Steve, you know they are not using enough gold to justify the cost, though I'm sure that Siltech will go on to tell you how high the quality of the gold is.....probably 48K. LOL! |
The demo's in the past with the most expensive Siltech cables were Always very dissapointing in the Netherlands.
The people are quite arrogant and they had big stories. But they could never convince with sound. As you all know....hearing is believing! |
3 days ago I placed my large speakers on Aurios Pro + tungsten-carbide balls.
It made a big improvement. The highs are more silky, everything got a certain "sweetness" and "liquid" quality.
Images are better, there is a "floating" quality to the sound now.
Soon I will make Gabriel gold Rapture R speaker cables and test them against Valhalla.
But Aurios already pushed the system in the right direction. |
I wish I had tungsten-carbide balls. |
I auditioned probably 30 different interconnects from the Cable Company to give my slightly bright Cary Audio speakers more warmth and authority. The Purist Audio Museaus's were head and shoulders above anything remotely close to their price range. Amazing how one cable stood out from the rest in it's price range to such a degree (in my system anyway).
I then auditioned the Museaus speaker wire and came to the same conclusion. Ended up putting the PA Museaus cables in my system exclusively. Amazingly it didn't make the system sound too dark or rolled off at all. Just great authority, rich, robust, and timbrally right sounding.
I may be selling a pair or two of RCA interconnects soon since I'm moving to Purist Audio balanced cables now that I have a balanced DAC and pre. |
Here's a few tips before going nuts trying to find the perfect cables.
make sure everything in your system and room treatment and speaker placement has been optimised.
Get all the basic stuff right first.
People spend a lot of money and time bouncing from one component to the next, and little or no time getting what they own to sound as good as it can.
Most tend to take the path of least resistance.
I don't want to say lazy, but, to get good sound requires a bit more effort, and expecting a set of interconnects to transform a system is asking too much and could be doing more harm than good.
Veiling out distortions with more distortions isn't the answer.
I had a friend sell of a lot of decent gear because certain records sounded harsh.He wanted everything to sound smooth.
I told him some recordings are just bad, and some are good.
If you bring them down to the same common denominator what good is that?
His response was-well everything sounds smooth.
I told him, no, everything now sounds worse, because the better recordings sound no different than the poor ones,hence a degradation in sound for the sake of sameness.
If I paid big bucks for a 45/ lp I would hope to get what I paid for.
It should sound better than most of the standard thin pressings from the 70's for example,not the same.
I wouldn't want an IC so coloured that I couldn't tell the difference.
Forget "warm" look for uncoloured cables. |
06-25-14: Lacee
Forget "warm" look for uncoloured cables. I see this comment quite a bit, many times coming from those who use warm sounding electronics or speakers. I guess it always makes me wonder "Why does it matter how you get there"? If you arrive at the same destination. "Uncolored" cables "Colored" gear or "Uncolored" gear and "Colored" cables? What's the difference? Now I know everyone will say "No, my gear and cables are all uncolored, my system has absolutely no warmth", or they may call their warmth a natural warmth. This BS just makes me smile. Everyone out there tunes their system to suit their own personal tastes. So what difference does it make if you decide to tune the sound with speakers, with an amp, or with cables? So your advice to this OP would be to buy uncolored cables, sell his speakers and buy warmer sounding speakers? Maybe a tube amp? |
All gear has a "sound"
Unless someone gave you your system, you put it together by yourself.
The voicing of this gear has to appeal to your "innervoice".
And believe me, over time, this inner voice changes as you mature and really start to listen to the "sound" and not just the music.
I enjoy the music, but I don't want my enjoyment to be less than maximum either.
Every system has the potential to sound great or sound less than great,just by how we approach the hobby.
You can throw big bucks into the music and build a huge record collection but, why compromise the sound by skimping on the gear end?
Makes no sense to me.
Neither is ignoring the electricity, the room, all the connectors, the speaker position, what the gear sits on, etc.
All the stuff that splits the audiophile/music lover into choosing between the two camps, one where nothing makes a difference, and the other where everything makes some sort of difference.Difference doesn't mean better,but it's not to be confused with "all sounds the same".
If my system was too "warm" I wouldn't want to add a cable that leaned to the warm forgiving side, unless of course if that was my desire.
Sometimes our desires change.
I realized that all that warmth was robbing me of detail that is just as important to my enjoyment of the music.My tastes changed.
Some folks start off with going for gear that pushes out the most bass, and there's no such thing as too much bass to them.
Later they discover that they've been missing 40% of the midrange of the music.
You can have too much of a good thing.
It depends on how you've voiced your system.
Bass heavy, too top endy?
Find wires or ways to fix the problem or move on to other gear that isn't so coloured.Yes I agree.Been there done that.As have all the others who have gear for sale on this site.
I don't like to use the term neutral because that is a term that can mean different things to different people in the context of what they are listening to.
I would say,don't rely on the system that you've set up at this point to be the ultimate reference system .
Go out and listen to different systems,with different speakers.Listen to panels if you are a cone person, and vice versa.Listen to tubes, listen to well set up vinyl systems.
Listen to rooms that have treatment, and power conditioning.
I think you will, as I did, come to a much better understanding of how much the little things that shouldn't matter ,when combined, really do add up to improvements.
You really never know if your system is too thin or too thick, if you have nothing better to compare it to.
I've been fortunate to have had friends and audio dealers who helped me find my way.
Had I not had the help, I probably would also speculate about wires, and fuses having any effect on the sound of my system.
To me, this hobby is all about discovery, and it's not about standing still and accepting that what came out of the box is as good as it can be.
I've learned otherwise.
It can be a costly education, so be warned when you open up Pandora's box.
Sadly there's no free lunch.
The performance of your gear is a direct result of how much effort you put into your system.
It will sound great with stock this and that,but in my experience, it can sound even better.
But to get it to sound better costs time, effort and money.
For some folks that's not being "all about the music" and being all about the gear.
Unless you hire the performers to play in your room, then it is all about the gear.
And it's all about how you tune that gear to please your inner voice.
At least for this moment in time. |
Lacee
You have rounded up this post perfectly. I have read this with much interest as I have been on the same merry go round as I am sure many others have too.
There are some valuable contributions here in general apart from the specific cable recommendations which are good too.
Now, I worry and analyse less about sibilance or other untoward sounds on less pristine recordings and hopefully just enjoy the music. |
"... I worry and analyse less about sibilance or other untoward sounds on less pristine recordings and hopefully just enjoy the music."
Congratulations! It certainly took me a long, long time to finally get away from too heavy a concern with pristine sound and all its "glorious detail" and supposed neutrality. Best wishes for continuing musical enjoyment, regardless of the level of coloration.. |
The Gabriel line of cables did what you ask for in my system but I prefer more detail at less expense. For far few dollars, try a used pair of Cardas Cross cables (thick and warm). |
More detail with Cardas ICs? Now that's hilarious!
As for determining neutrality of an IC, if your system has a tape loop, put the IC there and then flip the switch to "Monitor" for that tape loop and notice the difference between the switch engaged and not. |
All of my auditioning and purchases over many years tell me that staying away from silver gives you a chance for warmth. If you use multi-strand wire then it should be Litz and if you like the warmth of Cardas and want better detail then think about Lessloss Anchorwave.
To get where you want to go you'll need good power cords as well. Lessloss DFPC is nicely warm and their Signature loses some of that in favour of better detail and bass grip. |
Good silver is very expensive. But silver can even create a warm and involving sound as well. Like the Accapela pure silver interconnects. My new Audioquest Wel Signatures also sound very musical. They are very expensive. |
my friend borrowed an Audio Note ANV IC and when I got it back he said it sounded good for copper cable so I told him it was silver, he was impressed. Their stuff is very nice but pricey. |
Audiobb, it would help if you let us know your budget & associate equipment to make a more appropriate recommendation. |
Hi audiobb.Try the old Purist Audio Design Maximus.They are called water cables.The sound superb.I Have them in my system and they are warm and detailed at the same time.I use them to connect a Krell Kav 300 cd to an ARC LS2BMK2 preamp and an ARC D200 amp.Cheers.Raf |
Hi everyone,
Thank you for all of your comments. Since than, a lot has changed.
1.
I picked up a pair of GG Reflection V2 ICs. I like the Silnote Audio ICs, but they lean more to the detailed side. GGs do have a slight golden hue - not a "warm" sound that changes tonal balance, but more of a timbral change that sounds less detailed and more musical.
They work better with Valhalla speaker cables.
2.
I built my own USB cable - big difference. Just losing the +5V wire from the cable improved everything a lot.
3.
I did not build the 40cm speaker cable from my GG Rapture speaker cables. I didn't find them to be resolving enough, they seemed too "dark" in the tonal balance. Too much bass, not enough high tones.
it wouldn't be good for the speaker cable for the midbass-midrange-tweeter part of my system.
4.
I just lowered the "sponges" on RAAL tweeter for only 2-3mm. It improved sound a lot. Better cohesion with midrange, more natural sound.
This I would not believe if I didn't hear it myself.
SAME radiating surface, not smaller. Only lower for 2-3mm.
I forgot to mention that Valhalla is ONLY on the top 3 drivers in my speakers- 7" midbass, 2" midrange and RAAL ribbon.
Bass drivers (2 x 12" + 2 x 15") all use Oyaide Tunami speaker cables.
I am very happy with the sound now. Much better balance between details and musicality.
I agree, our ear also "matures" with time, we also get used to our system and time changes things.
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