Effect of silver cable on headphones

Hey guys, 

In a couple days I'm going to recable either a pair of my portapros or ksc75's with silver. I'm trying to decide which pair I'd like better with the silver. What effect do you think that silver has on the sound sig? It seems I have seen a lot of people saying that it makes the headphones a bit brighter. Is this true in your opinion or does it just make things clearer as a whole? I've yet to receive my KSC75's. But I know they are known to sound a bit different. I'll have to decide which pair to put the silver on based on the sound and what I expect the cable to do. 

any opinions are greatly appreciated. 

I'll probably just end up recabling whichever pair I expect to use the most. It might be a factor other than sound that decides this.. I haven't gotten my hands on the ksc75s yet. I'm not sure I'll love them as much as the portapro. :) Still I'm curious what you guys think silver does to the sound. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Max 

Stranded OCC copper is where it's all at.  =p

holy crap that stuff is expensive! I hope you were joking lol. I had to check my sanity when I was buying silver for portapros. i bought the cable as part of a combo deal and I figured I could always use the cable on another set of headphones if i wanted to.

I have a 4 conductor and 8 conductor cable coming made out of 28AWG solid core bare silver wire. the 8 conductor is going on my grado's. the 4 on either the ksc75's or portapros. I've modded both and the kramer mod does good things to both, moreso to the ksc75s. but, I find the ksc75s too bright. I'm burning them in with various noise and sweeps for the next 48 hours or so and finalizing the mods on both pairs so I can A/B them. Pretty sure the portapros are getting the cable though. Nothing against the ksc75s. I'd highly recommend them, I just prefer the portapro for comfort and sound. I'll update with pics when I do the recable.

My main goal with replacing the cable was to have a nice cable.. I didn't really come in with a plan to make a pair brighter (in fact, thus far, I think the ksc75s are too bright). I just hate flimsy cables. I came across a good deal on a pure silver cable, so thats what I went with. Then I found people stating that they think that silver cables make things brighter. seeing as i prefer the portapro on all fronts right now (still giving the ksc75's a chance to change with burn in) and I don't think I would mind it being a bit brighter (if this happens to occur) I'm going to recable it. 

 I don't expect anything specific out of the silver cable. Just for it to be nicer than the flimsy stock cable on my portapro. However,  I will update if I feel like it does have an effect on the sound. 

In all honesty, I don't expect any change, except for how nice the cable feels and looks. I will always pick up my portapros often, no matter how hi-fi my rig gets.. I know this for a fact and I don't feel bad for sinking some money into them to have a nice cable :) they are just too fun. I always use them on poorer recordings, they can present bad recordings in a really nice way. Sometimes my grados just absolutely kill an album because the album was produced poorly and they show every bit of it.

I will also update if i feel my 8 conductor cable has an effect on my grado's. This, I expect to be a bit of an upgrade, but a cable is a cable. I knew that coming into it. I wanted to take my modded grado as far as I could before I stopped working on it. Do I expect it to make a huge difference? Not really. But, no harm in trying it out and I get a cool looking/durable cable in the process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_Himself 

I get PM's everyday on how silver affects headphone sound! I think most headphones can benefit from it, it's really how much time and (not that much money) you'd want to put into them.

 

I love recabling Grados and Sennheisers since I dont have to route anything through the headband.

 

Recabled Grados honestly take them a step up. ALO had these recabled SR-225's I bought back in the day in their gorgeous Litz braid copper and they were the bees knees! I'd easily buy those again over a SR-325/RS-2 these days if I didn't have the option to DIY!

 

I just bought a pair of SR-60's just to recable and demo versus my 225's right now with and without silver. This should show how similar they really are underneath! Gotta get rid of that pesky button too...

have I been saying effect instead of affect this whole time? *embarrassed face*. My silver cable is gonna be a side by side litz braid for the grados and he did something unique with the portapro cable to keep it flexible. I'll update with pics when they arrive this week. Please update when you compare your 60s and your 225s. I'd also recommend removing the driver cloth and maybe poking a few holes in the cloth behind the driver.. 2-4. you won't see too much of a difference with 2, if you like it though. I'd easily recommend 4 and that you don't go beyond that. Also, There is a lot of hype on putting dynamat on the back of the magnet of the driver. I did it, and I think it helped clean up the sound a bit. But, no promises seeing as I couldn't A/B it. 

-Edit- You can't remove the button on the 60s without moving the grille. I wasn't sure if you knew this or not :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

You certainly wont have any problems getting recommendations if you post 'Looking for a bright headphone' in the Headphones forum - the Head-Fier aversion to anything bright seems to dovetail nicely with persistent cries of 'Im NOT a basshead, honest, Im not .... '  

 

There is a huge future out there for anyone prepared to build V-shaped headphones, amps and dacs. Midrange ? We dont need no steenkin midrange !

I'm a bit confused as to what you are getting at estreeter.