[Matt]

Just got a 0.75 meter pair of the "new" Bogdan Princess IC's, upgrading from my old Magwire Nakeds for my Music Hall MMF-5 turntable>Bottlehead Seduction phono preamp>KGSS>Omega II's.

The difference is huge. REAL music is flowing through, very tonally balanced. Real rhythm and pace, nothing "reluctant" about it. I think the bottlehead has a softer character and somehow the synergy right now is just great.

The last word? NO...I could criticize it for being a touch veiled (again, could just be the Seduction), but good GOLLY what a difference. MUCH more signal integrity flowing through...realism, natural, smooth, relaxed but DYNAMIC and inner detail is excellent. Echo trails off forever. Music is delicate like a live flower, versus a more "rugged" silk flower. I can hear "into" the room, like I am looking through more of a clear window to the actual session.

Piano is as close to perfect as I've heard (in my admittedly limited experiene), horns have "yin" and "yang" at the same time (hard to find out there), voices are full and rich and intimate with bounce and body.

Those Eichmann bullets are nice and the "new" version of the Princess has wider teflon tubing for less contact on the actual wire itself, from what I understand.

The body behind the tone is just great...smooth, realistic, "live." FINALLY some non-aggravating sounding cables and they are not burned in yet (something I don't put too much stock in anyways).

Good stuff, just thought I'd let you all know...satisfaction for cheap. I have no real desire to change at this point...synergy is great and any improvements would come at a highly inflated price, I'm guessing.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

I'll second your opinions, the Silver Princess is a fantastic cable, and yes the new one has larger teflon tubes to get more air around the conductor and resultingly looks A LOT better than the pics on Audiogon. I've ordered 16 gauge teflon tubing, 24 gauge 5ns (.99999) pure silver wire, 4% silver solder and Eichman bullet plugs and I'm going to throw a pair together myself and see how they compare to the real thing, they should be exactly the same if not a little better due to the higher purity silver (3ns vs. 5ns). My total cost for materials was $60 so at $90 he doesn't have a huge margin for profit as most cable manufacturers charge at least twice as much as the materials cost. In any case, enjoy your Bogdans and welcome to the world of silver!

 

[xtreme4099]

silver generally takes a couple weeks to burn in .. at first it seems bright ... the soundstage wide and somewhat sparsed ...but then it becomes more controlled after like the second week, even more so the third ... until it feels just right now ... i like the stuff over copper definitely ...

 

[Matt]

I can't believe I am saying this, but everything in my rig has just *gelled* awesomely.

I have FINALLY gotten my dream rig. I am feeling SOOOOOOO spoiled right now. Like as if I won $5000 or something sweet like that. Unbelievable.

Now, I don't want to say that the Bogdans were the massive, huge difference. Quite possibly they were simply the straw that broke the camel's back, or my Magwire Nakeds weren't that great to begin with, like they are best with sub-standard sources to smooth the crap up or whatever.

Anyhow, I am seriously feeling like I don't really need to come 'round here anymore, except to keep in touch with friends from meets.

I just got done listening to Nik's R10's a couple of weeks ago, and this does many things so much better than what I heard at that last Florida meet.

What we heard from my rig at the meet was substandard compared to this. The Magwires are great for smoothing out **** sources, but they don't let the full range through on more decent gear.

Unbelievable.

I hate to gloat, or be an "electrostatic snob," but I can't hide it: I am. This just kills anything I've ever heard before. OMEGA II's ROCK! They sound orgasmic with just about ANY music, too (well recorded helps, but isn't necessary...they have a little highly skilled smoothing action built in). Jeez...

 

[agile_one]

Hey, Matt, so do you like those Bogden Princess IC's or what

Glad the silver has woken the sleeping giant. After hearing your rig at mikeg's, I can picture exactly what you are saying, and am pleased that the missing link has been found. There really is something to this synergy thing after all.

btw - those R10's are mine, now, so be careful how you talk about them

 

[Matt]

Gene,

Congrats on getting them! That is awesome.

I mean, if I had to choose, I would still pick the Omegas...yes, they can come across as more "artificial," more hyper-detailed and therefore less natural, but they also have incredible rhythm and pace that the R10's can't generally touch. Plus they have more overall detail, if you ask me. Finally, the R10's are *not* (from what I heard) nearly as good with rock/disco-type music, which constitutes a modest but important part of my listening diet.

So, R10's are one of the top three out there (which I believe to be HE90's/R10/Omega II), but they're just not *so much* for me. Since the price proposition is also so far and away good for the Omega II's, they are my clear-cut choice.

Yeah, those Princesses really connected "the last mile" for me, and I am pleased as punch. They don't seem like they would be able to make it through any abuse (accidental bending, etc.) but they sound fabulous. I am convinced it is the Eichmann bullet plugs that are the majority of the quality there.

After giving the above highly-biased-by-incredibly-beautiful-music review above, I did more listening and while I found some records were ****tier, there has definitely been a huge enough leap in overall performance to warrant the enthusiasm. Some of my favorite "good recordings" are now tear-jerkingly good. Really, really, finally ALIVE.

There are some R10 things I really wish I had (besides that stunning soundstage): somewhere in my system is some teeny-tiny-microscopic f'ed up phase thing going on...an ever-so-slight smear/disconnect between channels that psychologically dulls imaging a smidgen. Not enough to be annoying, but I can perceive it. Your R10's had NO such problem...maybe it's the amp or the cans, since we were on the same source.

When sounds come from distinct channels, it's easily the best sound I've ever heard.

There is a semi-peculiar veil still, which I think is the Seduction. But the tone and beauty and treble purity (beyond mere "sweetness") is 99.99999% breathtaking.

Nice to hear from you.

Regards,
Matt