F1 Fractal™ speaker cables




We are very proud of the response we have had, following the release of the new F1 Fractal™ speaker cable.This speaker cable is entirely constructed by hand to achieve the most transparent and neutral connection between amplifier and speakers.
The no compromise option for sound quality.

The F1 Fractal™ speaker cable combines Townshend’s remarkable Fractal™ proprietary treatment, with its impedance matched cable geometry to bring you the most transparent, accurate and captivating speaker cable they can envisage .

Continuing forty years of development, the F1 Fractal™ speaker cable is Townshend’s first new speaker cable in fourteen years!

"I’m not a great believer in cables. They are not the sort of thing I enjoy reviewing.
Differences are fairly small, and you have to listen long and hard for differences that may not be obvious in a blind test.
Using the Townshend F1 Fractal speaker cable was a different ball-game. I have various sets of expensive cable in the house, which shall remain nameless, and having swapped in and out the various cables, it rapidly became apparent that what the F1 Fractal were doing was blindingly obvious, and highly significant.
Listening to a Hi-Res recording of the 2nd Brahms Serenade, the F1 was removing a level of smudge and dirt from the music, the bass was tighter and cleaner, much easier to understand musically, but perhaps the largest difference was the 3-d chiselled soundscape they were creating.
I could suddenly hear the layering of the orchestra, where the instruments were located precisely in space, and with such clarity.
Changing back to the previous cables, the sound stage became completely two-dimensional, collapsed and it was as if my review system was no longer of a “high-end” persuasion.
Changing to the F1 was removing the greatest block in the system, and was making the greatest difference."

Rafael Todes - Allegri String Quartet Violinist
and HiFi journalist.
Townshend---F1-Fractal-Speaker-Cable-best-2

Cable construction







Two Fractal™ treated pure copper strip conductors are spaced with ultra thin PTFE insulation with no adhesive and surrounded in flexible polyurethane polymer for truly comprehensive vibration damping. This entire construct is then encapsulated by a super-strong flexible conduit for ultimate protection, within hard wearing woven polyester braid.

Each end of the cable, incorporates house-keeping electronics to ensure stable operation with ALL amplifiers and features radio frequency interference reduction circuitry. All contained within a machined solid aluminium capsule, that also works as a transition between the twin-strips and the wire tails.

The cable may be terminated with lockable banana plugs, spades or the connector of your choice.

The F1 Fractal speaker cable is non directional and un-equal lengths may be used. It requires no burning-in and is available in lengths of up to 10 metres.


Electrical specs per metre

Inductance:  1.03uH
Capacitance:  0.91nF
Resistance:  10.1mohms
Leakage:  120 Mohms
Impedance:  30 ohms to match the typically high  impedance of speakers above 5Khz


Physical specs

Diameter:  22mm, tails 8mm
Colour:  Black or White sleving, Silver ends
Bend radius:  Minimum 300mm (12")
Compression strength:  Greater than 150kg
Tensile strength:  50kg
 

  • Speaker cables of the year 2018 Townshend F1 Fractal

    “Townshend Audio has long been the company that never does it the way you expected, but always does it right. There’s a deliciously left-field approach to Townshend Audio’s design criteria that sweeps aside convention and makes something at once different and brilliant.

    So it is with F1 Fractal, the latest in a long line of ‘break the rules’ loudspeaker cables.

    Townshend mathematically calculated the optimum relationship between inductance and capacitance, for lowest distortion, caused by reflections in the cable. The result is fractal wire, which uses two closely spaced, ‘Fractally-treated’ pure copper strip conductors that are now insulated with ultra-thin PTFE, encased in synthetic rubber, and clamped within a strong, flexible conduit trimmed with woven polyester braid.

    The ends of the cable are terminated in a metal enclosure containing an RLC network to prevent unstable amplifiers from oscillating, to reduce distortion, and to act as an RF filter. According to our review, “the bass is really tight, precisely formed, so the attack of the double bass section is absolutely clear and keeps time very well.

    I am not aware of any colouration in the mid-band or top, meaning the F1’s yield an airy sound packed with detail.” Our reviewer concluded that “The lack of reflection in the cables, I think gives a clue to their greatest strength, which is the ability accurately to portray lifelike 3D space in a way that I have rarely heard from a speaker cable.”

    Reviewed in Issue 157″

    HI-FI+ Issue 166

    [download pdf of full review Hi-Fi+ 157]


    Product of the year 2017 - F1 Fractal speaker cable

     

    It’s not just about fine detail, F1 Fractal also produces bass that is more concrete and real than anything else I’ve encountered. Bass that gives the image a solidity and presence that creates a ‘being there’ sense of palpable reality, it really is in the premier league. That has always been a strength of Townshend cables but here it’s joined by a level of resolution that’s hard to match. It’s not dead neutrality either, it’s vibrant musical cohesion that produces the most spot-on timing you can hope to find.

    Jason Kennedy- The Ear

    [ Full review ]


    F1 Fractal Speaker cable -The Ear - 5 stars award!

    “When I brought the F1 Fractal speaker cables back to the listening room the transparency was immediately obvious and to a game changing degree that I have never encountered with cables, in fact I’ve rarely come across as big an upgrade anywhere. It really is like upgrading to an amplifier of twice the capability and price, or perhaps like the change from a Class A/B amp to a Class A, there is simply more information, a heck of a lot more.”

    Jason Kennedy- The Ear

    [ Full review ]