Source.

The main listening was done with the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch connected (wired) to my MacBook Pro for streaming Tidal, as well as music loaded onto the LPGT itself. I also used the EarMen CH-Amp and Tradutto DAC stack connected (wirelessly) to my MacBook Pro for streaming Tidal.

Sound Analysis.

For the sound I am going to borrow some of the methodology from my Masters of Classical Music series, as I think it is the best way to describe why Sonnet of Adam paired with the VE7 resonated so strongly with me. I will therefore start by detailing how the VE7 scale by moving from the stock cable to Plato and then to Sonnet of Adam, using a specific piece of classical music: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, or Solemn Mass, is one of my earliest favourite classical pieces after I moved on from Mozart. Mozart is a great introduction to classical music because it is accessible and easy to enjoy. I love Mozart for that. Yet, as I started to explore a wider range of classical music, I found myself starting to prefer more complex pieces, and it doesn’t get much more complex than Missa Solemnis. Beethoven had a notorious disregard for the welfare of the performers when composing his music and with Missa Solemnis Beethoven tried to squeeze every last bit of performance out of a full orchestra, a large chorus, four vocal soloists and several instrumental soloists. Perhaps this was to impress his friend and patron, Archduke Rudolf of Austria, to whom he dedicated the piece. Whatever the reason, it is so challenging that it is rarely performed by amateur or semi-professional ensembles because they simply can’t do it. Oh, how I love Beethoven’s torturous compositions!

The VE7 with their stock cable are already excellent for classical music. They are exceptionally well done, neutral IEMs, capable of conveying tangible emotions. Both clarity and tonality are superb and I was very surprised when I first heard them. With Missa Solemnis you are treated to a dynamic performance where solo vocals and instruments bring nuance and detail, while the orchestra and chorus bring power, creating an ebb and flow in the music. Positioning within the stage adds to the dynamics as you track the music moving from left to right and back to front, your attention darting around the stage. The stock VE7 convey this feeling well. The stage is reasonably large and very airy, good positional information and an accurate tone. The treble is fairly bright and can at times have a hint of bite to it, but nothing offensive.

The pairing with Plato works very well in my opinion. Instantly there is a noticeable smoothness to the notes and some extra warmth that improves the timbre of the instruments. The stage becomes larger, airier and the background becomes darker. These elements combined, results in a stronger dynamic feel of the ebb and flow. In the first movement, Kyrie, the low, almost whispering solo vocals sound delicate and nuanced as they contrast more strongly against the background, and when the vocals of the chorus rise, they raise powerfully, filling the stage with emotion you cannot help but get caught up in. Similarly, when the second movement, Gloria, starts it is like a wave that suddenly emerges and as the different sections of the chorus come in, it feels like a turbulent sea with waves of powerful vocals moving across the stage in different directions. The improved positional information within the larger stage, greatly strengthens this feeling. It pulls your attention across larger perceived distances and with greater precision, making it easier to direct your focus. The only minor niggle is that the treble still has a little bite every now and then.

As you can see, Plato plays to the strengths of the VE7 very well and the pairing offers a more emotional and engaging listening experience. It is already very, very good and I thoroughly enjoyed this pairing… until Sonnet of Adam. The synergy between the VE7 and Sonnet of Adam is something truly special.

With Sonnet of Adam, I found that timbre improved to (for me at least) near perfection and the last hint of brightness in the treble was gone. Notes now flowed like velvet with exceptional clarity. Although the background blackness feels very similar, I found there is an even greater sense of dynamics, suggesting that the background blackness is improved even further. There is also something intangible here. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. And it is precisely this that causes the VE7 and Sonnet of Adam pairing to resonate so strongly with me. The funny thing is that Eletech uses a marketing text with the painting of the Creation of Adam that talks about the divine touch transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, and yet this is exactly what I experience with the VE7 when I pair Sonnet of Adam. The only other pairing I have heard in the past to which I had the same response was the Vision Ears VE5 and Effect Audio’s Lionheart.

Pairing Sonnet of Adam with the VE7 results in such an expressive presentation that a piece such as Missa Solemnis becomes profoundly emotional. When I listen to it, I find myself dropping everything I am doing and willingly allow myself to be carried away by the current of the music. And it is not just with classical music. Everything else feels like it scales in the same way.

I tried a wide range of music simply because Sonnet of Adam paired with the VE7 had become my “daily driver” pairing and I care little for listening to anything else. I did of course also try out a few other IEMs such as the Empire Ears Phantom and 64 Audio U18s along the way. Sonnet of Adam consistently improved transparency and increased the stage, but more importantly, Sonnet of Adam made everything sound more dynamic and with a greater sense of realism. With the VE7 the change in Gabriel Rios’ voice from the stock cable to Sonnet of Adam was significant and conveyed much more of the emotion, making his track Broad Daylight so much more fun and engaging. Godsmack’s Surrender illustrated much the same and highlighted how the bass of the VE7 became fuller with more texture and actually started to feel much like you would sooner expect from a dynamic driver’s bass. Similarly for the cymbals in the same track. By comparison the VE7 with stock cable sound flatter and not nearly as natural.

Conclusions.

The Eletech Sonnet of Adam is an eye-wateringly expensive flagship cable that is reserved for those of us who have gone down the rabbit hole head first and are willing to go the extra mile to achieve sonic bliss. Sonnet of Adam is a highly transparent cable that extends stage dimension, improves imaging and creates a greater sense of dynamics. Music comes alive with emotion, especially with IEMs such as the Vision Ears VE7. Build quality and ergonomics are excellent, as we have come to expect from Eletech.