"All too apparent immediately."
Exactly! All of these silver contact enhancers require at least 100 hours of burn in with signal before they can be judged critically. I used Silclear a bazillion years ago, these days my money's on Quicksilver Gold. Faint heart n'e'r won fair maiden, as my granddaddy used to say. |
I can't speak of the silclear but if it is anything similar to the Walker SST silver product which I tried and still have on hand I would take you up on the bet Geoff. It works in brightening things up alright but in my particular case it wasn't a good thing and was ALL too apparent immediately. I'm glad I only tried it at the RCAs into the amp, that was enough! |
hi geoffkait:
unless the "treated" pair creates a roundness in the treble frequencies, you will lose the bet.
of course, there is a problem of distance. you are, i believe, located on the west coast, while i live in ny. |
Mrtennis, giddy-up! You're on. |
i cannot confirm the "break-in" period for the silclear in my friend's system.
however, as a risk taker, i would propose a wager. conduct a blind test using two identical pairs of interconnects, and i would bet that i would discern a brightness, after 100 hours of break-in when auditioning the treated pair. |
Mrtennis,
It takes about a hundred hours of playing music or playing a break in track before the Quicksilver or Quicksilver Gold loses any tendency toward brightness or stridency. Your friend should have waited. I use Quicksilver Gold on all tube pins, including those both NOS Sylvania 6SN7GT Bad Boys. They are not bright or thin. |
my friend used it on his tube sockets. he reported that his system sounded very bright and thin. i have not and will not use it. |
Eggs ackly. The difference between a lubricant and a conductor. |
Quicksilver is supposed to dry out, and leave the deposit of silver behind. The container can be taped(airtight) and placed in a vacuum sealed bag, which prevents it's drying out in storage. |
Kontack is all i use the other stuff dries out etc. |
Has anyone tried the Furutech Nano Contact Enhancer? |
I used the Walker Audio silver based contact enhanser for a long time and did try that by Mapleshade's product also. Goo Be Gone, which is orange based also works. But it is really Audiotop Connect 3 that think is best. This oil is the last step in Audiotop Connect Workstation that includes an acid and a base cleaner as first steps. I have found that the cleaners get nothing off gold plated contacts and so seldom bother.
Now with the High Fidelity CT-1 Ultimate cables with Stabilant 22 on them, I don't use the Audiotop on those cables. |
Quicksilver is what I've been using for years and have been very satisfied. Haven't tried the Gold. Perhaps: when this container runs out. But then(I believe), if you use up a container of the stuff in less than ten years(on audio connections), you've probably applied too much. |
Silclear from Mapleshade more or less morphed into Quicksilver Gold from Xtreme AV, the current king of contact enhancers. Cryo'd high purity silver with gold content. Cannot beat with stick. |
Using silver bearing products on tube pins, is NOT for everyone. It takes a steady hand, an ability to limit the amount applied and extreme caution. Some have no attention for detail, should completely avoid the practice and perhaps the products(altogether). They WILL cause a short, if used incorrectly, in any circuit. |
I used it on tube pins and fried a circuit board on my ARC VT-100 mk2! Never again. |
I use Silclear and have discovered that turpintine is just the ticket to get it completly off when switching out wires. I am not totally happy with the results & have just ordered QSG as I have gold/silver alloy interconnects & just love the sound over the thin sound of silver. |
I agree with Mprime except maybe I'd go for XO vodka and Cinaco Anejo tequila (or maybe Don Julio 1942). A good cabernet also helps music sound better. |
Be careful with this silver paste. I use silclear and it can get (has gotten) everywhere and it does not come off easily. If overused, it can cause some big problems.
On the other hand, if someone is messing with your gear, put a little dab of this silver stuff on the power switch. The culprit will be easy to spot because he too won't be able to get it off his fingers. ;-) |
SILCLEAR, like all tweaks, has its own sound and effect. I personally use it, as it is what I bought from Pierre at Mapleshade (he is such a good salesman, isn't he?). Haven't tried the Walker SST or the Quick Silver. They may be much better; I wouldn't know. Friends with good ears say the Quick Silver stuff kicks major butt, a real value. Again, wouldn't know.
But I DO know the best way to apply the gooey crap! Clean your connections with whatever you use (I use Flitz; VERY cool stuff) and then get out a lint-free disposable wipe (available from any optometrist or related business). Apply the SILCLEAR onto the cleaned surface with a paint brush (fine tip), using a VERY TINY AMOUNT! People slather this garbage on! MAJOR mistake! The film left must be about an angstrom thick. (Okay, okay, maybe not an angstrom, but you get my drift.) Then put another tiny amount on the lint-free cloth and start rubbing the area with the SILCLEAR dabbed cloth directly on the equipment surface or plug/termination and just tightly squeeze as you rub the SILCLEAR INTO the surface. The cloth will absorb the excess in a very short while. Rub until the SILCLEAR is basically invisible except on very, very close inspection of the desired surface. Be careful not to get the SILCLEAR on anything else, as it is highly conductive and can cause a bridge, an arcing --in short, a disaster! Seriously!
This stuff works. But will it IMPROVE your sound? That is not a question anyone can answer but YOU! Try it! Most manufacturers have a 30 day guarantee. Nothing to lose.
Fact is, I don't think I could use up all the SILCLEAR that Pierre sells for $30 or so, in 100 years! If you do it right, you need amounts that are truly miniscule. BTW: I REALLY liked the effect it had on fuses. Absolutely KILLER! And really a cheap, cheap tweak that works, when amortized over the life of the SILCLEAR supplied.
But if you're using SILCLEAR and you're using it up fast, you're applying WAY too much. Remember: "Less is more".
Hope this helped. Happy listening. |
Walker SST Silver . Waste of money. Trust me. Do not have any experience with X-Treme Quicksilver. |
SILCLEAR from Mapleshade works for me. There are others at premium price . Just don't expect too much . It dose what it suppose to do - better connection , lower noise & a long run protection on your investment. Small improvement to your system & piece of mine. |
Drrdiamond, I will be interested in hearing what you think of the SilClear. Good listening.
Boss302 |
Thank you, Boss302.
I just ordered it.
Richard |
As Nrchy has said I've used SilClear and continue to use it. I even had a friend who tried it on lightbulbs and it helped the contact. I've read about the other 2 but for the cost of the SilClear the improvement was dramatic enough I can't justify the additional cost at this time for the other two. I'd rather get music. |
I just did my system up last night with Quick Silver and the resolution gains were quite significant. There are a few issues that I hope clear up. These have manifested exactly as described by the Quick Silver creator so I fully expect that I will end up where he claims. At least 36 hours of signal burn-in is recommended before critical evaluation is made. I have 5 hours logged.
I don't have any experience with either SST or Silclear. |
It's a minor-minor-minor improvement.
Buy more music and scotch instead. |
I never bought it, but Boss302 brought some of the silclear over and applied it to a few of my cables. It seemed to offer an improvement, but I'm not sure how much. I don't have a way to quantify it. |
Go to audioasylum.com and search. There were many posts about the first two products. I used SST for some time with a great benefit, but I now use AudioTop contact cleaner. |
