All Series 8 Cables are meticulously assembled by hand in Orlando, Florida. Series 8 Mark II balanced audio cables begin with extremely high-grade linear crystal copper (LC-OFC) developed specifically for audio applications.  Tributaries LC-OFC is carefully drawn to produce a low crystal volume per foot resulting in less signal loss and distortion. Conductors consist of multiple solid gauges that are mathematically and tonally chosen to support low, mid and high frequencies for a natural sounding cable. Individually insulating each conductor yields zero strand interaction and better sound quality. The Series 8 balanced cables are precision-twisted triple balanced in design. Three dedicated conductors with equal impedance for positive, negative and ground are surrounded by a separate shield to keep noise from reaching the single path. The Mark II cables are silver soldered onto proprietary XLR connectors made with Tellurium (TE) copper contacts increasing conductivity and strength. To reduce signal hum during connection, the Tributaries Series 8 XLR connectors have the female ground (pin 1) placed forward in the shell so the ground connects first. The end result is a dead-quiet neutral sounding cable that accurately produces the sound of live music.