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interconnect question


mozdaman

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I have re-set up my home theater, In doing so, I went out and bought all silver interconnects (between my Lexicon DC-2 Preamp Processor and my Bryston 9B Amp. There is a local guy that makes the cables and they seem to be good quality. I have let them "burn in" for a good 100 hrs. The soundstage seems very large and the low end is very tight and controlled, However the highs seem to have left me. I am not saying that they are completely gone, they just seem not to be as detailed and ear pearcing as they were with basic (entry level) interconnects. Has anyone auditioned interconnects and found the "Jewels" Please let me know your experience and thoughts.

System

Lexicon DC-2

Bryston 9B

Sony 5000 DVD

KLF-30

C-7

KSP-S6

Silver interconnects

MIT T-2 Biwire

Mirage BPS-400 Sub

Thanks,

Mike1.gif

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On 2/1/2004 9:01:47 AM Fish wrote:

IMO, most any well shielded coax and solid rca connections will perform well.

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I agree...for the life of me I have yet to hear any apreciable difference between good to great cables.....

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On 2/1/2004 7:36:59 AM mozdaman wrote:

However the highs seem to have left me. I am not saying that they are completely gone, they just seem not to be as detailed and ear pearcing as they were with basic (entry level) interconnects.

Give yourself a few weeks to really soak in any changes. Once you get to the point where you aren't thinking about the new interconnects then you'll begin to realize what they really sound like. At best, high dollar interconnects are only going to produce very subtle changes that are very hard to perceive -- especially when you are trying (too hard) to hear the difference. Once you get a good quality cable with good shielding and good connectors, upgrading beyond that is really a waste of money. Many people think there hear a difference mainly becuase they've spent so much money they really, really want there to be a difference. LOL

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Hello,

I am glad that you were able to hear a difference between interconnects. Not all components will reveal, or be susceptible to, such differences; and not all listeners hear, or care about, the differences.

Having said (or written, as it were) that, I would agree that you should give these cables a chance to "burn in"; if you are still unhappy with the results, I have had great experience with Nordost; their (relatively) lower priced Solar Wind interconnects have proven to be very natural and revealing with my own system. I have had great success with buying them used on audiogon.com or ebay, for roughly half their retail cost.

You have some really nice components. Don't let anyone tell you that you can go cheap on interconnects with your components... you've already shown that they DO make a difference, although in your own case, you haven't yet heard what you like...

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Many here (who shall remain nameless) have pooh-poohed the idea that anything other than a simple cheap copper wire is a waste of money. I ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE with them (they also seem to have an engineering background - possibly a clue!2.gif) I run silver interconnects and am firmly sold on them... regardless of what you may read in this forum, IMO silver IS BETTER, you CAN hear a difference, it IS better than copper in the smoother frequency response, tighter bass, better "imaging" and noticable increase in gain. What I regard as better "clarity" with everything that one would expect from that (more "black space", tighter imaging, cleary defined sopundstage, etc.).

I run silver as short as possible between my CD player and from the preamp to the amp. I am running fairly good gear into corner horns.

I have experimented with many different brands and types and have arrived at my favorites and recommend them. All of my friends have also been converted because we are not afraid to test and experiment.

Here's what I know firsthand:

I've tried both Kimber 1/2 meter and 1 meter silvers and

Audioquest silver 1/2 meter. Kimber won on the RCA connect side of things. Gave the Audioquest connects to a friend who liked them, but he has never had anything other than Radioshack cheap stuff to compare them to. Of course that's an improvement that he can hear and he's now a big silver fan too.

A-B'd the Kimber 1/2 meter silvers RCA against silver XLR (I can't remember the brand but they make transformers) connects same length and the XLR's won (but not a real easy call). I even ran them at the same time (pre-amp to amp which has 2 sets of connects)as an experiment. Now I run the silver XLR 1/2 meters by themselves as I think that is the "cleanest"...

DM

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D-Man,

My gut reaction is, of course, Poo Poo.

There are factors that us engineering types can get behind. However, how many variables have you changed at one time with these different interconnects?

Is the silver wire you speak of "solid silver", or it silver plated copper.

Does each have the same wire gage?

Are there different numbers of strands of differnt gages that make up the wire?

Is the wirle lay different?

Are they terminated by crimp or solder methods?

In each of these questions you could go worst case with one and best case with the other and come with audible differences.

However, as Paul would say (after he said Bull$hit), "Dollar per Db, is it really worth the price?"

If it feels good do it!!! But don't be offended if we don't see the advantage!! LMAO

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On 2/4/2004 8:58:39 PM D-MAN wrote:

I run silver interconnects and am firmly sold on them...

DM

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D-Man,

How long did it take your silver to fully break in? I think some of mine took a very long time, maybe well over 100 hrs.

Larry

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Mr. P,

Yep, I agree that there is a great deal of overpricing and that there is a point of diminishing return on the investment (reached rather quickly in this case!). Like alot of this hobby, it becomes a matter of taste and financial means.

The interconnects that I am using are advertised as being pure silver wiring and silver solder to gold plated plugs.

I A-B'd them against all comers and my audio buddies are now all running silver cables of various brands, too (or at least as much as they can reasonably afford). So far everybody likes the Kimbers the best for the RCA type plugs. I have only tried the 3 brands that I mentioned.

Whether the performance is worth the investment, I will leave that up others...

As I mentioned before, its a controversial subject, but I have some first-hand experience that may help inform someones opinion so I wanted to share it. I am impressed by your reply and wish that others would also allow for practical experience as well as the theoretical. I personally think that the physics involved clearly back up the results that I have experienced. I recommend that if anyone doesn't believe me, work out a deal with someone to borrow them and do the A-B thing to be sure...

DM1.gif

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Hi, Larry,

Now that you bring it up, I didn't actually notice a break-in period or at least I haven't noticed an time-based improvement. That's not to say that there isn't one!

I was convinced that I had a winner in the first few notes when they were new so any further improvement is just additional gravy... but I truly did not notice any change.

Which brings up another point:

being that silver is subject to oxidation, and silver oxidizing faster than copper, how long do they last before signal degradation occurs due to oxide build up? Are we going to become locked into a cycle of constant replacement (gasp!) ?

DM1.gif

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On 2/5/2004 8:27:51 PM D-MAN wrote:

...I didn't actually notice a break-in period or at least I haven't noticed an time-based improvement. That's not to say that there isn't one!

I was convinced that I had a winner in the first few notes when they were new so any further improvement is just additional gravy... but I truly did not notice any change.

...being that silver is subject to oxidation, and silver oxidizing faster than copper, how long do they last before signal degradation occurs due to oxide build up? Are we going to become locked into a cycle of constant replacement (gasp!) ?

DM
1.gif

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D-Man,

I feel there's usually a break-in period, sometimes over 100 hrs., for the highs and lows to come into balance (I have Siltech). Hopefully Mozdaman's simply needs more time. Interesting point about oxidation; I haven't seen any where I can see silver, i.e., near the terminations. Though my interconnects are up to 5-10 years old, I've not seen or heard any problems with them.

Larry

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