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I picked up the Silver Spirit due to the good word that has been floating around about it on AA. Different people have said that it revealed more than the Acoustic Zen Silver Ref IIs, which of course made me curious. The cable is fairly low priced since it is on “special” right now (till end of July) and it just so happens that the guy who makes them, Ben, lives nearby. A very nice person who has been trying to make more affordable cables that competes with high priced cords, because according to him, why should only rich people be able to get good sound, can’t argue with that.
So how will it stack up to the Silver Ref IIs? The design is very minimalist with no shielding, using two tubes of silver wire for each cord held in place by a separator, and the Eichmann silver plugs. Well, I have to say that the Silver Ref II is hard to listen to after comparing it to the Silver Spirit….
The Silver Spirit is on a whole a more focused (ya another one, seems like I’m drawn into that now), better defined cable, than the SRIIs but with some very clear strengths that really propel its performance past the SRII.
One of the biggest advantages of the Silver Spirit over the SRII is the midrange to mid-bass. The SRIIs were never known to have a great midrange to begin with, but I never really found them lacking compared to other cables. After listening to the Silver Spirit, to me, it is the SRIIs greatest weakness. A very good cd that made this very plainly obvious is Ana Carams, Blue Bossa, on Chesky. Comparing just her voice, the SRII portrays it more recessed than the Silver Spirit. It is less dynamic, with less force, and impact; also in comparison it kind of has a hazy, murky quality to it. With the SRII, you get the feeling that her voice is somewhat weak compared to other instruments, like she has no energy to project it. The Silver Spirit filled her voice out by quite a bit. Not in a bloomy, rich, and thick kind of way, but it just seemed more whole, present. It allowed her voice to have solid dynamics and projection, not sounding so soft compared to everything else. This effect also manifested itself in the bass (instrument) that accompanies many of her songs. With the lack of dynamics, and being generally less focused, the bass (instrument) could become so indistinct, non-impactful, and lost during more complicated passages that it virtually vanishes as an instrument let alone being able to tell what is being played, becoming just a loose kind of bumble, sad.
Highs for SRII, are also a bit duller compared to Silver Spirit… Cymbal brushes come though better with the Bogdan, giving a sense that it is a cymbal. With the SRIIs, those brushes do not sound like metal but almost just rasping. Even though the Silver Spirit is more defined in this region, I did not find it to have an over energized top end, it does not stick out, to me. But it can reveal brightness, so in that sense it is even less forgiving than the SRII.
The SRII does have a tendency to shove all instruments forward, and another consequence of that is that it portrays all the instruments with very similar size. The Silver Spirit seemed to be able to portray the depth and size of the instruments to a more varying degree. The SRII can make a soundstage projected to be in a form of a rectangular box, where the depth is harder to perceive and the instruments are playing on the same plain.
Overall there is a general sense of dullness with the SRIIs. There almost seems to be a haze over everything, a sense of dullness, a more diffused sound. Some people say it’s the “veil” being lifted when they compare. The Silver Spirits also sound quicker than the SRII. Attacks of an orchestra come through with more urgency and agility while with SRII, it can sound just a bit more dull, held back.
The culmination of these effects is that the SRII does not sound as focused or solid as the Bogdan. Where the sound of an instrument is very present, defined and distinct in space with the Silver Spirit, the SRII can be vague, loose. The more complex the passage the more blurred everything becomes. This actually makes it a bit distracting to listen to the SRIIs in comparison. I have to concentrate more to tell what is going on and even if I do try to follow specific things, sometimes I can’t because they are just not defined enough and blurred out by other instruments, very frustrating.
As you can tell, I really do like these cables. Before, I got the Bogdans, I had always thought the midrange in my system was lacking in dynamics. And is one reason, I tried other power cables, since I thought that was the origin of the problem. But really, it ended up being the SRII had something to contribute to it as well. This is another cable that is a great value, especially for the price it is right now. As always though, it might not what you are looking for, since the cable can reveal a lot and will come down to preference, system, etc. I did not think that in comparison it would show such shortcomings, to me, of the SRIIs.
So how will it stack up to the Silver Ref IIs? The design is very minimalist with no shielding, using two tubes of silver wire for each cord held in place by a separator, and the Eichmann silver plugs. Well, I have to say that the Silver Ref II is hard to listen to after comparing it to the Silver Spirit….
The Silver Spirit is on a whole a more focused (ya another one, seems like I’m drawn into that now), better defined cable, than the SRIIs but with some very clear strengths that really propel its performance past the SRII.
One of the biggest advantages of the Silver Spirit over the SRII is the midrange to mid-bass. The SRIIs were never known to have a great midrange to begin with, but I never really found them lacking compared to other cables. After listening to the Silver Spirit, to me, it is the SRIIs greatest weakness. A very good cd that made this very plainly obvious is Ana Carams, Blue Bossa, on Chesky. Comparing just her voice, the SRII portrays it more recessed than the Silver Spirit. It is less dynamic, with less force, and impact; also in comparison it kind of has a hazy, murky quality to it. With the SRII, you get the feeling that her voice is somewhat weak compared to other instruments, like she has no energy to project it. The Silver Spirit filled her voice out by quite a bit. Not in a bloomy, rich, and thick kind of way, but it just seemed more whole, present. It allowed her voice to have solid dynamics and projection, not sounding so soft compared to everything else. This effect also manifested itself in the bass (instrument) that accompanies many of her songs. With the lack of dynamics, and being generally less focused, the bass (instrument) could become so indistinct, non-impactful, and lost during more complicated passages that it virtually vanishes as an instrument let alone being able to tell what is being played, becoming just a loose kind of bumble, sad.
Highs for SRII, are also a bit duller compared to Silver Spirit… Cymbal brushes come though better with the Bogdan, giving a sense that it is a cymbal. With the SRIIs, those brushes do not sound like metal but almost just rasping. Even though the Silver Spirit is more defined in this region, I did not find it to have an over energized top end, it does not stick out, to me. But it can reveal brightness, so in that sense it is even less forgiving than the SRII.
The SRII does have a tendency to shove all instruments forward, and another consequence of that is that it portrays all the instruments with very similar size. The Silver Spirit seemed to be able to portray the depth and size of the instruments to a more varying degree. The SRII can make a soundstage projected to be in a form of a rectangular box, where the depth is harder to perceive and the instruments are playing on the same plain.
Overall there is a general sense of dullness with the SRIIs. There almost seems to be a haze over everything, a sense of dullness, a more diffused sound. Some people say it’s the “veil” being lifted when they compare. The Silver Spirits also sound quicker than the SRII. Attacks of an orchestra come through with more urgency and agility while with SRII, it can sound just a bit more dull, held back.
The culmination of these effects is that the SRII does not sound as focused or solid as the Bogdan. Where the sound of an instrument is very present, defined and distinct in space with the Silver Spirit, the SRII can be vague, loose. The more complex the passage the more blurred everything becomes. This actually makes it a bit distracting to listen to the SRIIs in comparison. I have to concentrate more to tell what is going on and even if I do try to follow specific things, sometimes I can’t because they are just not defined enough and blurred out by other instruments, very frustrating.
As you can tell, I really do like these cables. Before, I got the Bogdans, I had always thought the midrange in my system was lacking in dynamics. And is one reason, I tried other power cables, since I thought that was the origin of the problem. But really, it ended up being the SRII had something to contribute to it as well. This is another cable that is a great value, especially for the price it is right now. As always though, it might not what you are looking for, since the cable can reveal a lot and will come down to preference, system, etc. I did not think that in comparison it would show such shortcomings, to me, of the SRIIs.
