 uses the same design principles applied to the original HDMI Silver Plus. The conductors are silver-plated oxygen free copper and whilst revising the cable to meet 1.3 specification, we also took the decision to increase the diameter of the conductors and at the same time improve the signal shielding. These revisions improve picture transfer and we can now offer the HDMI Silver Plus 1.3 in lengths of up to 40 metres! Contrast is improved and interference levels are reduced.

Lengths of 15 metres or more are fitted with an in-line signal amplifier. This guarantees that the longer runs of cable will meet 1.3 specifications and transfer a 1080p signal.

The improvements brought about by fitting an HDMI Silver Plus 1.3 to a screen or projector are easy to notice, even when using relatively short lengths. Over longer lengths however it becomes very apparent just how well the cable performs when compared to other HDMI cables. Any home cinema system requiring a long HDMI cable to connect a projector will really benefit from using the HDMI Silver Plus 1.3.

The HDMI Silver Plus 1.3 is available fitted with high quality gold-plated HDMI plugs. High performance DVI and MI adaptors are available.

Chord Crimson - RRP £28.95

The Chord Crimson replaces The Chord Company's first ever interconnect cable, the Chord Chrysalis. Although a completely new design the Crimson is a good example of the way a product evolves. The oxygen free, multi-stranded copper conductors are identical in strand diameter to the conductors used in the Chrysalis, but whilst the Chrysalis used a co-axial configuration the Crimson, like other interconnects in the Chord Range uses a pseudo-balanced circuit path. Using identical conductors for the signal and return paths improves a cable's ability to accurately carry dynamic information and also to transmit greater levels of detail.

The design also means that the cable will carry more information over a greater bandwidth and the decision to replace the Chrysalis was driven by the need to do this. The extended frequency range of the Crimson makes it a great choice for use with CD, DVD and SACD players. Modern versions of these machines output a surprising amount of information and the Crimson will transmit this remarkably accurately. The Crimson was designed to be versatile and will work really well in any entry-level hi-fi or home cinema system. Its ability to accurately carry high frequency signals makes it an ideal cable for connecting multi channel audio players. Crimson will maintain performance over long runs and the design of the cable means that it can be configured to perform extremely well as a subwoofer cable.

Optical Cable 1m - RRP £44.95

In theory, all optical cables should produce pretty similar results. In practice, this is not the case. In comparisons with other optical cables the Optichord produces a more accurate tonal characteristic and a vibrant and lively sound from the system it is connected to.

Chord Carnival SilverScreen speaker cable - RRP £198.00

Up until now, our experimentation with shielding systems on speaker cables has produced products in the mid to high end of our range. The Carnival SilverScreen dramatically changes that. During the development of the Signature and the Epic speaker cables we connected both cables to some surprisingly inexpensive systems, the results were extremely impressive. Shielded speaker cable produces a remarkably consistent series of improvements regardless of the system they are connected to. It is however extremely difficult to recommend a speaker cable that in some cases costs more than the rest of the system put together.

Chord Carnival SilverScreen offers a set of performance characteristics that make it unique at its price point. The oxygen free copper multi stranded conductors used in Carnival SilverScreen have been borrowed from the Chord Carnival Classic. Likewise the low-density polyethylene insulation and twisted pair configuration. The conductors are surrounded by a soft PVC casing that provides excellent mechanical damping characteristics. This is surrounded by a heavily overlapped dual foil shielding system and this in turn is surrounded and protected by a translucent PVC outer jacket, again with excellent mechanical damping characteristics.

As with the Signature and Epic speaker cables the shield fitted to the Carnival SilverScreen reduces interference, lowers the noise floor and brings big improvements to the entire frequency range of the system it is fitted to. Timing is improved, as is the dynamic performance. Levels of detail are increased but what really matters is the coherency with which this information is presented.

Carnival SilverScreen can dramatically improve the musical abilities of almost any system it is fitted to. However, given the price, Carnival SilverScreen should also be serious considered for use in home cinema and multi-channel music systems. The sheer number of components and the amount of cabling involved in a typical multi-channel home cinema and music system makes a compelling case for the use of a shielded speaker cable. For a typical home cinema system using Carnival SilverScreen for the front three speakers and Carnival Classic for the rear speakers will produce outstanding results. The fact that both cables share identical conductors will help to bring a real coherence to the sound of the system.

Chord Carnival SilverScreen is available in a dual conductor twisted pair configuration. In order to bi-wire, two runs will need to be used. Chord can supply speaker cable clips to enable you to join the two runs neatly together and ensure consistent spacing along the length of the run.

Carnival SilverScreen should be installed so that the writing on the cable reads from the amplifier towards the speakers.