KLE RCA plugs are the real deal!!

Alex - the Absolute Harmony and the Pure Harmony both perform extremely well.

Perhaps the most telling evaluation was on my turntable which has one piece silver litz harness. The cartridge is a Soundsmith Mod’d Denon 103 with an optimized Countour Line Contact stylus on a ruby cantilever and the phono stage is a Simaudio Moon LP5.3

The following link will give you more details...
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-absolute-harmony-rca.html

I also used the KLEI gZero20 IC’s which had the Absolute Harmony plugs on them for my digital rig and they provide the same outstanding quality.

I now use them on my own "home brew" Helix cables that allow these RCA’s to perform to their highest abilities. 

Hope that helps - Steve

This thread is quite interesting....

There are the people that like/love the KLEI plugs 

And the people that think they are unworthy - mainly because the silver appears to wear off.

Has anyone considered that the problem may not be with the plug, but with the socket into which the plug is being inserted?

If the socket is even slightly larger than spec, it will exert additional force on the plug which will of course wear off the silver.

I say this because I have been using KLEI plugs for around 5 years and the only model of plug that I have experience the silver wearing off is the Copper Harmony - and even that was after several dozen insertions.

I have used these plugs on several different components, so there is a likelihood that at least one of them would wear off the silver coating, but I have to admit that on all my cables the silver is still intact

I now only use the Absolute Harmony because it is superior sound to all other models in every respect.

For the person that wondered how the Harmony plugs compared to the original Bullet plugs - even the copper harmony was superior to the Silver Bullet - and as I worked up the line the improvements kept coming.

Here's my review of the Copper Harmony vs. Silver Bullet
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-copper-harmony-rca.html
http://image99.net/blog/files/1621fffaa60c22b5f8210f57d628f961-58.html
http://image99.net/blog/files/a8494e8645dea3d750d109f819103099-61.html

Happy Listening - Steve

Alex...

Do you think the tonearm cable RCA connector is the most sensitive place in audio system?

Yes and no...
- the amplitude of the signal is very small and therefore introduces the least amount of noise between the conductors within that cable.
- However, because the signal amplitude is so small it is amplified significantly more than the signals in other IC's within a system and any noise injected into the cable (e.g. from external RFI/EMI) can be quite noticeable

However - to get the very best out of a turntable a one piece harness, like those sold by Cardas, is perhaps the best approach, AND then install the best RCA you can afford - for me that is the Absolute Harmony.

I use Furutech 126(G) for my tonearm cable

I have used that very RCA in the past on my tonearm and other interconnects, but I now prefer the significantly finer details and dynamic performance that the Absolute Harmony plugs provide.

Hope that helps - Steve

Alex - also remember the RCA's need considerable burn-in time.

From new, I found small improvements still occurring after 300 hours.

If previously burned in - I would give them at lease 60 hours to sound their best.

Happy Listening 

Alex, The improvements between the Absolute Harmony and the Pure Harmony are small and you really have to listen intently to hear them.

In my reviews I believed it was important to report on any improvements I heard (or not)  so that people could make a decision based on my observations. 

As a reviewer I have to have a "benchmark" to compare other products too. For me, that benchmark is the Absolute Harmony.


When I review a product it generally takes at least a couple of months of...
-  "acclimating" my ears to my baseline setup, 
- installing the new product, 
- allow sufficient time for burn-in/settlement 
- and then listening many times to around 200 tracks I have selected for their various "virtues".

But - In the "Real World" - where most people simply sit down to listen for a few hours - then I tend to temper my recommendations. 

So -  in real world terms - if you are thinking in terms of a quick A/B comparison,  I would  have to say you might not be able to discern the difference between these two RCA's. 

But if you are the type of person that has to have to have the best then the Absolute Harmony is your goal.

Since you have already purchased the Pure Harmony I think it would be more prudent to use them and simply enjoy the results and DO NOT let those "nagging thoughts" of having to own the absolute best (exscuse the pun) get the better of you.

If at some point in the future you happen to find yourself needing more RCA's, you could then try the Absolute Harmony, but I believe there is no need to replace the Pure Harmony you currently have. Just enjoy them :-)

Enjoy the music - Steve

@grannyring - re:

I have found very, very little difference going from the Copper to Silver to Pure. I feel there are two real choices. Copper Harmony if cost is an issue and Absolute Harmony if you want the best. The other two add unneeded complexity to the line. My honest opinion.

I tend to agree somewhat with this comment - with the exception that the Silver harmony is my starting point, simply because in my system the improvement over the Copper Harmony was most noticeable. Also, the silver does wear off of the Copper Harmony pins, but the Silver Harmony seems to wear much better.

And for the few extra bucks the Absolute Harmony cost (that is compared to the Pure Harmony), it makes sense to buy them in place of the Pure harmony, because otherwise you'll always be wondering just how much better they might be.

Regards - Steve

Alex - RE:

What I didn’t like - on some records, the sound is too calm, too polite.

Maybe it’s the actual wire that sounds "too polite" ?

The RCA’s have always responded very well to the various wires I have tried

I have been messing with cables for over 5 years and it never ceases to amaze me how the wire, or RCA or the insulation and even the cable geometry can mess with the sound.

Also - humans tend to attribute a change in sound to the latest change made - in this case the RCA’s - when in fact the RCA’s could be highlighting a property of the wire or cable itself.

The degree of difference you can hear by installing these RCA’s is determined not only by the RCA, but also the wire + the geometry of the cable

So unless you have very good wire and an excellent cable geometry then you may not hear the true benefits of these RCA plugs, or even the differences between them

The Helix geometry is perhaps one of the most transparent out there.
- I use Mundorf Silver/gold solid wire for the signal wire on all IC’s, but Duelund wire is also very good.

See: http://image99.net/blog/files/category-002ahelix-interconnect-cable.html

If the DIY Helix cable is not to your liking, then I would recommend the KLE Innovations Interconnects. I have tried most of their earlier designs and they were all excellent performers. The gZero10 is very good. They seem to have dropped the gZero3/6/20 IC’s

I have not tried the QFLOW or zPURITY series, but I read good things about them


Happy Listening