black hole cables

High end cables – Joe

SUMMARY: Well built, expensive cables for the discerning user.

The good guys at black hole cables were nice enough to send a sample of their “Pro-Grade Reference Interconnect Network Cables and High-end Reference PC Power Cables.” As you will see, these cables are for the very discerning user.

The first product is the BlackFlash Special Edition Ethernet Cable:

Key Features:

• Shielded Metal
• 50 micro gold plated contact
• Alumuflex overcoat
• Boots with latch guard
• Individual tested T568B wiring scheme and certified to Cat 6 with certificate included
• Exceeds category 6 specifications

According to black hole cables, each cable is individually tested to spec. I found the plug boots to be superior to those of some others I had:

It was much easier to plug/unplug the BlackFlash Special Edition Ethernet Cable – the rubber boot material was very easy to flex, making plugging/unplugging a snap.

I tested the ethernet cable by comparing download speeds with the BlackFlash Special compared to a standard, unshielded ethernet cable I had lying around. I found that both cables gave me the same download speed from my router – 8.4 Mb/s (multiple tests). This is not a particularly noisy environment, so I would guess that I am maxed out as far as the connection goes. Technical Data for the BlackFlash Special is
HERE.

Pricing: 10-ft = $ 29.99, 20-ft $ 35.00.

The second product I evaluated was the BlackHole Power Onyx PLUS power cable. This weighs in at 940 grams compared to 100 grams for a “normal” power supply cable – very beefy indeed!

Key Features:

• 8-gauge copper conductors
• Multistrand Oxygen-Free copper
• Connectors machined from solid billet
• Hermetically sealed connectors
• 4 metal shields
• Ferrite impregnated jacket
• Hot and cold welded connections

Comparing the BlackHole Power Onyx PLUS to a “standard” power supply cable reveals just how beefy it is:

The male plug appears designed to take a LOT of abuse; it clearly is better built. The female end

similarly shows heavier construction. Inside

shows the layers of shielding and the 8-gauge copper conductors; as a point of reference, 20 amp house wiring uses 12 gauge solid copper wires.

According to black hole cables, two forms of welding are used in bonding the wires to the plug – Cold and Hot Welding.

Cold welding is achieved through the pressure of a hydraulic press – this fuses the two together; next this joint is further joined by hot soldering. I used the cable and found that as long as it’s well supported (it’s heavy – make sure it does not pull itself out of the plug), it performs fine. I really have no way of testing this product in a meaningful way. Technical Data for the BlackHole Power Onyx PLUS is HERE.

Pricing: 6-ft, $ 99.99

These products are clearly well built. I do not have the capability to rigorously test these products, but it appears that for mission critical applications, these products are well worth considering.

Email Joe