[Skylab]

Hey Peter, nice comments on the Moon Dragon.  I'd like to try the Moon cable someday.  I love the sound of the LCD-2 with the ALO cable, but It's a bit heavy for me.  How did you find the weight of the Silver Dragon?  Maybe you and I should swap cables in about a month and have a quick comparison

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Nice review Peter  and glad your enjoying the cable. I am always a little confused why people who never heard the item you are listening too can knock down the product, But as always on this board and it always the same guy who rags on everyone else iif the products doesn't come from ALO. Glad you found your solution and best to ignore some of the uniformed and childish remarks coming from the one individual who likes to start trouble here.

Thanks Frank. I am enjoying the tuning provided by the Silver Dragon!

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Hey Peter, nice comments on the Moon Dragon.  I'd like to try the Moon cable someday.  I love the sound of the LCD-2 with the ALO cable, but It's a bit heavy for me.  How did you find the weight of the Silver Dragon?  Maybe you and I should swap cables in about a month and have a quick comparison

Thanks Rob.

 
The weight (or lack thereof) of the Silver Dragon is definitely one of its benefits. I would describe it as very light and flexible. A real added bonus with the LCD-2s!
 
Switching cables would be great, if we could figure out the whole customs thing and not get stuck with border charges.

 

[Skylab]

Oh yeah...those pesky customs people!  Well I may have to come to Toronto on business soon, so maybe we'll try to have a beer and do some cable listening.

 

[nigeljames]

I have been looking at the LCD-2's wiring diagram and I am thinking of making up my own balanced cable.
 
Could anyone confirm that I have the mini XLR wiring right that I would solder the Live wires to terminals 1 or 4 and the Ground to 2 or 3.
I would be using a 4 pin XLR on the amp end. Thanks

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Hey Peter, nice comments on the Moon Dragon.  I'd like to try the Moon cable someday.  I love the sound of the LCD-2 with the ALO cable, but It's a bit heavy for me.  How did you find the weight of the Silver Dragon?  Maybe you and I should swap cables in about a month and have a quick comparison

I heard the Silver Dragon with LCD-2 and the new balanced RSA portable amp yesterday, and the synergy was fantastic.  It made me realize the LCD-2 could sound more balanced with the right source/amp/cable.  I just have to see what needs to be changed in my rig to get the most out of them.  And, I'll try the ALO cable today.

 

[skyblue]

nigeljames, you are correct regarding the LCD-2 four-pin mini XLR ;  you can solder either pin 1 or 4 for Live, and either pin 2 or 3 for Ground. That's not necessary to short pin 1 with 4, and pin 2 with 3 at this DIY mini-XLR female plug, because both 1-4 and 2-3 are already shorted at the LCD mini-XLR male sockets.    

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

nigeljames, you are correct regarding the LCD-2 four-pin mini XLR ;  you can solder either pin 1 or 4 for Live, and either pin 2 or 3 for Ground. That's not necessary to short pin 1 with 4, and pin 2 with 3 at this DIY mini-XLR female plug, because both 1-4 and 2-3 are already shorted at the LCD mini-XLR male sockets.    

Thanks for confirming.
Are all mini 4 pin XLR shorted like this?

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

 
My experience with "cheap" silver cables (like 2N silver) is that they can sound a bit thin and lack a full bodied sound. But these are NOT cheap silver cables (they are 6N silver as noted on the Moon Audio website with very low impurities) and the bass/mid-bass was UNAFFECTED with the change from copper to silver. A very, very good thing IMO  as the bass on the LCD-2s is the BEST I've ever heard.

 

Great review Peter.

 

[yossi126]

Thanks for the review Peter! And Larry, don't forget to give us a quick comparison of the cables

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

I heard the Silver Dragon with LCD-2 and the new balanced RSA portable amp yesterday, and the synergy was fantastic.  It made me realize the LCD-2 could sound more balanced with the right source/amp/cable.  I just have to see what needs to be changed in my rig to get the most out of them.  And, I'll try the ALO cable today.

I am now exceedingly happy with the LCD-2s with the Silver Dragon. They went from my 1a headphone (slightly behind my T1s) to now just number 1 headphone.

 
I'm looking forward to your comments on the ALO cable as well. Can you please comment on the weight differences of the two as well?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Great review Peter.

Thanks Shahrose...funny it was you who got me to give silver cables an honest second try....thanks!

 

[ctemkin]

Another cable you should put on your radar is Whiplash Audio's TWag.  I got a balanced set with Furutech rhodium XLRs.  Mechanically, they are excellent:  much lighter than the stock, very flexible, no microphonics.  The most noticeable difference is that, for the same amp gain setting, the balanced cables are much louder.  I checked with a radioshack SPL, and to equate the sound level in the stock cables requires four notches higher on the amp for the stock cable. 
 
I did a certain amount of comparison between the two cables, adjusting for the sound level difference.  I have no way of telling what is due to the cables themselves or to a difference between using the amp in SE and balanced modes.  In any event, I am convinced that there is an improvement in the mid and upper treble.  It is not night and day, nor does it turn the LCD-2s into HD 800s, but it is noticeable.  Perhaps because of this, there seems to be a slight increase in detail generally.  Also, while I have still not been able to pinpoint what it is that I like so much about the LCD-2's treatment of pianos--faster attack, more realistic decay, better timbre, I'm not sure--the balanced cable was even better in this regard than the stock cable. So over all I am very pleased.
 

 

[Currawong]

ctemkin: Just FYI, the increase in volume is not because of the cable, it's because using the amp in balanced mode it has more gain.
 
I'm using a converted APSv3 at the moment.  I haven't gone back and compared it to the stock cable yet.

 

[Jalo]

Skylab, I just received my ALO chain mail cable. I am very interested in your take as to the difference between the stock cable and the ALO cable. Thanks.