STUPIDLY high resolution pure silver interconnects
Several months ago I posted about making my own pure silver interconnects, and how much I liked them. Since that time, I have been relentlessly making other designs, copying other manufacturers build principles. I've built braided like Kimber, Venhaus, Tara copies, ect, ect. I've also experimented with various wire gauges and dialectric materials. NOTHING I did bettered my own previous DIY cables though ..... UNTIL : During some reading, I realized that several different, independant reviewers have ALL said the exact same thing about one particular cable, and that cable was the soild silver Vacuum State interconnects. What EVERY one of the reviewers said in common was : "I've heard things in my familiar recordings that I never knew was there" .... One of the reviewers, Roy Gregory of HiFi+ actually explained the EXACT construction used in issue number 60. It is one 29 gauge signal run, and two 29 gauge return runs of solid silver, enamel coated magnet wire. TIGHTLY TWISTED TOGETHER. Not being able to get silver magnet wire myself, I made an exact copy but used pure unbleached cotton covered silver wire and twisted it tightly together. It twisted easily and stayed PERFECTLY. Eichmann bullets are used on the Vacuum State, so that is what I used also. I am VERY embarressed to have to say this, because it sounds like a reviewer's used car salesman line, BUT : I'm now hearing all kinds of things I never knew were in my recordings I have been listening to and using as a reference all of my life !!!! I truly did not think this was possible, and thought it was something reviewers said to fill up blank space on their page. I could go on and on, but I've NEVER heard more resolution. They are NOT BRIGHT, but border on ruthlessly revealing. Insanely good soudstaging and imaging, with shimmering, detailed highs and tight, deep bass. I AM PERFECTLY HAPPY !
Just wanted to chime in (11 years later) to say that I have built the same cable that timtim speaks about. I used the same components they used except I believe my wire is a bit larger in diameter. I built this 2-3 years ago so can’t remember the exact gauge but I know it was solid core, pure silver in a cotton jacket made by Jupiter. I used the original silver Eichmann plugs with Cardas solder.
I agree with timtim’s description of the sound. It’s ruthlessly detailed! Really makes me wonder why standard interconnect construction can’t convey that amount of detail. Is it the silver? The minimal cotton jacket? The Eichmann plugs? All of the above?
The best analogy I can give is that the interconnect is like a magnifying glass. With standard construction interconnects, you mainly hear the notes themselves, some of the harmonics and occasionally a finger sliding down the guitar. With this DIY silver cable, it turns up the magnification and you hear every little detail with ease: you hear the notes themselves, loads of harmonics, every finger sliding up and down the guitar, the guitar pick leaving the string, the musicians shifting in their chairs, the reverb in the room, etc. It’s quite the experience!
I have found that the best location for the cable in my system is between the preamp and amplifier. I’ve used it after the source but it doesn’t sound as good as my more standard construction copper cable in that position and I have also picked up some noise there. Not so between the preamp and amp.
I have also tried tightly twisted architecture using solid silver conductors for neutral and signal, but this design proved to be much better across the board.
I use them for both analogue and digital cables and they are the best I've tried to date.
You could use silver for the neutral, but I've only tried them with a solid silver signal conductor and copper neutral conductor and they are superb. Much better than a $2k interconnect I have.
The KLE Innovations RCA's are the best I've used to date also. Performs extremely well on my TT's tone arm wire.
every once in a while, ask yourself this question ?
does the music sound more resolved than what you would hear in person, if the musicians were performing in your presence ?
perhaps an analogy will halp.
look at your hand with your "naked" eyes. then place your finger or hand , if possible, under a microscopic of some magnification. which view do you prefer ?
would you rather see the forest as a whole, or, each individual tree in the forest ?
I recently built a pair of similar interconnects. Used Neotech 28ga silver chassis wire(Teflon jacket), braided throughout and terminated with Vampire XLR connectors. Very high resolution without any harshness, a little light on bass though, which is fine since my speaker can load up the room at times.
If you think you heard of all silver cables then you haven't hear them all. Silver is not neccessary brighter than copper as it is really down to the design. Shielding has a lot to do with impacting the sound as well. Most of interconnect are not properly shielded.
It is not one size fits all so don't expect just use 1 size of the solid core to make the cable.
From my personal experience, there is noticeable differences between the 3N silver (99.9) vs 5N silver (99.999 ) for audio. The more pure silver the more clarity. Purity has nothing to do with brightness as some folks might mistaken clarity as birghtness. As far as connection termination goes, the differences is not as great compare to the material and the design of the connector iteself. I found the Eichmann is best for the price in terms of sound and performance. The WBT connectors is still very good but takes few hundred hours to break in. Never use exotic connectors like the big "B" brand. Cardas silver and gold are good budget connectors and can work well if choose the right cable design. They are lack of clarity compared to Eichmann and WBT. Neutrik connectors are good as well if you are looking for darker tone.
Another option is soldered termination employing a solder alloy approaching pure silver. I have had conversations with a new cable manufacturer that is taking this approach with a hybrid of precious metals conductors and Oyaide connectors.
The point on solder and surface area is well taken. However, would you hear the difference and if so how much difference would you hear? Solderless plugs exist, but the only one that comes to mind now are made by Furutech. I don't think they are silver plated though.
CLio09, thank you! I know that was one of the articles that I read. I understand that the best RCA connection is having the conductor not in a pool of solder but to have as much surface area as possible touching the connector. without having soldering experience and being on an a very tight budget, I was planning at least for now, going with silver plated solder-less RCA plugs. Does anyone have recommendations? Thank you.
From various articles that I have read that 99.99% pure silver is as good as it gets. Maybe this information is incorrect? The articles go on to say that companies that claim a higher purity than .9999% can not back it up in writing. One article said that an owner of a company asked vendors to prove the purity and stop communications with him. I wish I would have saved those articles. I also read that it is more important for the wire to be soft than pure even though purity is important. I am looking for feedback and hope someone can enlighten me. Thanks.
Metralla ... I can't even afford the Vacuum State interconnects I copied at $800 pr! Much less the more expensive foils Vacuum State sells. That's why I copied them .. LOL
Tom6897 , I have probably $90 per interconnect pr invested in each, but can't say as to burn in, because the wires I used came from another DIY interconnect that had already burned in. From all my other experience with this particular bare wire however, I would say probably around 24 to 48 hrs of burn in. I'm using VERY fine 99.9999 solid silver I bought in bulk.
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