Does anyone else prefer copper cables on the HD580/600/650?

[Patrickhat2001]

As of late it seems as if everyone prefers one of the silver cables (Zu, Silver Dragon, Headphile) on the HD580/600/650. However, I don't--my favorite cables on my HD600s are the Equinox and the Oehlbach. I tried the Zu Mobius but found it sounding too thin, especially in the bass. Also the speed of the Mobius definately was nice but I found it to be very false sounding at the same time--decay of instuments was just a little too quick and bass slapped when it should have bloomed. Maybe it's all with my system synergy (Gilmore V2 amp and soundcards) but I think I prefer the lush sound of copper to silver. To my ears the Equinox and the Oehlbach both sound more rich and natural (I also found the Mobious to be too serile sounding). Does anyone else not like the sound of silver cables with their Senns?

P.S. To be fair out of all the silver cables I have only tried the Mobius but I always seem to find copper cables to sound better than silver (I've tried some silver Zu interconnects and some Home Grown Audio as well). I've tried the Cardas as well but I found it a bit too slow and stuffy for me and I didn't like the way it tried to give the Senns a more neutral tonal character (it came off as very fake to me, especially compared to the DT880 and K501). Still, the Cardas can sound incredibly detailed--I just thought it was a bit too stuffy (lacking transparency) for me. Also, while I didn't own the Oehlbach at the time I temporarily owned the HD650s preferences applied to them as well (although the slightly warmer character of the HD650 did pair a bit better with the Mobius).

 

[nierika]

I'm pretty sure the Zu Mobius is a copper/silver hybrid.

 

[tiberian]

IMO zu mobius sounds more copper than silver, the headphile replacement cable i have is lean sounding compared to the mobius, i don't like it as much as the mobius. i have never tried any other replacement cable but i have experience with a bunch of ICs (see profile) and the zu gede.
the use of silver cable in ANY part of the system requires careful gear matching, for example benchmark + silver cable = no no.

 

[AuroraProject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nierika I'm pretty sure the Zu Mobius is a copper/silver hybrid.

^^ Zu touts both the Mobius and the Gedē as having "silver alloy conductor metallurgy," so it's probably a silver/copper mix.




EDIT: and I foresee this thread exploding into a monster like the last cable related post!

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Hmm...I always thought the Mobius was pure silver, at least that's what I've been told here at Head-Fi ever since the cable was released. Supposedly, too, the Mobius was said to be designed as the most efficient interconnect possible (i.e. providing the least possible resistance to the signal between the amp and the phones)--such a construction would require the use of silver cabling.

Tiberian, I think I may be able to shed some light on the differences you hear between the Mobius and the Headphile cable. Besides the differences due to the types of wiring used in each cable they also have different plugs. As Larry (of Headphile) states the Headphile cable uses plugs that are clipped from stock Senn HD580/600 (or HD650) cables--unfortunately, because of this some of the stock cable must be left connected to the plugs. The same thing happens with the Equinox cable (it too uses stock Senn plugs which, I assume, must be garnered in the same manner) and the Equinox sounds noticably thinner (and more aggressive) than the Oehlbach--which comes with custom made plugs (just like the Mobius). To my ears the sound of the stock Senn cables is thinner and more aggressive than those of the aftermarket cables--perhaps (because they share the same plugs and a small amount of cabling) this is why the Equinox and Headphile cables also sound thinner compared to their other aftermarket counterparts. Of course, this is only a plausable explanation--and many other factors are, no doubt, at play.

 

[sacd lover]

I am with you Pat. I like copper better too. I have the oehlbach and a copper magnet wire cable called the diamondback that was made for me by Chris Bayley here on head-fi. I like the warmth and body of copper cables and they dont seem to have issues with sibilance.

 

[tiberian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrickhat2001 Hmm...I always thought the Mobius was pure silver, at least that's what I've been told here at Head-Fi ever since the cable was released. Supposedly, too, the Mobius was said to be designed as the most efficient interconnect possible (i.e. providing the least possible resistance to the signal between the amp and the phones)--such a construction would require the use of silver cabling. Tiberian, I think I may be able to shed some light on the differences you hear between the Mobius and the Headphile cable. Besides the differences due to the types of wiring used in each cable they also have different plugs. As Larry (of Headphile) states the Headphile cable uses plugs that are clipped from stock Senn HD580/600 (or HD650) cables--unfortunately, because of this some of the stock cable must be left connected to the plugs. The same thing happens with the Equinox cable (it too uses stock Senn plugs which, I assume, must be garnered in the same manner) and the Equinox sounds noticably thinner (and more aggressive) than the Oehlbach which come with custom made plugs (just like the Mobius). To my ears the sound of the stock Senn cables is thinner and more aggressive than those of the replacement cables--perhaps (because they share some of the stock cabling and the stock plugs) this is why the Equinox and Headphile cables also sound thin compared to their other aftermarket counterparts. Of course, this is only a plausable explanation--and many other factors are, no doubt, at play.

thanks for the info patrick, but IMO it's more about the wires used

, i have tried out a good amount of larry's silver cables and they all sound similar (like the sennheiser replacement cable).