Simply Sterling
I-SIG
Posts: 2,243
As a few of you have noticed, I've bought some silver IC's from a couple of other Polkies recently. (Thanks, Doug & Mark.) I also managed to get a pair of Ben's silver speaker wires that I'm running on the tweeters.
I must say simply that anyone thinking of taking the leap to silver cables should do so now while there are some affordable manufacturers of the stuff.
Some of the benefits I was hoping to make with room treatments have been realized with these cables. Specifically, the highs have cleaned up and smoothed out like nobody's business. I really have to crank it to insane levels now to get the highs to sound less finished. On Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" (Mambo Birdland, 1999) the flute used sound shrill and harsh. Now every note and breath is recognizable for what it is.
I've also gained a pretty fair amount of air and spaciousness in the music. This new space and air really manifests themselves in two key ways. The first, and most obvious, is the overall depth and soundstaging of the music being presented. The stage on concert recordings seems bigger. Studios seem a lot less like a small bedroom than before. The second key way the space and air materializes is in the SDA portions of the speakers and music. Rather than struggling to find that guitar, piano or deep cowbell on the far right or left of the stage, they are easily identified and placed well outside the bounds of the speakers, greatly enhancing the presentation and the "you are there" feeling.
Finally, the details gained by the silver conductors has been astonishing. It's amazing how long the splash of the cymbals lasts, even with lots of other instruments and vocals playing along. To hear the microdynamics of the music when the drummer strikes a slightly different place on a cymbal or to hear the reediness of a phat saxophone without the harsh brassiness when the musicians cheeks are swollen like a cornered blowfish.
I don't know what else to say other than to ignore the stereotypes of silver and get some in your rig ASAP.
Wes
I must say simply that anyone thinking of taking the leap to silver cables should do so now while there are some affordable manufacturers of the stuff.
Some of the benefits I was hoping to make with room treatments have been realized with these cables. Specifically, the highs have cleaned up and smoothed out like nobody's business. I really have to crank it to insane levels now to get the highs to sound less finished. On Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" (Mambo Birdland, 1999) the flute used sound shrill and harsh. Now every note and breath is recognizable for what it is.
I've also gained a pretty fair amount of air and spaciousness in the music. This new space and air really manifests themselves in two key ways. The first, and most obvious, is the overall depth and soundstaging of the music being presented. The stage on concert recordings seems bigger. Studios seem a lot less like a small bedroom than before. The second key way the space and air materializes is in the SDA portions of the speakers and music. Rather than struggling to find that guitar, piano or deep cowbell on the far right or left of the stage, they are easily identified and placed well outside the bounds of the speakers, greatly enhancing the presentation and the "you are there" feeling.
Finally, the details gained by the silver conductors has been astonishing. It's amazing how long the splash of the cymbals lasts, even with lots of other instruments and vocals playing along. To hear the microdynamics of the music when the drummer strikes a slightly different place on a cymbal or to hear the reediness of a phat saxophone without the harsh brassiness when the musicians cheeks are swollen like a cornered blowfish.
I don't know what else to say other than to ignore the stereotypes of silver and get some in your rig ASAP.
Wes
Link: http://polkarmy.com/forums
Sony 75" Bravia 4K | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Rotel Michi P5 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d
Sony 75" Bravia 4K | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Rotel Michi P5 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d
Post edited by I-SIG on
Comments
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Nice!!
I am still scared to make the switch. The two channel rig sounds so good right now that I am afraid of messing things up. I think it is best to leave well alone.
But.... I sure eventually there will be something to be desired.
Nice write up though. There doesn't seem to be very many threads about silver cables. A few more like this and might just have to give it a try. -
nikolas812 wrote: »Nice!!
I am still scared to make the switch. The two channel rig sounds so good right now that I am afraid of messing things up. I think it is best to leave well alone.
But.... I sure eventually there will be something to be desired.
Nice write up though. There doesn't seem to be very many threads about silver cables. A few more like this and might just have to give it a try.
Don't be scared. I'm sure George Washington and Thomas Jefferson was scared, but look what happened!
They could have left well enough alone and we'd all be talking like David Beckham! 
WesLink: http://polkarmy.com/forums
Sony 75" Bravia 4K | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Rotel Michi P5 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d
