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KLE Innovations Silver HarmonyRCA's - not silver eh?

OK - so if you have not yet seen it, there are some postings on the web that calls into question the "integrity" of KLE Innovations. Simply because it was believed that the contacts in the Silver Harmony RCA plug should have been made from solid silver.

When those posters learned that this was not the case - they got upset.

One web site has even gone so far as to post photo’s of Harmony RCA’s with the silver coating ground off to display what they believe to be just plain copper.

Theatrics? - YOU BET!

Since I have been a proponent of KLE Innovations products for many years and have posted many reviews and positive comments. I felt it was important to bring this to everyone’s attention to avoid possible misconceptions and future postings that might propagate this kind of nonsense.

Please checkout the KLE Innovations site and read the Brochure and Technical Paper at
https://kleinnovations.com/kle-innovations-klei-products/klei-harmony-plug/

I think you will find that nowhere does it state that the Silver Harmony is fabricated from "solid silver".

"Silver Harmony" is just the name given to that model of RCA, which achieves a higher level of performance than the Copper Harmony, but not as high as the Pure Harmony or Absolute Harmony models.

To quote from KLE Innovations documents:
Proprietary mathematical modeling is utilized to produce the Silver Harmony’s ground to signal pin relationship, parameters, and determines the proprietary metallurgical processes that are used.

Note the key word here "Proprietary" - this means KLE Innovations are not about to give away what metals or alloys are used, so stop pontificating and just enjoy their abilities.

What you get is a family of RCA’s that are advanced way beyond the accepted norms of current RCA designs, that are capable of extremely high levels of resolution.

If you want more proof of their abilities simply google "Silver Harmony" and take a look at the number of cable fabricators that use them.

What did grinding off the silver coating achieve? One totally useless set of RCA’s - that’s all.

Regards - Steve

williewonka
williewonka OP
3,075 posts
 
@ypingping - the difference between the various models is in the thickness of the silver coating.

But it's not just about the thickness of the silver coating - KLE Innovations has complex formulas for each plug that pertains to the construction of the pins and the thickness of the copper as well as the silver coating.

I have tried all models of the Harmony RCA and from my ow personal observations...

- The Copper Harmony is a good introduction, but 

- Silver Harmony is my "GO TO" RCA for SPDIF (digital) cables - no need to buy more expensive Pure or Absolute models - they will offer no further improvements in sound for digital signals up to and including 24/192. I have not tried Silver harmony on higher resolutions.

- Pure Harmony - this is a puzzle to me, because in my mind,  if you are going to purchase the Pure Harmony, you might as well spend a little extra and get the Absolute Harmony for the best possible performance

- Absolute Harmony - this is my "GO TO" RCA for all of my analogue cables. It has the best performance of the Harmony Line and well worth their price.

I hope that clarifies things

If you want to read my personal reviews of the Harmony RCA's...
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-copper-harmony-rca.html
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-silver-harmony-rca.html
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-pure-harmony-rca.html
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-absolute-harmony-rca.html

Regards - Steve  


yping
351 posts
 
ypingping, good name and if we there was ypingpingping then we would have a trilogy of ypings.

ypingping, as williewonka says the literature indicates something very different and each harmony plug sounds different with the absolute harmony being the best performer. this other site has certainly caused some unnecessary confusion and it would appear that they have their own issues to deal with and it would also appear that they don’t use their ears to listen. the suggestion that they all sound the same, and even made the same, is bit ridiculous, imv.

my thoughts are while the copper harmony is excellent, that the absolute harmony is amazing. the silver harmony is better than the copper harmony and the silver harmony would be my choice over the copper harmony. i don’t know how good the classic harmony is but i have found the classic harmony banana to be excellent and quite amazing, even as an adapter, so i suspect that it is also excellent. the pure harmony, well i am not sure, but KLE and others make excellent cables with them.


ypingping
37 posts
 
Oh Yes, we can ping, ping, ping all day and be triplets!  Funny joke. 

I like what Mr Wonka says (Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is favourite movie). So there is more silver coating over the copper as we move up the through the silver, pure and absolute Harmony plugs?  That is a good distinction to make which is not told plainly on the website.  But I think sellers do not explain well either:

https://www.partsconnexion.com/KLEI-79436.html
"Absolute" Harmony Phono RCA Plug Highest Grade - Pure Silver on both Ground and Signal"
Suggests to me that the ground and signal pins are pure silver but we know it is not true, as Mr Wonka says.  But why not KLEI tell them to stop advertising falsely.
ypingping
37 posts
 
Mr Wonka if you see this link to original advertising on KLEI site you will see that for Harmony plug for silver, pure and absolute harmony that original advertising says that contact pins use pure silver alloy:

http://web.archive.org/web/20140927101434/http://kleinnovations.com/kle-innovations-klei-products/harmony-plug
For copper harmony it says that is is silver plating over copper and that is true. This is best most honest plug. But others were advertised as pure silver alloy - not as silver plating over copper. Others are not honest plugs. But thank you. You agree that that is more silver plating on other plugs. I learn something. But it is still silver-plating over copper. Like in Copper Harmony. The Copper Harmony is good so why would more silver plating over copper work better? Where is pure silver plug from KLEI?

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

KLE RCA plugs are a nice offering if you need something that is copper or silver-plated copper.  At $79-109, this should not be looked at as a pure silver conductor.  Silver-plated has some advantages to some people, but never as good as pure silver.

ETI Research makes the current generation of the original Eichmann bullet plugs.  They are offered in both pure copper or pure silver, though the silver option is priced at $148, where it should be.  Documented as being machined from 99.99% pure silver rod.  In the end, you get what you pay for.

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