Bogdan Audio Silver Spirit Ref IC compared Acoustic Zen Silver Ref II
Jul 16, 2003 at 6:30 PM Post #31 of 71
Thanks for the info and link DA. These are the cables we kinda made fun of in another thread. Guess we are eating our words now.
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Jul 19, 2003 at 8:02 PM Post #32 of 71
OK, time for my impressions.

Summary
This is my new reference IC and is best IC I have ever tried regardless of price, it is so good I have sold my previous favorite
AZ Silver Reference IC and purchased a 2nd pair of BSSR, it has no weakness that I can detect and offers previously unheard of performance at this price level IMO.....has my strongest recommendation.

Further Details
In my 2 channel stereo I am using the BSSR ICs from Bel Canto Dac 2 to Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp. Previously for almost 2yrs I used the still excellent AZ Silver Reference I which gave me combination of smooth natural sound with excellent detail retreaval.....all this with huge soundstage presention which cannot be accurately heard with headphone only use. Several well reviewed challengers were tried but no IC "overall" could match the AZ SR for me with a sane price tag ($500 or less)

Then I read posts at AA that a new kid on the block "BSSR" could not only match the AZ SR, but surpass it at 1/4 the price retail, this had my attention! I was concerned with the design, bare unsheilded silver wire, no braiding in plastic tubes.......this will have noise problems for sure I thought. But I had to know what they had to offer, there is no trail period offered by Bogdan which will stop many from using them and had me a bit concerned, but after AC1 had success I thought what the hell.

BSSR arrived by priority mail well packaged, they use the Eichman
plastic bullett RCA plugs which were too tight initially to fit my RCAs so I had to use hair dryer to heat them and they slid on.
Once form fitted they come on/off no problem. This is explained in flyer you get with BSSR. They are lightweight and fairly flexible, I tried them in two systems and have no problem with any noise pick-up.

I mentioned before you need to put some directional markings on these IC so when you move them once broken in they will be oriented properly.

Sound Impressions
Caveat - I was trying new AC cord at same time on BC Dac 2, the excellent Empowered which replaced a VD Nite, so some of what I describe maybe from AC cord benefits.

Have you ever heard a planar speaker vs a box speaker. The music is just seamless and extremely transparant, it has a delicate airy quality that makes the music sound effortless, like it just appears out of thin air. It is agile and fast as if weightless, yet can produce deep satisfying highly detailed bass. It produces a huge massive soundstage that reveals the most intricate detail
that was previously obscured.

This is how I can best describe the BSSR experience. By contrast the AZ SR now seems a bit heavy/rich and somewhat slow, fine details were slightly shrouded and somewhat obscure. It as if I was wearing rose colored glasses, a pleasant experience but the BSSR lifts a veil and brings everything into better focus. On many CDs where I previouly heard a single sound, it is now 2 or 3 individual fine details that were just close together. Often I am really surprised at newly uncovered fine delicate details on tracks I have heard many many times, the bass is especially clarified now revealing new information.

I was listening to STONE ROSES last night which is not good recording CD, but I was hearing all kinds of cymbal brush work, stick taps, shimmer/decay etc I didn't even know existed. This is like different version of "sally cinnamon" than I heard before, he he.

All these benefits with no downside, there is no brightness, glare, edge or grain........just beautiful natural music. The soundstage size which the AZ SR excelled in is now slightly expanded further with BSSR, it is very impressive. There really is no weakness I can detect with the BSSR, it is just a fabulous IC at a real world price.

If you have a lean/bright system already these may not be best choice since they will not make overall sound warmer/richer etc.
but they will do amazing things for system that is already neutral balanced or slightly rich/warm seeking more detail/speed etc.

Coda
I am interested if others have experienced similar results, share you impressions for the benefit of all here. Thanks again to AC1 for getting the ball rolling here.
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If you want to check these out here is Audiogon link with special price till July 25th:
BSSR
 
Jul 19, 2003 at 8:26 PM Post #33 of 71
Ouch, my poor wallet just took a $269 blow thanks to you guys. Man, if these things really are that good they're a steal at $269, and still a bargain at the $349 price after July 25th.
 
Jul 27, 2003 at 11:45 PM Post #34 of 71
Ok just want to finish my BSSR story, I now have 2nd BSSR from Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp to two Musical Fidelity monoblock amps giving me full BSSR effect for my main 2 channel system..........My AZ SRs are now history/sold, they were "easily" supassed by BSSR (and I don't say that lightly because I was a big AZ SR fan and was really surprised to find a cable this much better)

I have to totally rethink ICs, here are two thin bare silver wires running through rigid teflon tubes to a plastic RCA.......seems too simple to ever possibly be a great cable. Over the years as I upgraded ICs to eventually arrive at AZ Silver Reference I noticed gradual improvements.......more detail, larger soundstage, extended grain free treble etc, for instance last 5 years:

Silver Audio Silver Bullet --> HT Prosilway II --> AZ Silver Reference

Each step was a noticeable improvement, and it seemed any further noticeable improvement would cost obscence amounts of money, I was done upgrading ICs, he he.

I have to say the improvement to sound by BSSR is far greater magnitude than any previous step in my upgrade path......plus there are no weakness I can detect in BSSR, it improves in every area over AZ SR or any other high end cable I have heard in my system. It is the most delicately detailed IC I have heard, yet it has smooth as silk with no edge/glare/grain, it easily produces the biggest 3D soundstage I have ever experienced in my system also.

This tells me BSSR is not tonal shifting, it has fundementally improved my signal transmission. It is passing more information from a blacker background thus improving sound reproduction in every respect. Fortunately this cable "downgrade" in price has actually paid for itself and then some.

I am now in the process of selling my HG Silver Lace cables in system 2 so I can replace them with Bogdan ICS which next down the line from BSSR.

As always YMMV and I listen 90% of the time to full stereo vs headphones, so my priorities in cables maybe different than others here...............just trying to keep the PEEPS informed.
 
Jul 28, 2003 at 4:45 AM Post #36 of 71
Quote:

Originally posted by DarkAngel
I have to totally rethink ICs, here are two thin bare silver wires running through rigid teflon tubes to a plastic RCA.......seems too simple to ever possibly be a great cable. Over the years as I upgraded ICs to eventually arrive at AZ Silver Reference I noticed gradual improvements.......more detail, larger soundstage, extended grain free treble etc, for instance last 5 years:

.......

It is the most delicately detailed IC I have heard, yet it has smooth as silk with no edge/glare/grain, it easily produces the biggest 3D soundstage I have ever experienced in my system also.


Ya, it is difficult to believe that such a minimal design can have such high performance. Having talked to Ben, one area he really believes in is the plug or the Silver Eichmanns. He apparently has experimented with regular RCAs, having shown me the fancy Furutech (IIRC) RCAs.
Kind of the same thing with the Empowered, it does not have fancy wire, plugs, etc, but provides very very good performance just from design.

The detail it extracts without the edge/glare contributing to the smoothness of the sound is one of the BSSR is the thing that really stood out about this cable. It makes the AZSR sound a bit on the brittle side in comparison which I never really though of before.
 
Jul 28, 2003 at 5:19 AM Post #37 of 71
AC1 and or DarkAngel was there any difference in sound before and after a break in period?
just when i thought i like my Nordost Red Dawn ICs i'm very seriously considering getting the BSSR ICs...
 
Jul 28, 2003 at 9:11 AM Post #41 of 71
Mine are being made as I type. Hopefully I will get them soon. I'm glad that I got in before the price went up.
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Jul 28, 2003 at 11:50 AM Post #42 of 71
Quote:

Originally posted by squirt
AC1 and or DarkAngel was there any difference in sound before and after a break in period?
just when i thought i like my Nordost Red Dawn ICs i'm very seriously considering getting the BSSR ICs...


I didn't even listen to either BSSR till they already had 100hrs of break-in (2 systems come in handy) so can't comment on before and after difference.

Quote:

by RADRD
Mine are being made as I type. Hopefully I will get them soon. I'm glad that I got in before the price went up.


Hirsch also got in just under the buzzer. I didn't realize that "ALL" Bogdan cables were going up in price on 7/25/03, I thought that only applied to BSSR............I would have gotten two pair of Bogadan ICS sooner for system 2 if I knew.
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AC
If you talk to Igor again, tell him to set up a paypal account, doesn't cost anything and would make it much easier for people to purchase from him.
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Jul 28, 2003 at 5:12 PM Post #44 of 71
Quote:

Originally posted by CBMC
What was the special price on these compared to the current price?


$269 versus $349 I believe.
 
Jul 28, 2003 at 9:34 PM Post #45 of 71
Thats a huge difference. I wonder if I e-mailed the seller if I still could get the $269 price. Worth a try anyway. Don't know if I can afford a $350 wire. Especially beings that I need 2 of them.
 

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