Best Phono Cable for SME Series V

Holy smoke. I received my Silver Breeze last week and upon initial listening impressions I have to say that the Silver Breeze is an excellant cable.

Voices that were articulate before were even more pronounced and holographic. The effect is that voices seem to pop out of nowhere more then before with an added emphasis of the acoustic atmosphere of the venue. The shading of the timbers seemed to be even handed and equally impressive in regards to smooth flowing music with exact details but no sharp edges. Bass seemed to be a little leaner compared to the stock SME V VDh cables, however, I have not allowed for proper break in and thus my my initial thoughts on bass may be skewed, the same can be said for the my initial thoughts on the aspects I mentioned, so these are preliminary impressions, but overall great so far.

I used an Earth Wind and Fire, September, original Quincy Jones produced, non audiophile pressing to listen. The trumpets in September appear in scale and sound lifelike when played. I play trumpet so that is one aspect I like to key in on and use as a reference.

Thanks Max for such a great product. I will provide more information as I allow for break in and listening pleasure.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

On my SME V, I have progressed through the Graham IC50, then moved up to the Silver Breeze (great value for money, IME), and settled upon the Stealth Audio Hyperphono.  The Graham IC50 was clearly an improvement over the VdH cable, and the Silver Breeze a very nice improvement over the IC50.  Then I tried the Hyperphono, which just made the music come so much more alive in my system that I was stunned.  I have enjoyed it now for ~6 years, and I like it, too, when I switch in my Graham Phantom II.  I'd love to hear the top line PAD....

One very strange thing:  my phono system always had a low level of 60 hz related hum going on in it - - never too obtrusive, but present in the silent passages of a piano sonata's slow movement.  Just like groove woosh and ticks and pops, I learned to listen through it.  When I switched to the Hyperphono, this just disappeared!  Cannot tell you how or why, but it is a distinct plus.  There is NO hum even with the volume knob cranked way beyond a level you could play a record with.  Curious, indeed, and most welcome.

Wow, seven years later, someone resurrects this thread.

Yeah, isn't that silly of me.  I didn't even look at the date, it was just in Audiogon's "More to Discover" teaser window over on the right, so I clicked and shared my experience.  Why Audiogon has that loaded there, I don't know, but I will certainly check the dates out in the future.

Given the durability of the SME V as a tonearm, I guess it's always topical!

Hey all, old thread, perhaps better late than never... I might be able to lend a bit of experience to this subject. 

I have had a SME V with the Kondo fairy-hair silver litz wire in it now for years and have transitioned from a Linn Arkiv, then Akiva (scan tech), now Lyra Kleos. I’m using the silver Ortofon jumpers off the cart to the tonearm. These conductors have all been burned in on a cable cooker. 

I have run both the Nordost TYR and Silver Breeze from the Cardas din to an Aesthetix Rhea to a Calypso both Signature versions with very good results. 

The Silver Breeze is a wonderful performer and a huge bang for the buck. It’s beautifully made and sonically I was left wanting for very little, lovely, musical. I highly recommend it, but your ears and your kit need to be the final deciding.  

It was very close to the Nordost TYR in transparency and total resolution without smearing or mis-coloration. Perhaps the SB had a bit more sparkle and tonality. Too bad Nordost seems like they may never get around to produce a TYR Norse 2 phono cable (the only missing piece in their lineup). I have tried a TYR Norse 2 IC between my preamp and phono and believe that the warmth and tonal shift puts it head and shoulders above the original. Given that the Valhalla is like five times as pricy, I just can’t be going there. 

Hope this may offer some helpful insight. 

Happy Listening!