Exploring the Mystique of Tellurium Q Speaker Cables: A Comprehensive Review

FutureShop is an authorised reference dealer for Tellurium Q, stocking the full speaker cable range from Blue II through to Statement II. This listening session was conducted on our in-house B&W 800 series reference speakers, with the full range demonstrated by Mark from Kog Audio, TQ's UK distributor.

Introduction: Unravelling the Enigma of Tellurium Q

Tellurium Q is another of those hi-fi companies we know less about than what goes on at a Freemason's tea party. It is tempting to slice open thirteen hundred pounds worth of premium quality speaker wire and spill its secret (strands of mermaid's hair, maybe?). What we do know, after hours of enjoyable listening, is that it isn't snake oil.

Actually, It's refreshing being unburdened with all the tech specs for a change – it makes our job easier. When our customers ask: "What's so special about these Tellurium Q cables?" we can confidently proclaim: "I don't know!". Well, almost. We have a duty to back up our merchandise, so all we had to do was listen.

Decoding the Tellurium Q Range: Colours and Performance Levels

But before letting you in on our findings, it's best to understand how TQ range their cables. They come in three colour families: Blue, Black, and Silver (which overlap in price points), and there are three performance levels: Standard Colour, Ultra and Diamond.

Families of Sound: Characterising the Colour Ranges

The colour families present their cables in three flavours:

Blue is warm and cuddly – it takes the edge off, and TQ aim it at harder-sounding AV systems.
Black is spacious and sprightly – an easy-to-love all-rounder.
Silver is lively and clear – a detailed but coherent cable aimed at well-balanced systems.

Climbing up the three colour ranges, you can expect more of the same characteristics but to a greater degree. In other words, Silver Diamond sounds like Ultra Silver after a protein shake and a workout.

In-Depth Testing: The Tellurium Q Experience

Mark from Kog Audio – TQ's distributor – dropped by with a quiver of cables to showcase. The full range of Black and Silver cables were put through their paces with the help of Billie Eilish and her Ocean Eyes – an insightful and intense poem (sung when just 14 years old) with plenty of space, low-end and ethereal voices, befitting Tellurium Q's mythos.

Starting on Black II, Billie's vocal layers sounded clear and glossy but, most strikingly, with impressive separation. Comparing Silver II brought us a silkier, smoother and more cohesive presentation with deeper perceived bass.

Ascending to Audio Excellence: From Ultra to Diamond

Up to the Ultra cables, Ultra Black II got more spacious – space that revealed more of the music's dynamics – with more forgiving tops and a good dash of transient detail on Billie's vocal articulations. The Ultra Silver was excitingly vibrant amid its cohesion, thickening the sound compared to its sibling.

Then we sailed up to the Diamonds. The Black Diamond's top-end presentation on set led into a sumptuous smoothness, remaining super-clear and tightly nuanced. Silver Diamond became even more vibrant with a rich, cohesive midrange and three-dimensional depth. It may have been Billie's Ocean Eyes, but we began to believe mermaid hair was hidden beneath the deceptively plain outer jacket.

Dare we hear the set of Statement speaker cables Mark flashed us before wrapping up the session? Of course, we should (despite their price tag competing with the cost of our B&W 800 series speakers). Statement II combined the best of Black and Silver's qualities. It possessed the vibrant yet cohesive character of Silver and the scale and space of Black with that silky-smooth top-end and highly nuanced transient response. However, we suspect this cable is capable of much more than our system can reveal.

Cable	Family	Sound character (our findings)	Best suited to
Blue II	Blue	Warm, softening, takes the edge off harder-sounding systems	AV systems or hi-fi setups that run bright. Not intended for well-balanced reference systems.
Black II	Black	Clear, glossy, impressive vocal separation. Spacious and sprightly.	The natural entry point for most hi-fi systems. An easy-to-love all-rounder.
Silver II	Silver	Silkier, smoother, more cohesive than Black II. Deeper perceived bass.	Well-balanced systems where the listener values cohesion and smoothness over Black's spacious sprightliness.
Ultra Black II	Black	More spacious than Black II, revealing more dynamics. Forgiving tops, good transient detail.	Systems at mid-level and above that can resolve the additional space and dynamic range.
Black Diamond	Black	Sumptuous top-end smoothness, super-clear, tightly nuanced. The Black family at its most refined.	High-end systems wanting the Black character at its fullest. One of TQ's most awarded cables.
Silver Diamond	Silver	Vibrant, rich cohesive midrange, three-dimensional depth. The most musically resolved cable in the range.	Reference-level systems where every component is performing at a high level. Requires good system matching.
Statement II	Statement	Scale and space of Black, vibrancy and cohesion of Silver, silky top-end. Highly nuanced transient response.	The most revealing and capable systems. At its price, the system must be at the same level to hear its full capability.

The Tellurium Q Secret Sauce: A Technical Insight

The lengths Tellurium Q have gone to conceal their secrets are a little bit extra. Let me give you examples . . . On their power cables, the mains plugs are glued together. If you need a fuse change, only TQ can handle this. The RCA plugs on the interconnects are filled with a mysterious goo which hides its connections. And, on the speaker cables, the banana plugs have a locking bar to stop you from snooping around inside those. An analytical examination was our best approach to understanding what goes into TQ's speaker cables.

The standard colour ranges are simply strands of conductors encased in polymer material with a flat geometry. The gap between the positive and negative will be spaced relative to the conductor gauge – this controls the balance between inductance and capacitance (length dependent), thereby tuning the cables' sound. The Ultra range increases the conductor gauge and the gap between them, accordingly. The Diamond range appears to be a twisted pair of conductors. We know Blue uses copper, and Black and Silver are likely to be silver-plated or – more likely – silver alloy.

Conclusion: Matching Your System to the Perfect Tellurium Q Cable

Ultimately, your choice should be based on the character of the cable rather than the relative price point. It may be that you prefer the presentation of the Black over the tonal capability of the dearer-priced Silver. Which level of cables you go with would depend on the level of your system. Our technical advisors are happy to advise.

Which Tellurium Q Family Is Right for Your System?

The conclusion section above gives the correct principle: choose by character, not price. But "choose by character" is only useful if you know how your system sounds now. Here is a practical decision framework drawn from our experience as a Tellurium Q reference dealer, using the descriptions we heard in this session.

Start here: How does your system sound on its own?

Your system character	Recommended family	Why	Where to start
Bright, hard, or fatiguing over long sessions. Treble feels sharp. Often AV-driven systems or home cinema setups.	Blue	Blue takes the edge off. It is the only TQ family designed to compensate for brightness rather than reveal more of it.	Blue II
Balanced and enjoyable but lacks space or air. Midrange and bass are good but the presentation feels a little closed-in.	Black	Black is spacious and sprightly. It opens up the soundstage without making the top end harder or more prominent.	Black II, then Ultra Black II
Already well balanced. The system sounds good and you want more detail, resolution, and coherence without changing its fundamental character.	Silver	Silver rewards systems that are already performing well. On a bright or unbalanced system, it will make the problem more obvious, not less.	Silver II, then Silver Diamond
A reference-level system that already does everything well. You want the absolute best without favouring either warmth or brightness.	Statement	Statement II transcends the family distinction. It combines what is best in both. But the system must be at the same level, or the cable has nothing to reveal.	Statement II. Speak to our team first.

On tier selection within a family: once you know which family suits your system, the tier decision is simpler. Move up a tier when you want more of the same character and your system can resolve the additional detail. If you are hearing the current tier's character clearly and want more of it, go up. If you are not sure the system is showing you the difference, it may not be ready for the next tier. Our team can advise on this based on your specific components.

A note on mixing families: Tellurium Q generally recommends keeping speaker cables, interconnects, and power cables within the same family where possible. A Silver speaker cable into a Blue interconnect into a Black power cable will not give you a coherent result. If budget requires mixing, keep the speaker cable as the priority and match the other cables to the same family at a lower tier rather than mixing families across the chain.

If you want a broader picture of the Tellurium Q range beyond speaker cables, covering power cables and interconnects too, our guide to the full Tellurium Q range covers the design philosophy, burn-in behaviour, and system matching considerations across all cable types. And if you are weighing Tellurium Q against another British cable brand at a similar level, the Nordost Leif 3 review covers speaker cables, power cords, and interconnects on the same reference system.

Epilogue: The Myth Continues

By the end of our demonstration session, we still had so much to ask Tellurium Q's messenger from the West. But before we could ask any more prying questions on how many strands of mermaid hair run through Silver Diamond, Mark swept up the mythical merchandise, mounted a winged horse and fled back to the Kingdom of Tellurium to play the lyre.

The full Tellurium Q speaker cable range is available at FutureShop, from Blue II and Black II through to Silver Diamond and Statement II, all backed by our 60-day money-back guarantee on cables. Not sure which family or tier is right for your system? Get in touch with our team for free expert advice.