What is the cost per foot of this wonder wire?
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These cables look extremely interesting. I have admired Jeff Smith's designs when ever I have heard them. Only question I would have, is the way that they connect to the binding post...looks like a home audition on your amp and speaker end may be a must before committing. If these would work on my amps and speakers, I am certainly going to put these at the top of my audition list. |
Ed Shilling at Hornshoppe Horns has been making ribbon speaker cables for many years. When I had his speakers, I noticed his ribbon cables on a photo he used on his site and asked about them. Although he didn't advertise them, he said he'd make them for anyone who asked. They were copper flat ribbon speaker cables, by the way. They didn't look as nice as these Fidelium cables and the insulation looked like something Mapleshade made: kind of loose and baggy. If I didn't have my present SCs, I'd give these a try. All the best, Nonoise |
Just my preference, however, I’ve not cared for speaker cables that connect to the amp and/or speaker the way that there ribbon speaker cables do. I’ve tried several brands and while they sound good it seems like the attachment ends become the weak point of the cable over time. I do admit that "The conductive surface is a .75 inch square with a .25 inch wide notch compatible with most binding posts" looks like an upgrade compared to what was done in the past. |
I'm in major agreement with fxman. I've got a pair of 6' Fideliums myself, and I've got to say that I am stunned at the difference they make. They replaced my Norsodt Blue Heaven LS cables, and their improved imaging and realism is absolutely jaw dropping. I was hoping that I might might hear some beneficial difference. But I never expected a cable that was so good that I was sold before I could finish the first song I listened to. Heck, I knew I was onto something significant after just a few notes. They are amazing. But don't take my word for it. Something like this, the word on the street will prove me right soon enough. They're just so new that almost no one's heard them. But if you can, you should, provided you have a highly resolving system. |
Scolly3. You heard exactly what I did. I have had synergistic Tara labs anti on and on. Tried everything over the 25+ years and nothing has made this much improvement in sound reproduction. When I say everything I mean top brands and show winners that we all talk about. I believe these are worth the audition. |
"Tried everything over the 25+ years and nothing has made this much improvement in sound reproduction. When I say everything I mean top brands and show winners that we all talk about."I've been a budget minded audiophile for 40+ years myself, and this is only the third time - in all that time - that I've made a change to my system that was instantly audible, and left me with absolutely no interest in wasting time A/B'ing. If you have a well resolving system, to not hear this, you'd have to be deaf. |
I don't think the prices have changed...silversmith is currently offering a 20% discount to the listed prices and I think the price of $795 for a 6 foot pair quoted in a previous post is after the discount. I just received a 4 foot pair of these today and must say that they are very, very good, not even considering the relatively low cost compared to other top flight cables. I would highly suggest purchasing a pair while they are 20% off. My guess is the list prices will go up. Silversmith has a 30 day trial period, so you only have the shipping costs at risk. |
I was totally flabbergasted; see: https://www.thesoundadvocate.com/2020/01/just-launched-silversmith-audios-revolutionary-speaker-cabl... Having just recently invested a considerable amount on the somewhat inimitable Inakustik LS-4004, I was ( a bit disturbingly) amazed to hear the supremely ACCURATE’ Decay’ time on all music and voices and overall supreme sound quality of these cables !! This was more noticeable than on changing from any loudspeaker cable I have tried ( https://www.thesoundadvocate.com/equipment-reviews/cables-accessories/ ) in the last year and a half! Try to audition them in your system with some non bastardized recorded program sources technique if possible- you’ll see what I mean!! Review forthcoming. |
Great Question! When tried with my recently reviewed “ Aerial 6T loudspeakers (https://www.thesoundadvocate.com/2020/02/review-aerial-acoustics-6t-loudspeaker/ I would say incontrovertibly Yes’. However, I am now going back and reinstalling my Spendor’s, Quads and the Audionote AN/ED’d ( review forthcoming) to see if the subjective qualities remain constant, or whether it’s the all to familiar “loudspeakers system” cable marriages. It should be interesting!! |
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I've already weighed in on how these sound, and I'm not a trusted source for that kind of feedback here, so I'll not belabor it. But I can give you some info on cosmetics. These cables are somewhat delicate. I'm sure they are tough enough, given their covering in a laminate. But whats inside that laminate is a sheet of metal foil. Not as thin as a sheet of household aluminum foil (roughly twice as thick), but foil all the same. I was putting mine up on risers. I'm using these Audioquest Fog lifters. In that process, while one cable was still on my wooden floor, I dropped one of the risers, and it landed on a cable. Now that cable has a pucker in that spot, that will never be removed. There goes that flawless golden ribbon. Still works fine, of course. And does not look that bad actually. But it's no longer perfect. IMO if you are one of those people that refuse do buy a used item here if the cosmetic condition is not a 10, then stay away from these cables. But if you can put up with the inevitable crinkles that will happen in handling, and gently-gently pulling them through cabinet openings and such, then they are wonderful. I'm not in this hobby to show off my gear. I'm in it for the sound. And these perform remarkably well in that regard. I just sold a pair of Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables that I'd been using for years, and they were in good condition. So I know being careful with a speaker cable is possible. And on some - like Nordost's - it's practically required, if you care about cosmetics. On these, somewhat more so. However, if you are one of those people that do like to show off their gear, there's no hiding these things. A pair of 2 1/4" wide, shiny gold ribbons running from your gear to your speakers is not something you'll easily hide. Even more so if you put them on risers. They show themselves off. Brilliantly. And IMO, look wonderful. |
They will fit undoubtably, the flat ribbons have a thin flat (metal ?) conductor with a “ cutout” to fit into your binding post ; as spades do. Just screw them down; they’re pretty sturdy. Also, the designer informs me that the “ideal” sound quality emerges with the conductor side FACING the binding posts of both speakers and amplifer!! |
I asked Jeffrey Smith about break-in, and he said that he hasn't experienced and did not expect any improvements with break-in; however, he did say that some customers did experience positive effects. I have had one pair (just received a second pair for biwiring) for about 3 weeks and don't think I've heard any changes. I must say that these are the best cables I've ever used and by a considerable margin. Highly recommend trying them...you can return them within 30 days for a refund if you don't like them. |
Hello, everybody. Thank you for your general impression but I would be interested to have more details about your feelings if possible. Indeed, I have owned a pair of Fidelium cables for about 1 month. I acquired them by looking at the few words on this forum as well as by intuition because it seemed to me that something interesting could come out of it. As far as I am concerned, I found the quality suggested here. Once installed, at the first listening, I would say that the key word is openness. You get the feeling of a wide open sound stage, redeployed with a more perceptible separation of the instruments. In this new space, we find a great richness of tonalities with an unusual presence of the instruments as well as a frank separation. In my case, this is particularly noticeable on the Jazz drums which leave the back of the stage to come closer with percussion and cymbals better highlighted on my Harbeth SHL5 + speakers. The sound in general is very beautiful, rich in details, the treble goes high and is "clean". I was reading on a site a tester who said "when you find yourself tapping your foot, moving while listening without realizing that it's somewhere that the cable is good". That's what happened to me. I think there is indeed something exceptional about these cables that deserves to be further explored and confronted on various systems and by various people. |
I’m evaluating a pair now. Jury is out but I am remaining unbiased and giving them a good run with various IC cabling combinations. Drastically different than my Cerious Graphene Matrix SC’s. And I forgot to mention I am a believer in Jeff and his approach. As an engineer I am humbled by his technical chops. |
Hi All. I wanted to report on my impressions of the Fidelium speaker cables, which I had the pleasure of auditioning in my system and am purchasing a 6' pair. Up until now, I've been using Cerious Technologies Extreme Graphene cables, which replaced Wireworld platinums, which replaced Clear Day double shotguns, which replaced some lower level Purist cables. My system includes Avalon Eidelon Diamond speakers, VAC electronics, a PS Audio direct stream DAC fed by Roon, and other excellent cables and tweaks. While the Cerious cables were the best I had had in my system to date (except for a short-term loan of some $30k Nordost cables that I could never afford!), the Fidelium's clearly bested the Cerious and (by inference) all before them. While the Cerious cables provided a big and bold sound, swapping in the Fideliums showed me that there were micro details, textures and colors that were not getting through the prior bold presentation. Not that there was anything wrong with the Cerious - they are great - but I found more to be appreciated with the Fideliums. The Fideliums had a more natural and organic presentation, removed some mid-base bloat, and maintained excellent sound staging and imaging. I had two friends come over and A/B with me to share impressions - one a reviewer, the other a female who has good hearing, no audiophile tendencies, and was willing to humor me on the experiment. Both had the same impressions, so "3 for 3". This, of course, led me to purchase the Fideliums. From my perspective, they are an awesome deal in terms of bang for the buck. My former cables were all in the $500 - $1200 price range, and these outperform them all. |
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I think, the cables are system dependent and nothing is absolute. In my system, these cables have been amazing with remarkable improvements across all spectrum. It may be a touch on warmer side, but everything else is as good as it gets. With this level of improvement, I am waiting for them to release ICs. |
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