Yes, the Fideliums are very midrange heavy. They’re a great cable and very transparent but at a cost. Dynamics seem dull and the midrange coloring is annoying. I would’ve purchased a pair had it not been for this shortcoming.
Well I joined the Silversmith FIDELIUM Speaker cable club today
The story behind this goes like this. I bought new speakers in December and their placement forced me to stop using my Wireworld Gold Eclipse III bi wire cables because they were too short. So for an interim cable I found a 2 meter pair of the "Regular" Eclipse III wires used being that I wanted to keep it in the "Family." My entire loom for the most part is Wireworld Gold Eclipse III interconnects. The Reg Eclipse III seemed fine but I alway felt I was missing something I was used to before, like it was just a little veiled comparatively. I've researched the hell out of cables and was just going to get a set of the New Eclipse 8's but when they raised the price for a 2M pair another $500 to $2000 I decided to look elsewhere, scouring used cables for months. Well through that process I discovered the many threads and positive reviews on the Silversmiths, so since they were more like what I was hopefully willing to spend I ordered a 6 foot set. Today I placed them into my system and after about one minute into the track I was astonished! I couldn't move from my chair, I listened to the entire album in astonishment. They literally "fixed" my system, it's never ever sounded this good. It's only been a few hours so i won't go into everything that happened right now but new cables are not supposed to sound this good straight out of the box. I am lucky. they blend with my system right away. The Bass was so immediately impactful I just cannot believe a cable can make this much change, the inner detail and transparency, wow! I know these things have been raked over the coals in these forums and their are some that are naysayers, but in my case I was one of the lucky ones because these babies are not going back to Chris! I cannot stop listening, it's amazing.
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Loved my Fideliums, Had to pay double the price to significantly better them. ( Townshend Fractal 1) No matter what could never get them to look good on risers. Even the Audiquest which are pretty cool for ribbons The Newer binding posts amps can be a pain in the as as you have to use adapters. The jumpers are a bit different also as they need to be looped. |
With any foil cable the placement of each leg in relation to the other is important. Keeping everything equal distance - like with those cable lifters made by @bigtwin - will improve things. When I was experimenting with copper foils I found having both legs sandwiched together was best. But that was with my amp/speakers of the time, no doubt the inductance/capacitance values needed will vary from system to system. |
Hi everyone, I don't have a dedicated room for audio. My cats have access to the speakers too. I used spike mats to prevent them access my audio gears. That works but not 100% of the time. I really want to try Fidelium cables. However, the cables are pretty fragile. I wonder if any audiophile here have any special cloths or some kind of protection to wrap the cables end to end to protect it? Thank you. Huy |
After reading about Deludedaudiphile's post on the cables resistance-not quite sure I understand fully what that means- got me thinking so here's my story. I purchased a pair to go with my Linear Tube Audio 10watt amp feeding a pair of Cornwalls ( over 100db/watt). Wow! What a difference. Significant upgrade. I sold both the Cornwallis and LTA amp and purchased a pair speakers rated at 89db/w/4ohm and an Integrated 125w/8ohm and 225w/4 ohm. While my amp was being built, I ordered a Class d mini gan 5 ( 200w/8ohm and 300w/4 ohm) to get me thru. The amp felt kinda warm for a Class D amp but didn't think much of it. Several days later it was dead. Returned it for a refund. Chalked it up to just one of those things. A month later my integrated arrived. Lovely sound.......for a while. One channel went dead. Off for repairs Do I listen exceedingly loud? Don't think so but do turn it up on occasion . I also didn't hear any distortion from my speakers. Bad luck or did the "resistance" of the cable have something to do with it? Putting excess strain on my amps? Just thought I'd share. Again, could have absolutely nothing to do with the cable but I sold my mine just to be safe.
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Your obsession is really bizarre. 1+1 = 2, whether I went to Harvard or a 3rd rate college, or whether I use a calculator or piece of paper. I work with academics. They try to do this when they are losing an argument. They try to find out your academic pedigree in hopes you came from a 2nd rate or even better 3rd rate university so they can attack your background. Academics can be as immature as audiophiles or vice versa. |
All I am asking is you list your current audio chain. No pictures, no description under Audiogon System page, just list of your audio chain. Typed in. It’s that simple. Too much to ask? Just a list. I will take your word for it, and never question you again. Promise. I asked you the same under at least four of your previous 12 usernames. You never did. Is this too much to ask? |
Oh great, the strange obsessed conspiracy theory guy is back. Happy Friday everyone. Would it make you happier if I asked the engineers at work if they have something close to a 1.8 ohm resistor of suitable size that I could add to my speaker cables? I doubt it would, though it would sound exactly like this cable. |
You are asking him too much. I have a very strong feeling this has nothing to do with auditioning or listening. For him to do what you asked him to do would require 1) he owns a pair of speakers to hook up cables to, and 2) any interest in trying speaker cables, or any wire for that matter. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, by him posting what his current audio system consists of. He has refused to disclose his audio chain in all his previous 11-12 (now banned) usernames.
Good luck getting to the bottom of this. |
@deludedaudiophile Do you have any sound reason for why so many people like these? Any science behind it or are we mad, delusional or deaf? Are we wrong in your opinion? You are dead set against these cables because you have calculations, reasons as to why they are bad. I just wonder what would happen if you auditioned a pair? Jeffrey will be happy to take them back, and you can verify your findings for yourself. Just wondering, Thanks. |
Exactly, I was skeptical at first, it was cheap i purchased in 2020, Tried it against all my cables,
I run, OTL, SET and Solid State, the Fids have performed at a higher degree than my copper or silver cables at a fraction of the price. Nothing more can be said you either try it and stop being a cheap ass or shut up and go to sleep. |
@noske That is what I normally see is lots of impressive sounding words, but they never talk about audio. A cable with 94% of the speed of light? That sounds very impressive. How does that matter for what gets to my speakers? I think that is a case of extrapolating well beyond a domain of validity. |
A dude by the name of Malcolm Omar Hawksford has generated a bunch of words on the subject. I understand that this current obsession is to do with something like wave theory (??), which is totally applicable to things like microwave ovens. The earliest reference to his thoughts that I can find are from 1985 where he found that high guage solid core is the secret to audio cabling. Another time, I guess. The folk over at the always erudite Stereophile enjoy publishing his words from time to time. I digress. If science is about developing models of the real world, and the adage that ’all models are wrong, but some are useful’ then I reckon there is nothing wrong with a model that may lack the correct details, provided it usefully describe key concepts and ideas to the intended audience. Where it can go wrong is when people extrapolate or extend the model beyond its domain of validity. I think he is a bit of a strange quark, having read some of his words while he was relaxing in Morocco. |
My cables are equivalent to about 11 awg. That mean's their resistance (about 8 ft) is 0.02 ohms in total based on an online calculator. I assure you bugredmachine, there is no magic in flat or round, the same electromagnetic equations still apply. Some manufacturers of audio products would like you to believe that is not true. If they proved anything, they would publish in a respected journal. |
What deludedaudiophhile points out about the resistance of these cables is informative. Does anyone know what the resistance of their speaker cables is…and if this aspect influences their awareness of the SQ? |
I have been using solid state amplifiers exclusively for years. I also have a new SS amp coming this week. Class A for first 18 watts. So, I don't have much memory for anything in the way of tube amplification. Someone seemed to imply we were buying high resistance cables but as you point out, we were not paying attention to that. We were paying attention to our ears. Now, at the time of purchase the Fideliums were a huge change in sound compared to the graphene-heavy Cerious speaker cables I was using. A no-brainer. I tend to think that flat cables carry the signals in a preferential manner as opposed to the very heavily studied round wire science. Can't explain it right now, but between the SC's and PC's it seems to be pleasing these old ears. |
You made the comment no one is buying Fidelium because of the resistance. No, because until I raised the issue, I no one seemed to know. I took a look at your system. Nice speakers and electronics. You mentioned you had 11 foot, but likely meant 10. That is 1.8 ohms total resistance. At 100 ohms, your speaker is near 2 ohms impedance and if I am reading this graph correctly, near 0 degrees phase. Your amplifiers potential power output at that frequency is reduce to only 27.8% of its potential value with a low resistance cable. The decrease in amplitude at 100Hz compared to 1.2KHz is 3.7db. This is all caused by the resistance of the cable. I know tube amplifiers often have high output impedance so it is not shocking to me that this cable could be reviewed positively. Could this cable cause a solid state amplifier to have a tube like sound? Maybe this is another of the secret sauce for many to prefer tube amplifiers and many to not like them.
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@bigtwin The way to do it is to
All the best, |
@bugredmachine Thanks. I've been able to attach a link, but can't seem to paste the actual pic the way you have. |
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I use Verastarr power cables (flat cable) and Fideliums. Some manufacturers make ribbon IC’s. I presently do not have any ribbon IC’s. I’m pretty sure flat cables make the difference. But maybe, applying the standard RLC thought process is not applicable to ribbons. Perhaps. I’m in the middle of something so my thoughts are not coherent. I’ll check back later. |
@bugredmachine What is the porocess you're using to get a picture posted? I find it annoying that this site is so restrictive, but you have a workaround. |
It is not copper. I have surmised, based on the marketing information, I believe with some accuracy that is is a nickel copper alloy. There are not many readily available alloys that meet all the criteria. I has been verified that my estimates of resistance are accurate. I would have assumed that would have opened up some interesting discussions about the properties and what it would do, but I forget the natural reaction is for people to stick their head in the sand. |
@deludedaudiophile OK, well that is reasonable and possibly (probably ?) quite sufficient for most home systems, if it is copper. But that would provide no cause for superlatives, for reasons. edit - I just calculated resistance on my 3 metre (copper) cables - its nearly less than nothing. About 1 ohm p/1000 feet or just over 3 ohm p/km per the specs. |
@noske I calculated as much as 1.45 mm^2. Looking at an online chart, that is between 15 and 16 awg. The resistance comes from the materials used in construction, not the very thin nature of it. |
More resistance I figured because I do need to apply more gain with my ZMA(mplifier). However, I still enjoy the Fidelium's, despite the highs not being as extended as I like. When using the Fidel's I run SRA Boomslang Digital RCA's to SRA Cottonmouth Gold IC's RCA's to the Fidelium's. I do prefer the Kimber Illuminations D-60 RCA'd Digital to Kimber KS1030 IC's RCA'd to Neotech 24 awg, 12 separate PVC jacketed solid core runs to each speaker (6 neg/6 positive). More live sound and truth in timbre. Plus, the extended highs that is not tipped up treble. I might part with the SRA's and Fidel's. Right now though, even after 1.5 years with them.....I continue to swap them in and out every 8 weeks or better for a couple of week run. |
Oh I am pretty sure you have a full hard drive with screenshots of all my posts since your very first username (AtDavid). As for the race card you are now playing, just stop it.
Honestly I feel embarrassed for being drawn into arguments with you for the thirteenth time now with all your 13 usernames. I should certainly quit dealing with you, as you seem determined to keep coming back to Audiogon, regardless of how many times you are banned. It’s an exercise in futility from my part. |
@thyname posting nonsense does not change what you wrote. Would you like me to post that in every thread you participate in? This place is unusual but weird boogyman conspiracies are a bit over the top as are racist tropes. You need to learn to be a better person. |
Why is the deludedaudiophile allowed to come back here over and over again after being banned a dozen of times? Take a look at the list. Last time using a part of my username as his username to mock me, when posting as Cindyment, posting screenshots of PMs when he was Audio2Design.
Ironically talking about unhealthy obsession. Not sure who the unhealthy is here. Wait until he creates a brand new username, and starts posting screenshots of my posts to his all previous usernames.
Here is a full list: —————— thynamesinnervoice
cindyment
snratio
yesiamjohn
sugabooger
dletch2
audio2design
dannad
roberttdid
heaudio123
audiozenology
atdavid |
Lots of Negative Post on this forum, I own a few Cables, ranging from 1000 dollars to 12000 dollars (Retail) for speaker cables both copper and silver, I also own the Fidelium speaker cables, to my ears Fidelium bested the best of the best cables iv had, at a fraction of the price. Whilst their are many idiots on here all are professionals in different engineering aspect still have not heard the cable and thus as a result really have no dog in this fight.
Its cheap and dam good sounding speaker cable and frankly speaking this should be a blessing to the audiophile community, as their are tons of rip off companies out their charging stupid pricing for cables
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