[Jarmel]

Bought the Equinox right now(as I need a balanced cable and an adaptor won't do) but you would have to cut off my lower member to get me to buy the Voice.

 

[mbd2884]

What made you choose the Equinox from SAA. Yeah Alex and others are almost as expensive, but at least their marketing isn't scumbag. Do you really think the Equinox is better than APureSound, DHC or others who don't use such pathetic marketing?

 

[Jarmel]

Well there was a number of factors to be honest.

I scratched off the Silver Dragons because while I have cables from them, to have very stiff headphone cables would be very annoying after a short period of time. Double Helix isn't even taking orders till July so I would probably be looking at August for the cables. ALO hasn't even announced anything(I remember someone mentioning they were working on one but who knows when that will be done). Really the only viable options were APS and SAA. So I went back into some reviews to see what people thought of the Equinox vs the V3 for the HD650, not easy as there wasn't that many impressions.

It would seem that the Equinox is a slightly better cable overall so I went with that. I did talk with the guys from SAA and it seems they are discouraging people from the Voice as they essentially said you would have to have a godly system for it to matter. The way I figure it, I need a balanced cable and the Equinox shouldn't sound worse so it really was closer to a toss up than one would expect. I'm sure some people are going to come on and make me eat my words.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbd2884 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What made you choose the Equinox from SAA. Yeah Alex and others are almost as expensive, but at least their marketing isn't scumbag. Do you really think the Equinox is better than APureSound, DHC or others who don't use such pathetic marketing?

I don't like posts like this. If the poster you questioned bought it for any reason, good or bad, he ought not be given the "but WHY? They're such SCUMBAGS" treatment. Or be treated as though nobody in their right mind would buy an Equinox cable.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

There should be a thread on Head-Fi for people to write up audio mumbojumbo marketing material for an imaginary audio product. See who can best pull off the marketing angle and pseudo-engineering angle for an imaginary product.

 

[nor_spoon]

I could not believe what I read the first time I read about the Voice on their site. Laughable!

Although I like the Equinox, I hate the fact that it is very microphonic.

 

[Jarmel]

Christ! SAA upped the price of the Equinox for HD800s by 200 bucks. I got my 10 ft balanced for 589 and he is now offering it for 789. If he doesn't honor the first transaction than screw it and I'll use APS for the time being.

 

[olblueyez]

The Equinox and APS sound completely different. If you dont like the sound it isnt worth a dime. I would recommend something in copper only if you pass on the Equinox. The APS makes everything sound tipped and bright, and that is with my 650's. Maybe something in Copper from Moon-Audio might work better. Just a thought.

 

[nspindel]

FYI, without passing judgement on any other cable, I can tell you that I've received my balanced amp and am now using the cable that Signal Cable made for my 650's, and I am extremely pleased with it. He hasn't launched them in production yet on his site, but Frank will make them by special order. I won't discuss pricing, you'll need to talk to Frank about that, but it will most certainly be cheaper than the Equinox! He used Cardas Senn connectors, and a Neutrik 4-plug XLR (my amp requires the 4-plug...)

 

[krmathis]

I am a cable believer, but not at all cost...

 

[orthikon]

Welcome to capitalism

 

[Audiocrack]

Now it would be a lie for me to say that the price of the VOICE is by any stretch of the imagination 'fair', however, assuming anything SAA writes is to be trusted, here is my take on why the company is to some extent reasonable: All headphones sound different, and each one 'needs' a different composition of materials to sound their best when it comes to cables. Such as some dark headphones being better with silver than copper to make a simple example. This is where I think SAA is doing something right over other companies. Most manufacturers of cables, have an array of cables they make from a given material, and thats it, so basically a aftermarket-stock-cable if you will. What SAA claims to do with the E-series and Endorphin series, is to take each headphone, and then test an array of different conducting materialt and treatments of said materials, until they find the one that complements it the best, which is why you select which headphone to buy the cable for specifically. This concept I strongly support, and I think the price of their calbes up to the Endorphin is fair, given the effort that is put into it. As for the connectors, they are all cryogenically treated and Rhodium plated as far as I'm aware, which for example costs several hundred bucks from Furutech. And you're ofcourse paying a premium for the nice wooden parts and so on, like it or not. As for experience and knowledge about sennheiser, the founder of SAA worked for sennheiser for many years, so he should know a thing or two about their cables. Now when it comes to the VOICE its their most extensive piece of kit yet, and it is taking it to the extreme, where most common head-fi'er will jump off the train. The're is most likely a reason for it being more expensive than the other cables, but I cant think of much that would justify this pricetag, without knowing the specific manufacturing process and materials. I'm not going to defend the honey coated writing they present, but the idea that they work from is the right way to go in my opinion, now the price is the only thing they need to get right. And with the E-series I think they're entering the market for more average-joe hifi'ers... Just my two cents

 

[bigshot]

Every headphone sounds a bit different. Every cable sounds exactly the same.

 

[dvw]

You're wrong, my friend. This cable is made with conductive material not yet in the periodic table that is why they are proprietary. And I also read there is wood. Do you know how rare wood is? With deforestation, this rare wood alone is easily worth $1,000. Not to mentioned, every cable is blessed by the pope. They are truly a work of art. I understand they also might have magnetic property that will align the iron in your blood to reduce the size of your prostate.

 

[bigshot]

I'm not going to ask where you plug the cable in to get the prostate benefits.