Good, Neutral, Reasonably Priced Cables?

Hi All,

Yet another bit o' information regarding ribbon cables-

We've had some discussion of Alpha-Core and Magnan upthread. I didn't realize until recently that Audio Magic (the folks who also make the 'Stealth' power conditioners) manufacture silver ribbon cables (both speaker and interconnect).

Not cheap, but generally on par pricewise with equivalent Alpha-Core silver products.

I'll refer anyone interested to the Audio Magic website-

Audio Magic

I just received the latest 'Cable Company' newsletter, which mentions that Audio Magic is introducing their new 'TriniumXL' ribbon interconnects- some kind of copper/silver/gold alloy ribbon.

Might be a good time to keep an eye open on closeouts of older/used products.

As always, FYI and FWIW. I haven't heard any of these in a system.

Cheers,

Check the thread at:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=30116

I have no affiliation with Grover Huffman but have personal experience with his cable products. They are in my opinion unbeatable for the price and have bettered a number of better known products costing much more.

The Empress Phono Interconnects are the finest cables made. I have upgraded from the SRII cables. The Empress uses the same internal wiring; however, the shielding common to virtually all Phono ICs is a metal type shield. Unfortunately, the SRIIs are so revealing and transient rich that the metal shielding elevates record noise and blurs timing, etc. relative to the Empress ICs. The new carbon shielding is non-metallic/non-magnetic and serves the same purpose but with extremely superior results. The Empress removes all of the noise inherent in common shielding designs and provides the SRII wiring to sing music sweeter than I have ever heard. This is a revolutionary change in phono cable sound. Grover and Michael have invented the ideal phono cable (and I=ve tried dozens of brands and types over the years). Analog is king with the Empress. (Digital remains the queen of sound with the Empress unshielded ICs, it can=t outdo analog). My friends come over and salivate at the sound of my system since I upgraded to Empress cables (although they always enjoyed Grover=s ICs before). My wife agrees that her rock records have the best vocal sound she has heard recorded or live. It=s difficult not to listen for hours into the night. My advice is to purchase the line stage to amp ICs first, then the analog (if you have it), then another pair for CDs. I also purchased Empress ICs for my Alesis Masterlink CD burner-unbelievable, great CDs from all analog sources.

I feel I am providing a necessary service to all you audiophiles and music lovers out there reading this. You will feel that the biggest bargain you have made is in purchasing the Empress ICs. You will change your equipment before you will change these wires. I am an amateur musician, music lover and audiophile (without the high end gear pretensions, quality always over snob appeal).

Caveat Emptor, a truly bad recording will be just that much worse sounding with the Empress Phono ICs - you can hear the electronics used in recording and cutting records, the ICs are that revealing. I heard bad cutter head amps and noisy microphone pre-amps revealed on previously okay sounding records. Now they show how bad they really are. On the bright side, most of my 17,000 LPs sound good to great. Average sounding records which may have restricted dynamics, highs, lows, etc. are just that much more interesting with better timing, openness and transients to reveal the essence of the music. Good music is just that more interesting and musically involving.

While I can appreciate an enthuiastic review of an excellent product, the following statement is pure hokum:

"Unfortunately, the SRIIs are so revealing and transient rich that the metal shielding elevates record noise and blurs timing, etc. relative to the Empress ICs. The new carbon shielding is non-metallic/non-magnetic and serves the same purpose but with extremely superior results."

Effective EM shielding uses effective conductive materials; carbon is not an effective conductor.

I would suggest the excellent performance of these cables is due to some other physical property of the design (excellent conducting material, novel conductor geometry, etc.).

Mprime: Don't start bad-mouthing carbon or a certain manufacturer will start crying "foul" and calling you names.

It is possible that the carbon does act as a shield and at the same time, is less intrusive due to the lack of conductivity & magnetic properties. As i've mentioned for many years now, shielding is beneficial IF properly applied. Most shields are NOT properly applied. Minimizing the amount of shielding while still offering a small amount of "blocking" via the carbon might be a reasonable trade-off between a lower noise floor and a lack of dynamic amplitude related smearing. Sean
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