2. cables
  3. 134034-1640

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
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.

ypingping
37 posts
 
Thank you auxinput.  Maybe it is the ETI pure silver I need to upgrade to.  Prices I see for the Absolute Harmony are around $130 - but this is still silver-plated copper as I say even if it has more silver plating.  So a pure silver RCA plug at $148 does not seem so bad a price, even though expensive.  Have you used ETI pure silver?  It makes sense I think to upgrade from Copper Harmony to pure silver instead of another silver-plated copper Harmony.  I thought for Absolute Harmony that it would be the pure silver one because it is "Absolute".  Maybe KLEI make new Harmony plug in pure silver and they can call it "Ultimate Harmony". Joke, but still would be good for them to do.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I have used the older original Eichmann silver bullet plugs.  They were nice, but over the years I have moved on to different materials.  I have found that silver is not my preference for sonic signature.  Silver is good for compensating for a system that is too warm, but it is very easy to go one step too far and then silver will push the upper mids/highs too much and the sound becomes a little artificial.  It's a balancing act.

I would say ETI is great if you want a pure silver RCA.  The Mundorf is likely better because of the 1% gold (it takes the edge off the brightness), but the Mundorf Mconnect silver RCA are $225 for a set of four (best price at Sonic Craft).

I have ultimately ended up with all Furutech Rhodium connectors.  They can be very expensive, but they are the best.  I have found that rhodium will have the speed and resolution of silver, but it sounds natural instead of pushing the upper mids/highs too much.  If you don't mind soldering and want good no nonsense RCA, the Furutech FP-126(R) rhodium are $90 for a set of four from Parts Connexion or VH Audio.  It's a basic non-locking RCA without set screws or anything fancy, but it uses the Furutech Rhodium plated OCC copper center pin (ground/shield is still copper alloy).  The more expensive Furutech rhodium have more features, such as set-screw, locking shell, carbon fiber, etc.  The ones with the set screw can be hard to get wires inserted because there is not much space.

yping
351 posts
 
williewonka, it appears that you have compared the copper harmony to the silver bullet, http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-copper-harmony-rca.html. what are your thoughts?

i find rhodium to be a bit cold sounding and i did not think the pure solid silver was machinable without being doped by a small amount of other metals to make the silver harder and machinable (much like gold). i wonder what mathematical modelling has been used in those rcas?

i think that i would like the absolute harmony to either those that have mentioned, so i will stick with the absolute harmony. i find that they provide a lively, organic, and more real type of sound. i also like the bananas.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
@yping - rhodium can definitely sound cold in the early parts of the burn-in process, especially within the first 50 or so hours.  I have found that you need 200-300+ hours to really burn in rhodium before it settles down.  But the end result is absolutely excellent resolution.
More to discover