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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1800 Registered: Oct-04 | Art et al: Sweet, sweet music! I can't believe the difference! I'm sitting here listening to a piano - not a recording of a piano - a piano, right in my living room! Well - let me tell you - I was a total skeptic in the past, but right now I've become a believer. Cables CAN make a difference! Spent a long time un-doing the old, cleaning and then trying to double-joint my way behind the equipment cabinet to install the new. Along the way, I got phone-interrupted, the flashlight went dead and I managed to really mess up some other cable hookups. Sigh.. . Anyway - I've now got the Silver Serpents on the 5.1 Mains speakers - and on the digital audio line. I know, I know - I'm supposed to "burn in" the cables, but heck, I needed to know NOW, OK??? (grin) So, I turned on the rig, went out and made two, not one, martinis - and came back in to sip while Rome, er, the cables, burned. . . . Art - I thank you for nudging me toward the Silver Serpents - just like you nudged me towards the Cambridge. I'm so happy I could spill my martini and not even curse! (that's a lot of happy!!!) OK - The sound on the digial is so much smoother than before - I could not imagine that a digital cable could make a difference. Bits is bits, right? Yeah. .. Well - I'm back-and-forthing between analog and digital on redbook CDs - and frankly the digital cable comes darned close to the analog. Differences? The analog is a tad fuller in the mid-range, and the voices on opera recordings are just a bit smoother. Overall - the SS sound is just a bit bright - but in a positive way. The upper mids and highs are more delineated, and smooth, whereas before they were edgy. As I listen to a ton of opera, I was most concerned about the vocal aspects - and I have to say I'm doubly-pleased here. The voices carry in a much more immediate way, and you can - I swear - even tell when a singer turns toward the conductor! OK - I know that in the past I've not been able to tell one cable from another - but this time for me it's a no-brainer. I shall NOT take the SS's over to Jerry's house! The heck with him! They are here - period! Well - I'll be making a bachelor-pizza-dinner tonight, as Mer is away demonstrating art at an open house - so I'll just let the music play, the cables burn in, and my mind expand. IF - and I'm not sure I believe this - the cables get even smoother with time - well, I will be just plain ecstatic! Just never thought it would happen. Nope. You could not have persuaded me. But with these cables, with my rig, and even in my killer-room, I've finally got GOOD SOUND! Think I'll make a third martini. . . . thanks for all of your patience, Respectfully. . . LarryR |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 4310 Registered: Feb-05 | Congrats Larry I'm very pleased that they are working out for you. It's always about the music and the closer we can get to it the happier we are. Bravo! |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 6385 Registered: Dec-04 | Excellent, Larry. Truly excellent! Atta boy, Art. |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1802 Registered: Oct-04 | Two CDs and one opera (Magic Flute) later, well, I think my sleep pattern will be greatly interrupted! Music - that's what I hear, Art! Music. . . |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 4313 Registered: Feb-05 | That's totally sweet...I stayed up last night still auditioning cables. Tonight I'll be up with that dadburned (not spelled correctly) Quantum....off to the fridge for a Dead Guy Ale! |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 6393 Registered: Dec-04 | Art, have an ALE on me buddy! If you don't dig the cables too much Art, you can shippem along to another member, I am sure. The great cable debate rains as a heavy blanket on the desire of audio purity. Somebody wryte this shite down. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 4314 Registered: Feb-05 | Still in evaluation my man! I think Larry's listening to tunes!!! |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 6405 Registered: Dec-04 | I'm digging Larry's enthusiasm. |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1803 Registered: Oct-04 | Art/Nuck et al - Last night was a "late-um" for me, as I went through a half-dozen SACDs, most of one opera, and a couple of other DVDs. What I'm hearing with the Silver Serpents is increased accuracy of reproduction - not ALWAYS for the better! On SACDs - the sound is full, very very clean and with added separation of instruments. On DVD videos - wow! This SS digital cable just opens up everything! The Diana Krall Paris concert, well, I just wanted it on repeat and to stay up all night. BUT - Ah, here's the rub. On the few Redbook CDs I've auditioned so far - the SS wires do NOT do them any justice. I've tried piano, opera, jazz and orchestral. Sigh. I don't understand why, but the CDs sound WORSE with the SS's than with the Blue Jeans cables that I out-swapped last night. As I've complained before, the CDs sound thin and a bit tinny on my system. Well, the older ones especially sound even more high note-emphasized, often to the point of discomfort. Anybody out there care to 'splain what's happened here? I've never been a "cable burn-in" believer - but I'll be letting the CD player go on repeat all day today, and see IF it makes a difference. If not - well, I don't know what to do, as I have mostly Redbook CDs. Bottom line: the SS digital cable made more of a difference than the analog interconnects did - so if they don't "warm up" soon I may send them back and keep the SS digital cable, which I dearly love. Life never goes smoothly for me. . . |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 4316 Registered: Feb-05 | Burn 'em in before you complete your review. I know you don't believe in it but try it anyway. Something else to try is Bettercables sub cables...I know, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China. Their sub cable is their last generation audio cable repackaged. They will make them in left/right (red and black ends) terminated however you want. Call Better cables and discuss your findings and give a chance to explain. Another even better low cost cable is the Signal Cable Analog 2, give Frank Wei a call and he will guide you. Bettercables claim to fame is their video and digital cables which is really all I would recommend. |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1806 Registered: Oct-04 | "Hi, you got any beer?" Right after I posted above, the doorbell rang, and there stood Jon and Jerry - whadda team! (grin) I'd forgotten that they were coming over to get my "leavings" for a cable comparison with Jerry's Kimbers. Well, I said - since you're here - beer's in the fridge, and I really have a problem. So I explained about the wonderful digital cable sound and the marginal analog sound. So we dug into the system - again. (sigh) All we had to compare was the new SSs, the Blue Jeans and Cobalt analogs - and both a Wireworld and Blue Jeans digital, plus the new SS digital cable. In went Diana Krall - DVD TV. Absolutely no contest for the digital cables here - the SS won out by a major margin. To the interconnects. As the SS was hooked up, we did first a SACD, then a red book CD. We all agreed that the SACD sounded fuller and warmer, and that the red book was, well, cruddy. Switch, listen, switch, listen - you know the drill. In the end both Jon and I agreed - the warmest and fullest sound came - not from the SS - but from my old and trusty Blue Jeans cables! Even smoother than the Cobalts (which Jon said are the old-fashioned ones, not the newest edition) So - we did another listen-around - and Jon and Jerry left with both the SS analogs and the Cobalts to test against jerry's Kimbers. They also drank the last of my beer - drat!!! (grin) Bottom line for me - I'm completely sold on the SS digital cable - amazing differences in sound. But the SS analogs - - - both Jon and I thought them rather cold and "clinical," and NOT what I prefer to hear on my rig. After they get through testing, well, I'll send back the SS cables - or, if for some reason they prefer them to the Kimbers - sell them to Jerry. Learned a lot from this - and ART, you, as usual, are quite correct. The BetterCable folk make darned good digital wire - but at least with my gear, the analogs just aren't my cup of tea. And oh, yes - about the burn-in: sorry, I've done that with a number of cables - and gear - in my day, and have yet to ascertain a difference. However, I AM a great fan of either turning on or leaving on players and amps long before I use them. At least a half-hour. In this case, I HAVE heard rather major differences in sound. well - at least all my cables and connectors are newly-cleaned and shiny! Into each life. . . well, you know! (grin) respectfully. . .LarryR |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1807 Registered: Oct-04 | Art: BTW - I've e-mailed BetterCables a full report on my testing, the results, and my problems. I find that e-mails leave a valuable "paper trail" for future reference, where phone calls "get lost." |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1808 Registered: Oct-04 | Well, the Serpents lose again. Call from Jerry that neither he nor Jon liked the SS in his rig - and that Jon was pushing the Kimbers, while he said that he, Jerry, could not hear that much difference. I'll get the SS's back - to return to BetterCables. Sigh. Meanwhile, Art, I've gone Online to research the Signal Cables. . . |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 4320 Registered: Feb-05 | "And oh, yes - about the burn-in: sorry, I've done that with a number of cables - and gear - in my day, and have yet to ascertain a difference." Remember it wasn't long ago there wasn't any differences in cable at all. Having spoken to Frank at Signal I think that the Analog 2 might be your cup of tea perhaps even the Analog 1. Leave the Silver ones alone as I think that they will be too bright. Meanwhile I have some cable news which I will share on the Dared thread. |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1811 Registered: Oct-04 | Art: thanks - (see my e-posting and others) I have determined that this "silver over copper" cable craze ain't for this ole scribe. Jon reinforced my beliefs - though I had to pound some sand in his head over his claims re the Kimbers. He kinda waffled, saying it was "different" technology - but I think he just wants to sell 'spensive stuff. Hmm. . . The analogs are packed up for return - and I'm awaiting an e-mail response from Frank at SignalCables. Right now, after a thorough cleaning (there was a tad of crud in the connections) the Blue Jeans cables are sounding great(er) on analog. My continuing surprise (and delight) however, is how fine that Silver Serpent digital cable "sounds." I'm playing CDs through it, and I swear it comes right up to the analog outputs of the Cambridge. Last night, out of frustration, I did another A-B-A-B-A switcheroo with my Blue Jeans and SS digitals. No contest - even Mer (who was home for once) - said that the SS was much more "pleasant" to listen to. Well - the beat goes on. . . Respectfully. . .LarryR |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1825 Registered: Oct-04 | Well, if anybody has questions about the new Eichmann "bullet plug" connectors - this from the company. Interesting. . . http://www.eichmanncables.com/pdfs/etibulletplug-t.pdf Respectfully. . .LarryR |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 10058 Registered: May-04 | . Sorry, Larry, were there supposed to be questions? The Eichmans have been around for a few years and I've read their p00p. I agree the best RCA is no RCA, but you go to war with the army you have. The interconnects I've been using are based along a few of Eichmans' ideas without the exotic materials at this point. I'm waiting for feedback from MW on the pieces I left with him (or reports of massive feedback when he plugs them in}. But I think he's lost in Dareds at the moment. . |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1836 Registered: Oct-04 | Jan: It was just FYI - as I know that you and the other Dawgs are always interested in new or different stereo gear. Anyway - I've ordered up new 89259 wire with Canare connectors from Blue Jeans. And they answered my bullet plug questions: - - - - - Our opinion is that the Eichmann is an extremely poor connector design. The connector is structurally very flimsy, the peculiar contact arrangement requires one to create a gap in shield coverage near the connector end, and the strain relief is nonexistent--all that there is, in fact, to secure the cable to the connector besides the solder joints (which, of course, should not be used as a point to bear mechanical stress at all) is a little setscrew, set in a very thin plastic shell, which is supposed to tighten against the cable jacket. Those considerations, though, really aren't the whole story. The electrical claims made for the Eichmann plug are incoherent and bizarre. The author of those claims must have been largely uneducated in electrical theory, because some of the claims are actually impossible; for example, the connector is claimed to have no characteristic impedance, when in fact all connectors have (and, by the nature of things, must have) a characteristic impedance. If the electrical characteristics of the plug were superior and the mechanical characteristics were poor, or if the mechanical characteristics were superior and the electrical characteristics were poor, there might be some arguable tradeoff which would favor the Eichmann plug for some application. I cannot think of any aspect of the Eichmann design which is desirable, mechanically or electrically. - - - - That from Kurt at Blue Jeans, who gave me permission to use his quote. The more I do business with Blue Jeans the better I like the company. . . Now - on to a Playstation search! Respectfully. . .LarryR |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 10070 Registered: May-04 | . http://www.tweekgeek.com/product.asp?pf_id=EichmannBulletPlugs http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/bullet_vs_nextgen_e.html ,etc. Opinions are like .... Clearly everyone wants to hear what they want to hear and their systems, if well thought out, typically reflect that bias. Personally, I find validity in many of Eichmans' claims regarding alternative RCA connectors. Far too many cables and RCA's are sold as audio jewelery rather than as performance items. The decades old RCA plug and jack were created as after thoughts for another age and technology. This is one case where vintage is not in the slightest way superior to contemporary thinking. Eichman is the first major rethinking of this pitiful connector and its myriad problems to come along in decades (I think that's a paraphrase of the Eichman blurb sheet). RCA's suck and most RCA's are horribly designed for the job they must perform - unless you consider selling to the great unwashed their primary objective. My current thinking is minimalization of the surface area of the conductor and the plug along with doing away with the solder joint in favor of screw type connections inside the RCA plug. I also run a single conductor as the hot lead and star ground the neutral conductors whenever possible rather than using multiple grounding points by way of the jack field. A good surface to surface connection is generally best and any solder, even considering the best silver solder at only 4% silver content, has at least 96% of its makeup in tin and probably lead. Heard a good lead conductor lately? (And I don't mean at the opera, Larry.) Large, bulky RCA pugs are subject to eddy currents which disturb the delicate flow of electrons (got that right out of a manufacturer's blurb sheet). Yes, opinions are like ... . |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1842 Registered: Oct-04 | Jan: thanks for the links - and you are quite right in your thinking. That's why I love the Canare connectors - no solder and the surface, while greater than the Eichmanns, is on the minimal side. I think it's a great connector, at least the best I've used. . . |
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Gold Member Username: Larry_rNaples, FL Post Number: 1844 Registered: Oct-04 | BTW, Jan - I didn't think it would make a difference, but I just - over the weekend - cleaned my RCA connectors on amp and player (and cables) and immediately heard cleaner sound. I think that I must have picked up some Flawed-duh! grunge along the way? I know that our air has a lot of fine particles in it. I know that, in the past, you and others have claimed differences after cleaning - but this is the first time I've stripped everything down and used both deoxIt and what used to be ProGold, but is now deoxIt Gold spray. Used some fine,clean white cloth to wipe down, and did notice some smudge as I went along. Hmm. . .now this, indeed, may be "hearing things that ain' there." Maybe Nuck is right - I need to do this every year? |