Experiment with Silver Cables from Signal
Hawkeye
Posts: 1,313
After reading here and others forums about the benefit of using silver ICs, I took the leap and ordered 2 sets of Silver Resolution XLR @ 1 meter each and a pair of 6ft Silver Resolution Biwire speaker cables.
I have RCA Excalibur Ribbons from Mapleshades connecting my DAC>pre>amps. I started by installing the speaker wire first. I found a mixed presentation. The bottom dropped completely out of the sound and the mid bass was fairly articulate and accurate. The mids and highs were highly accurate but right on the edge of the "bleeding edge" vice a leading edge. Attack and decay was simply stunning. Imaging was quite good but the depth seemed to shrink a bit. After several hours it became apparent to me these cables were not going to cut it for extended listening sessions due to a somewhat sterile and dry presentation.
I then installed the pair of cables between the DAC>pre leaving the speaker cable installed. This set of cables had the largest impact of all. Everything just fell completely apart. I had no imaging, depth or width. It sounded like I threw wet blankets over the speakers. I was pretty surprised at the poor results.
I finally installed the pair between the pre>amps. The system seemed to recover somewhat to the point of maybe some sheets thrown over the speakers. By this point I had about 30 hours on all the wires. While there may be arguments (discussions) on burn in time, I do not subscribe to the theory. But, I thought since I was doing this I'd give the ICs the 50 hours recommended. I'm still not convinced of the burn in of the wire or my ears but the bass did seem to tighten up a bit but not to the point where I thought it was acceptable to me.
After about 75 hours, I reversed the procedure outlined above. The sound was much more to my liking once all the copper ICs were back in the system. My experiment with silver in my system was fun to do. Some things sounded better with the silver, some worse. I like the copper ICs as an all around IC which does not seem to emphasize one area at the expense of another.
Gordon
I have RCA Excalibur Ribbons from Mapleshades connecting my DAC>pre>amps. I started by installing the speaker wire first. I found a mixed presentation. The bottom dropped completely out of the sound and the mid bass was fairly articulate and accurate. The mids and highs were highly accurate but right on the edge of the "bleeding edge" vice a leading edge. Attack and decay was simply stunning. Imaging was quite good but the depth seemed to shrink a bit. After several hours it became apparent to me these cables were not going to cut it for extended listening sessions due to a somewhat sterile and dry presentation.
I then installed the pair of cables between the DAC>pre leaving the speaker cable installed. This set of cables had the largest impact of all. Everything just fell completely apart. I had no imaging, depth or width. It sounded like I threw wet blankets over the speakers. I was pretty surprised at the poor results.
I finally installed the pair between the pre>amps. The system seemed to recover somewhat to the point of maybe some sheets thrown over the speakers. By this point I had about 30 hours on all the wires. While there may be arguments (discussions) on burn in time, I do not subscribe to the theory. But, I thought since I was doing this I'd give the ICs the 50 hours recommended. I'm still not convinced of the burn in of the wire or my ears but the bass did seem to tighten up a bit but not to the point where I thought it was acceptable to me.
After about 75 hours, I reversed the procedure outlined above. The sound was much more to my liking once all the copper ICs were back in the system. My experiment with silver in my system was fun to do. Some things sounded better with the silver, some worse. I like the copper ICs as an all around IC which does not seem to emphasize one area at the expense of another.
Gordon
2 Channel -
Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
Post edited by Hawkeye on
Comments
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I've found the customer service provided by Frank to be top notch!!! Spoke with him and the wires are going back.
A fine product and great customer service is hard to beat!! Highly recommend doing business with this man.
Gordon2 Channel -
Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8) -
I agree, Frank is the man."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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Hawkeye. thanks for the review. This is the last piece of upgrade, that I am on the fence, based on several feedbacks from others (on Silver in general). I recently upgraded from SC Classic biwire to SC Ultra/double-run biwire (thanks to Dave Daboyz) and immediately glad that I upgraded. Bass is more pronounced, details, yada yada yada, every nuances of the music is improved. The rest of the ICs are Analog II, so definitely a synergy meant to be. I am in a happy place with the system right now, and has been thinking and contemplating the "what-if Silver" before. Your review put the Silver to bed. More is not always better, I supposed.I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
