Intrigue Series Speaker Cables

Intrigue Series — Pure Copper Speaker Cables for Audiophiles

A pure copper speaker cable should preserve the character, timing, texture, and emotion already present in the recording. Matthew Bond Audio’s Intrigue Series combines 99.9999% six-nines pure copper with Polyester-Mica insulation to create an entry-level audiophile speaker cable for listeners who want a natural, detailed, and engaging connection between their amplifier and speakers.

• 99.9999% (6 Nines) pure copper conductors
• Solid-core copper construction
• Polyester-Mica insulation
• Designed for high-end amplifier-to-speaker connections
• Conditional lifetime warranty

What Makes the Intrigue Series a Pure Copper Speaker Cable?

Six-nines copper is 99.9999% pure copper. In simple terms, 999,999 parts out of every 1,000,000 are copper, with only one part per million consisting of other elements.

For comparison, standard oxygen-free copper, or OFC, is commonly specified around 99.99% purity, or four nines. That leaves approximately 100 parts per million of non-copper elements, including oxygen. These impurities can exist around crystal boundaries within the copper structure, where electrical resistance can occur.

Fewer impurities and crystal boundaries can provide a more coherent path for electrical current. For audio, the goal is consistent signal flow across the full frequency range, with fewer irregularities that could affect the signal.

Matthew Bond Audio has spent decades comparing conductor materials, gauges, geometries, and insulation systems through listening and electrical testing. The Intrigue Series applies that experience through its use of exceptionally pure copper.

The result is a
high-purity copper speaker cable
designed for a warm, natural, coherent presentation while retaining clarity and musical detail.

Polyester-Mica Insulation: The Transparent Dielectric

The material surrounding a conductor also influences its electrical behavior. Insulation, technically known as a dielectric, can store and release electrical energy.

Conventional polymer insulation materials, such as PVC and PTFE, have dielectric properties that can influence how energy behaves around a conductor. In a high-resolution audio system, changes in the behavior of very small transients can affect perceived timing, texture, and detail.

Matthew Bond Audio uses Polyester-Mica, or Poly-Mica, with the goal of minimizing this energy-storage behavior. The company states that Poly-Mica does not store and release electrical energy in the same way as polymer insulation materials.

More importantly, Matthew Bond Audio reports that under blind listening tests, Poly-Mica revealed no sonic difference when compared with the same non-insulated six-nines pure copper conductor.

That makes the dielectric an important part of the Intrigue design. The goal is for the insulation to protect the conductor without adding an audible character of its own.

This is the engineering basis for the transparent reference speaker cable description. The cable is designed to let the recording remain the focus, rather than imposing a noticeable sonic signature.

Solid-Core Pure Copper: Why Construction Matters

There is another important choice here: solid-core construction.

Stranded cable uses many individual strands grouped together. Solid-core cable uses a single continuous conductor for each conductor path. Matthew Bond Audio has spent decades comparing these approaches because conductor geometry can influence electrical behavior as well as the way a cable performs in an audio system.

With stranded designs, numerous individual strands sit alongside one another and interact as the signal travels through the cable. A solid-core design removes that strand-to-strand arrangement and provides a simpler conductor structure.

This is part of
the engineering methodology behind the Intrigue Series,
where conductor material, gauge, geometry, and insulation are considered together rather than independently.

The result is a solid-core pure copper speaker cable designed to combine a lush, warm sonic character with clarity and detail. Voices can retain their natural body while instruments remain distinct and properly placed within the soundstage.

The Sound of the Intrigue Series

The Intrigue Series is designed around the reproduction of actual instruments and vocals, with a presentation that combines warmth, clarity, detail, dynamics, and spatial definition.

1. Lush and Warm

The six-nines copper and Poly-Mica construction are designed to provide a smooth, musical presentation. Vocals can retain their natural body, while instruments maintain their individual character.

2. Clear Instrument and Vocal Recreation

Small details help make recorded music feel realistic. Vocal articulation, the attack of a piano note, the texture of a string instrument, and the decay of percussion all contribute to the sense of a live performance.

Intrigue is designed to preserve these details without making the presentation unnecessarily hard or clinical.

3. Defined Images and Dynamic Contrast

The cable is designed to reveal clearly outlined images within and around the soundstage. Spatial information, harmonic structure, and dynamic contrasts remain important parts of the listening experience.

At under $8,000 USD retail, Matthew Bond Audio positions Intrigue as its most musically accurate speaker cable in this price category. In this context, entry-level audiophile speaker cable means the starting point within the company’s high-end range, not an inexpensive mass-market cable.

Intrigue Series Specifications

The Intrigue Series is a solid-core pure copper speaker cable built around the following specification:

• Conductors: 99.9999% (6 Nines) solid-core pure copper
• Insulation: Polyester-Mica (Poly-Mica)
• Application: High-end amplifier-to-speaker connections
• Price tier: Most musically accurate speaker cable under $8,000 USD retail
• Warranty: Conditional lifetime warranty
• Available lengths: Contact Matthew Bond Audio for current options
• Termination: Contact Matthew Bond Audio for current options

Contact us for pricing and availability.

45 Years of Conductor and Insulation Testing

The Intrigue Series reflects decades of testing and comparison involving the components that make up an audio cable.

Matthew Bond’s research has covered different conductor materials, wire gauges, conductor shapes and geometries, solid-core construction, and insulation or dielectric materials. Listening tests have been combined with electrical measurements where possible to identify relationships between measurable characteristics and the listening experience.

One of the strongest examples is the Poly-Mica blind listening result. Matthew Bond Audio states that listeners detected no sonic difference between six-nines copper insulated with Poly-Mica and the same conductor without insulation.

This approach comes from Matthew Bond’s long history in audio cable engineering, beginning with experiments in the 1970s and continuing through the founding of TARA Labs in 1984 and subsequent cable innovations.

The Intrigue Series represents
47 years of original audio cable innovation
focused on conductor purity, construction, dielectric behavior, and musical reproduction.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is 6 Nines pure copper and why does it matter for a pure copper speaker cable?

Six-nines copper means 99.9999% copper purity, with only 1 part per million being non-copper. Standard OFC is commonly around 99.99%, or four nines, leaving approximately 100 parts per million of non-copper elements. Fewer impurities can mean fewer crystal-boundary irregularities and a more coherent electrical path. Matthew Bond Audio uses this high-purity copper speaker cable construction to support a warm, natural, and detailed presentation.

2. What is Polyester-Mica insulation in speaker cables?

Polyester-Mica, or Poly-Mica, is an insulation material selected for its electrical characteristics and low energy-storage behavior compared with conventional polymer insulation approaches. Matthew Bond Audio states that blind listening tests revealed no sonic difference between Poly-Mica-insulated six-nines copper and the same conductor without insulation. The goal is an acoustically transparent insulation system that does not add its own audible character.

3. What does “entry-level audiophile speaker cable” mean at the Matthew Bond Audio price point?

At Matthew Bond Audio, “entry-level” refers to the Intrigue Series as the starting point within the company’s high-end cable range. It is positioned as the most musically accurate speaker cable under $8,000 USD retail. This does not mean entry-level in the mass-market sense. Intrigue brings six-nines pure copper and the company’s established engineering philosophy to the accessible starting point of its high-end lineup.

Bring Decades of Cable Engineering Into Your System!

The Intrigue Series brings decades of conductor, insulation, listening, and measurement research into a high-end speaker connection. Its six-nines solid-core copper and Poly-Mica insulation are designed for listeners who want warmth, clarity, detail, and musical realism from their system.

If you want to explore more of the engineering philosophy, you can also learn about the Cascade Noise Burn-In Disc, compare the company’s other cable designs through
Insight Series Speaker Cables,
or
explore the GSC Series
for a different level of speaker cable construction.

Contact us for pricing and availability.