[kwkarth]

Quote:

I am glad you noticed the same thing with lower purity silver.  Yes, liquid mids and cohesive treble do come with HIGHEND silver cables.  I also like Kimber silver cable.  I am using the Kimber D60 Illuminati now and finds it clear, transparent, very personal and not thin at all.  Until recently, I have been afraid to use silver with full size headphones-the likes that you have (HD800, LCD2, ED8LE) for fear that I may loose that full body sound and bass reduction.  But my recent experience with a certain silver cable lead me to try it with my LCD2.  I don't like to jump to conclusion, so may be in another month or two, I'll share my opinion on this new find.  Another take I have on silver is that I do not like silver plated copper.  To me they don't have the full characteristic of good silver or good copper, somewhat like a lukewarm attitude.  So far, I have been using ALO chain mail 8 wires 18 awg cable for my LCD2 and I have been happy with its performance (full body, solid bass).  However, ever so slightly I wanted a little more with its treble (more air and more smoothness) but retaining the characteristic of the ALO, I hope I'll find this in this next silver cable. 

The Q Black Magic makes what you describe happen for me.

 

[Jalo]

Very interesting, I'll look into it.

 

[gogogasgas]

So much great information on silver (and copper) headphone cables. We should re-name the thread so all Head Fi-ers can drink at the well.
 
The Silver Dragons do come up a lot on this site. Good sound and quality construction for a reasonable outlay, it seems. Kimber silver also seems to to be mentioned favorably. I've got Kimber silver cable ordered for hook-up wire in a Phoenix I'm getting made. (now that Macedonian Hero has 'converted' me to silver) I would like to get a pair of headphone cables made using one of the Kimber silver cables but I have been told there isn't a Kimber cable that is suitable. Perhaps someone on Head Fi has had experience to the contrary?
 
Currawong - your new picture suggests you are much younger than I imagined... that Norse cable just might be the 'Fountain of Youth'!
I understand your comments regarding the switch of cable. If you enjoy the music more, the cable must be a good match.
 
Jalo- that is interesting info on the SAA Voice, especially in relation to the HD800s. As for burn in time- that's a long period. I wonder if you could just connect the silver cables to one of those Nordost cable burn-in gadgets and speed the process along a bit.
 
That info on the link between silver quality and audio quality is worth noting. However, price wise, the sky is the limit with silver (and copper) cables. For example, those Double Helix silver cables look brilliant...but so does the dazzling price. Still, if they ARE that good, and if headphones are the main source of listening, and the rest of the audio chain is of suitable quality, then, why not? Any opinions on the Double Helix silver?

 

[Jalo]

Gogogasgas, I went to the link you provided in your previous post on DHC but wasn't able to see the spec. on their silver cable other than it is very good.  For instance, there is no mention as to the compostion or construction on the cable.  A lot of cable manufacture tends to keep certain parts of their technology proprietary, however, I feel the basis stuff should be disclosed like is it a single vs multi core, is the silver 2n, 3, or 5n, what kind of dialectric, shielding, grounding are use etc.

 

[gogogasgas]

Jalo: I checked out the blurb on the Double Helix site again and I agree: it's light on facts regarding the silver wire. I am, however, very impressed with the enormous amount of detail that has been put into the design of the cables. I believe the owner of the company is a regular poster on this site and I would like to invite him to comment - is that OK with the Head Fi moderators? I'm not sure of the rules regarding industry members commenting on their own wares. Also, I see that iPodPJ is a happy owner of a set - perhaps he might share his knowledge regarding the type of silver used by DH.
 
The price on the Double Helix site for the silver cables reflects a model designed for the HD800s and terminated in the (very expensive) beryllium Furutech connectors. Perhaps the same cable configured for the LCD-2s and terminated with more basic Furutech XLRs might bring the price down.
 
 

 

[Currawong]

Members of the Trade can answer direct questions about their products in posts, no problem.  Have a look at the Privacy/TOS link at the very bottom of the page for more info on that.

 

[gogogasgas]

Thanks, Currawong.
 
I am still intrigued regarding the possibility of using KIMBER AGSS for a pair of headphone cables. This idea isn't new - checkout a comparison of headphone cables HERE. In that example, a copper wire was used for the return signal whereas I would want an all-silver cable. Downside? The cable is a bit stiff and it also could get a little expensive by the time you add the cost of termination connectors. It is, however, no-fuss (except making the things), pure silver headphone cable option.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Jalo: I checked out the blurb on the Double Helix site again and I agree: it's light on facts regarding the silver wire. I am, however, very impressed with the enormous amount of detail that has been put into the design of the cables. I believe the owner of the company is a regular poster on this site and I would like to invite him to comment - is that OK with the Head Fi moderators? I'm not sure of the rules regarding industry members commenting on their own wares. Also, I see that iPodPJ is a happy owner of a set - perhaps he might share his knowledge regarding the type of silver used by DH.
 
The price on the Double Helix site for the silver cables reflects a model designed for the HD800s and terminated in the (very expensive) beryllium Furutech connectors. Perhaps the same cable configured for the LCD-2s and terminated with more basic Furutech XLRs might bring the price down.
 
 

I own a pair of the HD800 Complement cables with his Nucleotide OCC Copper wire, which is custom made exclusively for Double Helix Cables.  I have not actually heard the silver version.  I know he's using OCC solid core silver wire, but I'm not exactly sure what brand it is.
 

 

[K3cT]

Silver Dragon v3 cable +  internal Silver Dragon v3 rewire = orgasmic. Overall sound seems to be airier, cleaner and more transparent. 
 
This cable, it's really like it's made for the LCD2. 

 

[KB]

Guys,
 
We have 3 new round woven 8 wire LCD2 cables all of them and about half of the weight of the older 8 wire 18awg one that Skylab is complaining about being heavy. One of these is half silver and half copper. We have one more in the works, all are really nice and chewy, the half silver half copper has some nice action for the top end with our being offensive. Please check them out all are on the website and do ping me if you have any questions ken@aloaudio.com
 
cheers,
 
Ken

 

[Skylab]

That's a cool development, Ken!  I loved the sound of your LCD-2 cable, but it is objectively quite heavy, and for me personally, it was an issue.  Lots of other people have said that the weight was not an issue, however.  I think this will vary a lot from person to person.

 

[ninjikiran]

I dunno about microphonics on the norse 8w cable, unlike the blue jeans cable I had made for the K702's which was microphonic to the touch.  Personally dont know differences but don't care, they look nicer with the LCD-2 and is a good test of brand for when I go balanced one day.

 

[Skylab]

Inhave been breaking in a 4 conductor Norse, which is not at all microphonic, and is nice and light. So far sounds quite good, IMO, as well. More later.

 

[zilch0md]

 
Skylab,
 
I'm really looking forward to your opinion of whether or not the 4-conductor Norse is better overall than the ADZ5 (the current stock LCD-2 cable) or its predecessor - and in what ways...
 
(OT:  I'm also curious about your impressions of the Lyr with LCD-2, whenever that happens...)
 
Thanks and no rush - I've got lots of popcorn! 
 

 
Mike
 
 

 

[perrew]

Silver Dragon v3 cable +  internal Silver Dragon v3 rewire = orgasmic. Overall sound seems to be airier, cleaner and more transparent. 
 
This cable, it's really like it's made for the LCD2. 

Why would you wanna ruin such nice phones with silver?