[PhonoPhi]

Has anyone figured out which 16 core cables are best with KZ iem's? Which ones? Thanks.

My recent psychoacoustic discovery is that the colour of the cable plays the major role.
This discovery is grounded by all the talks here about "the difference" between copper and "silver plated", while the latter may not, in fact, have any silver or veing an alloy that conducts less. Thus it is the colour that in fact matters!
For me light blue and silver ones are the best to brighten and sharpen my mood. Also light violet is nice. (I got 20+ cables (seriously) and enjoy different psychoacoustic combinations all the way.
! )
Since colours matter - those blind tests are plain impossible, and subjective impressions totally rule!

 

[vurtomatic]

I'm searching for a new cable again and I think I've narrowed it down to the 165 or 170/171; mostly because they're some of @hakuzen 's favorites and I listen to electronic music so I don't mind a warmer / darker sound.

Re. 170/171: What is the difference between 4 core and 8 core?

Between 165 or 170, which one would be recommended? Their prices are within range of each other.

I'm using these with an ES100 (bluetooth receiver) and 64 Audio's first generation quad-driver CIEM.

 

[fokta]

I'm searching for a new cable again and I think I've narrowed it down to the 165 or 170/171; mostly because they're some of @hakuzen 's favorites and I listen to electronic music so I don't mind a warmer / darker sound.

Re. 170/171: What is the difference between 4 core and 8 core?

Between 165 or 170, which one would be recommended? Their prices are within range of each other.

I'm using these with an ES100 (bluetooth receiver) and 64 Audio's first generation quad-driver CIEM.

Try to help while waiting other to give more opinion about these.

If you can spare more budget , go for 171, since I believe is Litz cable construction. with that u can get better separation and darker background.

edit : what I mean is the 8 core version => 171...

I own 165, which already one of my best copper based cable in my collection...

 

[warriorpoet]

Anyone here try this cheapie yet?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32886370571.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.1.49ff4423ia3iMq

 

[vurtomatic]

Try to help while waiting other to give more opinion about these.

If you can spare more budget , go for 171, since I believe is Litz cable construction. with that u can get better separation and darker background.

edit : what I mean is the 8 core version => 171...

I own 165, which already one of my best copper based cable in my collection...

Yeah I'd love to get the 171 since it comes so highly recommended but it's way out of my budget. I spent quite a bit on an Effect Audio cable but it stopped working so I'm wary of spending so much on "just" a cable.

However, both 170 and 171 should have the same litz construction, just a matter of choosing the number of cores.

From what I've read on the internet, some people don't seem to think 4 or 8 cores matter much but I thought I might ask in this thread.

How do you find the sound of 165?

 

[Stymeron]

Anyone here try this cheapie yet?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32886370571.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.1.49ff4423ia3iMq

Yikes!

 

[warriorpoet]

Yeah I'd love to get the 171 since it comes so highly recommended but it's way out of my budget. I spent quite a bit on an Effect Audio cable but it stopped working so I'm wary of spending so much on "just" a cable.

However, both 170 and 171 should have the same litz construction, just a matter of choosing the number of cores.

From what I've read on the internet, some people don't seem to think 4 or 8 cores matter much but I thought I might ask in this thread.

How do you find the sound of 165?

Not to be too big of a shill, but if cost is a concern, you might check my cable for sale. It's Neotech Cryo wire, a little thicker gauge and built like a tank in the smallest possible form factor

 

[vurtomatic]

@warriorpoet Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately I'm looking for a 2.5mm plug; otherwise it actually looks like a good option because the 2-pin connectors look perfect for my CIEM's recessed sockets.

 

[fokta]

Yeah I'd love to get the 171 since it comes so highly recommended but it's way out of my budget. I spent quite a bit on an Effect Audio cable but it stopped working so I'm wary of spending so much on "just" a cable.

However, both 170 and 171 should have the same litz construction, just a matter of choosing the number of cores.

From what I've read on the internet, some people don't seem to think 4 or 8 cores matter much but I thought I might ask in this thread.

How do you find the sound of 165?

Here are my previous impression
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/low...ck-cable-thread.891911/page-127#post-15034226

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/low...ck-cable-thread.891911/page-142#post-15085737

And also a friend also give his impression
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/low...ck-cable-thread.891911/page-149#post-15114820

 

[vurtomatic]

@fokta Wow that's very helpful, thank you so much. 165 sounds quite suitable for the sound I like, which makes the 165 vs 170 decision even harder!

 

[hakuzen]

I'm searching for a new cable again and I think I've narrowed it down to the 165 or 170/171; mostly because they're some of @hakuzen 's favorites and I listen to electronic music so I don't mind a warmer / darker sound.

Re. 170/171: What is the difference between 4 core and 8 core?

Between 165 or 170, which one would be recommended? Their prices are within range of each other.

I'm using these with an ES100 (bluetooth receiver) and 64 Audio's first generation quad-driver CIEM.

170/171 uses 28AWG litz frozen up-occ copper, while 165 wire isn't litz but a bit thicker (26AWG). 170/171 eagle plug is quite better quality.

The main advantage of using 8 cores vs 4 cores is lower resistance. Your ES100 output impedance is 1ohm (balanced output) and 0.5ohm (single-ended), nice. 170 adds 0.255ohms, and 171 0.135ohms. In balanced, total output impedance difference is only a 12% higher with cable 170, 24% in single-end. The lower, the better, for quad BA drivers and also in general, but not excessive difference in this case. I went for 8 cores versions of these up-occ litz cables, because I aim to a minimum of 26AWG per signal.
Doing A/B, I had the impression of better bass with 8 cores version, great for EDM, but this could be bias (I couldn't confirm it). So overall sound is almost identical.

Edit. comments from my list of cables (cables 170/171):
"litz shielding can give even darker background than wire used in cable 165 (no litz); this is confirmed after first listening; difference is subtle (as usual with cables), but noticeable and welcome". Stage is also affected, and durability as well (less oxidization)

 

[vurtomatic]

Thank you so much for the information @hakuzen , that's way more than I expected when I asked in this thread.

 

[shkwocka]

Anyone have a link to a 165 with 2-pin connectors and a 3.5mm miniplug?

 

[hakuzen]

Anyone have a link to a 165 with 2-pin connectors and a 3.5mm miniplug?

exactly same wire (but only one color sleeve), 26AWG frozen UP-OCC copper no-litz, mini plugs and 2-pin available: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32999961682.html

edit: now adding it to my list, cable 172 (no measurements, though), together with cable 165

 

[Cevisi]

Why all these ali express links dont work for me. I get directly to the mainpage of ae