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Zu Mission-LC Mk.III adds Teflon™ into the insulation/dielectric mix, as well as pure silver to a percentage of the conducting circuits. Mission-LC Mk.II did not use Teflon™ or silver. Mission-LC Mk.III is a high conductance, linear impedance, mainly copper conductor loudspeaker-level cable designed and built to define the standard for affordable high-end hi-fi loudspeaker cables.
The majority of design and testing was performed at the Spectra Sonics building, 3750 Airport Road, Ogden, and on a healthy number of solid-state and P-P and SET vacuum tube amplifiers. Loudspeakers used in testing included Focal, Tannoy, the huge Sound Labs and a slew of Zu loudspeakers, from Method Bookshelf to Dominance. We are confident in Mission-LC Mk.III loudspeaker cable’s ability to improve your system’s dynamic agility without highlighting or emphasizing problems in recordings or your playback room and system. Mission-LC Mk.III has excellent resolution and has a tone center right smack in the middle of the music-weighted power spectrum.
Connector Options
Spades ¼ inch [6.3mm] regarded as the standard size and references the inside diameter, or binding post shaft size. Most amps take this size. If your binding posts have full plastic encapsulation and a slit for you to slide the spade through, ¼ inch is very likely the right fit. Our ¼ inch spade has an outside width of 7/16 inch [11mm].
Spades 5/16 inch [8mm] regarded as oversized. This is a common size for loudspeakers, but most loudspeakers accept both standard ¼ inch [6.3mm] and oversized 5/16 inch [8mm] spades. That said, if your loudspeaker feature binding posts that are fully encapsulated with plastic, with a slit-window for you to pass the spade lug through, then you should reachout to the maker of the speakers to find out which size will work. Our 5/16 inch [8mm] spade has an outside width of 5/8 inch [15.9mm].
Banana—the common banana plug. Fits banana socket size 5/32 - 3/16 inch [4.0 - 4.7mm].
Bare Wire - bare wire with the tip tinned.
ZuB3 (Zu loudspeakers that have this connection benefit from using it.
Cable Design
The field geometry of Mission-LC Mk.III are built on a signal and power transmission technology originating with Nikola Tesla, an electrodynamics format that allowed for very wide bandwidth and large power transmission. Within the cable’s E&M architecture we combine pure U.S. refined and drawn copper and silver. Dielectrics include the careful use of a bit of Teflon, used on a few of the circuits to improve treble detail and stereo realism without messing up tone. Mission-LC Mk.III has a very supple hand, understated looks and un-inflated size. And yes, we build it to last several lifetimes.
Directionality
Mission-LC Mk.III is not a permanently directional cable; it can be used in either direction. However, we pay close attention to direction of manufacture, from wire to cable, and identify this by placing the writing of the cable data barrels so it reads in the direction of signal travel—from amplifier to loudspeaker. Connecting it like this ensures matching channel fidelity, increased burn-in speed and it allows you to easily direction identification if you’ve taken your cables out and need to connect them back up.
Burn-in
Mission-LC Mk.III will require a good bit of play before they reach full performance. Nevertheless, they should sound excellent right out of the box. If you wish to accelerate the burn-in just play them more. We DO NOT recommend any special burn-in devices or special recordings. We do recommend music you enjoy, preferably upbeat full spectrum recordings: rock, roots, full orchestra, big band.... For the possible how and whys about burn-in please see our Answers section.
Maintenance & Cleaning
Connector maintenance and cleaning is covered below. The cable itself doesn’t show dust or fingerprint and shouldn’t require cleaning. Still, spills and pets happen, Mission-LC Mk.III can be cleaned with any common household cleaner.
Termination and Connections for Mission-LC Mk.III
Connectors serve several functions—facilitating easy hookup of your gear being primary. But close to easy of use is the need for good electrical and mechanical connection over time and under your environmental conditions. Since this is a home audio product, the environment is assumed to be your home, which is not as uniform as you might initially think. Those that live on or near the coast contend with salt air, which significantly increases corrosion rates. But even if you don’t live “close” to the sea, say you live as far as a mile [1.6 km] from the coast but still get a sea breeze, you could notice the effects of sea air. Some connections need maintenance, others don’t. Here’s an overview of the termination offered for Mission-LC Mk.III.
Spades [Forks]
Spades offered for Mission-LC Mk.III are the tried and true pure copper spades we have been making and cold forging (very high pressure crimp) to our speaker cables since 2000. As we terminate them, they are the highest conductance of any terminal. They are also thin enough to work with plastic encapsulated binding posts, the ones that require you to slide the spade through a slit in the plastic. Our pure copper forged spade does require you to clean as you would bare wire.
Maintenance Schedule - How often depends on where you live and the mechanical qualities of the binding post-to-spade connection. High desert dwellers should inspect and clean them every time they are disconnected and reconnected, or every five to ten years. Those living right on the seaboard should inspect and clean the spades every time they are disconnected and reconnected, or twice a year. Those living within a mile or so of the sea [a kilometer or two], but without much of a sea breeze should make cleaning them an annual habit. For everyone else, every other year is enough. We recommend Cape Cod Polish for copper, silver and plated contacts.
Banana Plugs
Mission-LC Mk.III are built with silver plated Deltron banana plugs when “banana” is selected—they may be the best sounding banana plug out, and they are not stupid expensive.
Maintenance Schedule - None really, but look them over anytime you disconnect them. Silver tarnish is really not a big deal as it is still highly conductive, but if you do have a bit of black on them, Cape Code Polish and a clean cotton cloth will make them bright again.
Bare Wire
Bare Wire on Mission-LC Mk.III is prepped with 3/4” [19mm] lead length and has the tips “tinned” with 4% silver bearing lead-free solder.
Pros - Bare wire has the best conductivity (DCr) generally. And as there’s no wire-side connector, bare wire is less money. In some situations, the mechanical flexibility offered by bare wire connection is desirable.
Cons - Bare wire can be a bit fiddly to connect up, particularly in tight spaces. Bare wire connections require maintenance as they are more susceptible to corrosion.
Maintenance Schedule - Bare wire requires inspection and cleaning. How often depends on where you live and the mechanical qualities of the connection. High desert dwellers that have a good bare wire connection should inspect and clean the bare wire ends every time they are disconnected and reconnected, or every five to ten years. Those living right on the seaboard should inspect and clean the bare wire ends every time the ends are disconnected and reconnected, or twice a year. Those living within a mile of the sea, but without much of a sea breeze should make it an annual habit. For everyone else, every other year is enough. We recommend Cape Cod Polish for cleaning bare wire.
ZuB3
ZuB3 termination is the ideal connection for Zu loudspeakers that feature this connection. The connection is as conductive as bare wire, and has electrodynamics profiles that best matches Zu speaker cables and speakers. The connection is also resistive to corrosion and self cleaning—every time you break and make a connection the contacts are wiped clean. More about this connection is found here. The ZuB3 connection is only offered at the speaker end.
There are no cons to this connection save a bit of cost, and the size of the connector if you are needing to run the cable through an opening in the wall or furniture.
Maintenance Schedule - None
