Without coming across as a shill, I cannot praise Ted Allen and his company Headphone Lounge highly enough. I first bought an Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) silver plated copper (SPC) cable a year ago from Headphone Lounge. At less than $100 I thought that it was aesthetically attractive and so if the sound did not improve at least they looked better than the stock cables. I was surprised by greater clarity that cables brought to the sound. I also got a chance through emails to get to know Ted Allen. Ted a real craftsman of the old school where the sale is less important than satisfying his customer.
Because of my enjoyment of the SPC cable I decided to take the plunge and go for Ted's flagship IEM cable the OCC pure silver cable. I must have pestered Ted with too many emails about length, choice of Y connector and possible sheathing but through it all Ted was unfailing polite and answered all my questions promptly and without complaint. With the OCC silver cable, I felt it lifted the veil of the music. From top to bottom, the sound became tighter, more coherent with greater clarity and PRaT. Based upon my experience with the OCC silver cables I bought an OCC silver LOD and interconnect from Headphone Lounge.
Finally, when I purchased Ray Samuels superb Protector balanced amplifier, I knew that I would need cables wired for a balanced amplifier. I had to practically twist Ted's arm to have him make me a new OCC silver cable with the RSA plug. Ted tried to persuade me and almost begged me to send back my existing silver cable and he would just change the plug at no charge. I wanted the flexibility to be able to switch between sources and amplifiers so I went ahead and purchased a balanced OCC silver cable. This experience taught me all I needed to know about Ted Allen, customer satisfaction is far more important than a sale.
When people ask about the build quality of Ted Allen's products, the pictures below should speak for themselves. In a word, peerless. Ted's attention to detail is excellent in everything cable or interconnect he makes. My OCC silver interconnect best personifies Ted's craftsmanship. From the Oyaide plugs to extra heat shrink from the plugs to add greater strength and durability nothing is overlooked.
For anyone considering upgrading his or her cables hoping or looking to improve the sonic signature of their IEM or headphones it is difficult to top Headphone Lounge's price, quality and a build time measured in days not months.
