[candlejack]

As for me, I lost my $8 coupon because I couldn't pay my order in time (f*ck p*ypal), even though the order was made, and just waiting for me to pay it. Somebody please kill me....

Lol, I'd rather just give you $8 instead.

 

[Cevisi]

I don't think from unbalanced to balanced there would be any drastic improvement. Supe soft wide bor tips means the silicone and the steam of the tip should be soft. But wide bore is must.

Yes but wich are soft and wide

 

[Palash]

Yes but wich are soft and wide

These ones. Got them with TFZ Tequila 1.

 

[regenade]

Is that a cloth or is that the copper?

It is a stiff, rigid cloth. No microphonics at all.

Thanks for the feedback and time you spent on this topic @hakuzen , after some burn-in I will share my impressions but so far I am very impressed with the cable.

 

[candlejack]

You can locate the cables at sales i've mentioned by searching "4 cores alloy" (first), and "upocc neotech", "upocc litz" (too thin, imo), and "ofhc" (cheaper, worse conductor quality but thicker) for the others. But i've not tried any of them yet. built construction should be ok, but it's not confirmed (iirc, someone commented about a quality issue with the latter cable).

I kinda like the upocc versions, but there's barely any feedback on those.

Out the ones you tried, which would you pick as the best balance between raw materials, components and construction quality for under (or around) $100?

 

[subwoof3r]

Just ordered cable 125 !
Will make a comparison with NiceHCK 7N that I reviewed

 

[KimChee]

8 vs 16 line cable? Isn’t a huge difference is it? I’m trying to resist buying ISN S16, since I already have OCC Silver Triton 8...Anyone have ISNS16 and ISN C16 I just ordered C16, but thinking of getting S16 DOR the hell of it

 

[Richsvt]

I ordered the S16 and should have it by Saturday. Was too captivated by the look. Will post once I get it...

 

[hakuzen]

I kinda like the upocc versions, but there's barely any feedback on those.

Out the ones you tried, which would you pick as the best balance between raw materials, components and construction quality for under (or around) $100?

i've ordered the neotech version. will report. i doubt it's neotech wire, though (can't find that wire at neotech site).
conductor quality is usually bloated in all these chinese cables.

i can't be sure of all materials, components and build quality, because can't know the true material of the wire, can't unscrew the plugs in most cases, etc.
based in my conductivity measurements, look, and listening, cable 130 (now below $70) is quite decent (when compared to other cables using exact wire, 131 and 132, cable 130 shows quite better built construction, reflected in its superior conductivity and comfort grade; and this confirms my preference for that spacious eidolic styled jack). very flexible, not noticeable sound degradation (which is what we most can expect from a cable). but true quality of the wire is doubtful (i usually don't like painted wire).
cables 133, below $100 when at sales, could have better conductor quality, true 6n occ, awesome customizable build construction but tiny jack strain relief, and sleeve is a bit more rigid then 130 (guess 130 is a kind of TPE, while 133 is true thin PVC).
quality of conductor in cable 125 is questionable (alloy copper?), but sound is perfect to me. worse jack, and not very flexible, though. new silver plated alloy? version uses same plugs and divider than cable 130, which i love, but not tested yet.
these 3 are my favs at the moment. i'd say cable 130 is the best balanced considering all the parameters you've told, together with price.

8 vs 16 line cable? Isn’t a huge difference is it? I’m trying to resist buying ISN S16, since I already have OCC Silver Triton 8...Anyone have ISNS16 and ISN C16 I just ordered C16, but thinking of getting S16 DOR the hell of it

double conductivity of 16 cores vs 8 cores, but at expense of double weight and thickness. they are like 2 x 8 cores wires together. haven't tried 8 cores version, but they seem a good value considering how much they cost

 

[Palash]

8 vs 16 line cable? Isn’t a huge difference is it? I’m trying to resist buying ISN S16, since I already have OCC Silver Triton 8...Anyone have ISNS16 and ISN C16 I just ordered C16, but thinking of getting S16 DOR the hell of it

Got C16 few days ago and H16 and S16 coming this week. Then I will do a comparison.

 

[rustyvinyl]

Yeah!
My 160 should be arriving next Monday !

 

[candlejack]

@hakuzen
Thanks again for the info. I think I will go for one of the GU cables. They showed up on my aliexpress searches before and they always caught my eye, but I was not prepared to pay that kind of price. Now that I read your review of them, I am confident enough that this is what I've been looking for.

Were you able to determine if the "occ silver" is pure silver or silver plated copper? In your initial impressions you said that there isn't much difference sound-wise between the copper and the silver. Are you still of that opinion? What about softness, any difference there?

Lastly, how often do sales come up? I'd like to avoid paying $130 (plus import tax), but I'm not willing to wait until Black Friday or anything like that.

 

[geagle]

@candlejack Aliexpress just finished a sale for its anniversary last week ..... GU was 20% off .

They do have sales with some regularity, but it IS some months in between, usually

 

[hakuzen]

@hakuzen
Thanks again for the info. I think I will go for one of the GU cables. They showed up on my aliexpress searches before and they always caught my eye, but I was not prepared to pay that kind of price. Now that I read your review of them, I am confident enough that this is what I've been looking for.

Were you able to determine if the "occ silver" is pure silver or silver plated copper? In your initial impressions you said that there isn't much difference sound-wise between the copper and the silver. Are you still of that opinion? What about softness, any difference there?

Lastly, how often do sales come up? I'd like to avoid paying $130 (plus import tax), but I'm not willing to wait until Black Friday or anything like that.

i doubt it's pure silver at that price.
check, for example, new acrolink cables (160, 161). <$50 frequently. most chinese cables use acrolink wire (budget decent quality), but these are full acrolink branded cables (known wire and plugs).
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1000005778029.html (copper)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1000005778029.html (tin/silver plated copper, same price, approx.)
the pure silver version, same thickness, costs 4x. in this case, you can be confident it's pure silver.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32918477475.html

also, when listening to gu's cables, i didn't find differences between copper and silver ones. even at first impression, sound was a bit warmer with silver color one. i have to edit my review. not pure silver.
they both are not so soft than tpu or silicone sleeved cables. sleeve used looks pvc, less soft and flexible, but more resistant and durable. not noticeable microphonics, though.

unfortunately, gu doesn't use to do periodic discounts of his cables, like other shops. he only did sale offers at 11.11 (black friday) and 3.28 (AE anniversary).

if you can hold on a bit, i'd wait my report of cables 160 and 161 (acrolink). build quality seems very similar to gu cables (heat shrink strain reliefs included, grr; i prefer silicone or tpe progressive strain reliefs..). they are also true 6n occ wire, and thicker (0.10mm*19 instead of 0.08mm*19), so better conductivity. the sleeve is different. their price is more reasonable than not discounted gu ones.

 

[candlejack]

@geagle Yeah, I was aware of the AE promotion, but I thought I was set at that point.

@hakuzen Thanks for making me hesitate again. You bought the Acrolink cables last week. right? I guess it's not gonna kill me to wait a couple of weeks. BTW, what in the world possesses you to buy all these cables? Of course, it's great for all of us here, but it probably costs you a small fortune to compile such a database.