Ross
500+ Head-Fier
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The title for this thread is a little provocative, because I know that many others do not share my views on some of the cables I review below. But hopefully, because just about every commercially available cable is covered in the review, along with other peoples' comments, the thread should represent a complete review of these cables.
I should also add that the differences in sound these cables produced were noticeable and significant, and had a major impact on the enjoyability of the music played on the headphones. There is no doubt of this, and I am not interested in a debate on psychological effects or double blind testing. If you wish to raise these issues, please do so somewhere else.
This review was intended to be a complete review of all available copper cables. This is because I don't generally like silver or silver/copper cables, and was not planning to buy or audition them. As it turned out, I ended up buying them anyway, although these cables have not altered my opinions of silver as a cable material.
I have owned Sennheiser 580s, then 600s, then 650s, for years. I have two pairs of each. I like the Sennheiser sound; I think they are the best sounding and most versatile headphones around. I think they sound better than Grados, Stax (when driven by a very good amp), Beyer, AKG and every other headphone I've heard. I don't find them veiled, distant, lacking bass, impact or anything else. I don't expect everyone to agree with these opinions, but it will give you some idea of where I'm coming from.
Amps I use include the Naim Headline/Hicap, Meier Prehead, Headroom Maxed Home, Ben Duncan Phones-01, World Audio Design HD83 (tubed), and Hart Linsley Hood Chiarra. Sources were my Naim CDS2 and LP12/Ekos/Lyra Clavis Evolve/Prefix/Supercap in my main, Naim system, and a Naim CD5, and Michell Orbe SE/SME IV/Ortofon Rohmann with Lehmann Black Cube SE in the second system. Music was mainly classical and opera, but some jazz, rock and dance.
About a decade ago I owned Sennheiser's (then) top of the range headphones, the 560 II. They were dark sounding, but very good (I wish I still had them). One day, the cable broke. I rigged up a replacement cable using some cheap OFC speaker wire from an electronics store and used bare wire and electrical tape to connect to the earpieces. It wasn't pretty, but it sounded a lot better than the stock cable. It was then that I realised that the Sennheisers were capable of signficant improvement through cables (as was every other part of the hi fi chain). I then waited patiently for this realisation to dawn on others, and one day it did: I read on Headwize about the Clou cables.
I bought both the Red Jaspis and Blue Jaspis almost immediately. These cables were a silver/copper hybrid, and used Sennheiser earpiece connectors spliced to the end of the cable. Although, as I've mentioned above, I don't like silver/copper cables, it was all that was available at the time, so I had to have them. Of course, at that time the 650s had not been released, so they were used with my 600s. The cables were noticeably more detailed and smoother than the stock Sennheiser cable. The Red Jaspis was a little fuller sounding, but there was not much difference between the Red and Blue versions. However, they were bright, with an exaggerated top end, as has always been my experience with silver/copper cables. Once the Cardas cable came out, I sold the Clous.
I bought the first version of the Cardas cable, and later the second version. Again, this was with the 600s rather than the 650s. The Cardas cables represented a signficant improvement on the Clous, both in sound and construction. They were more flexible than the Clous, and used Cardas proprietary earpiece connectors, a much better solution than the spliced cable ends used by Clou.
The Cardas sound was warmer, better balanced, and without the brightness or shrill top end of the Clou cables. It was a little less smooth, but with a focus in the midrange which better suited the Sennheisers. I should add that the second version was significantly better than the first version, with better detail, and greater ability to distinguish tonal colours.
I owned the Cardas cables for several years very happily, but the 650s had come out, along with a new generation of cables. I'd also bought a Meier Prehead, whose extraordinary sound quality and transparency made it even easier to hear the differences between these cables, especially as I had ordered mine with both sockets set at zero ohms, which enabled me to make direct comparisons of cables using my two pairs of 650s with different cables from the same amp.
When the Prehead arrived, I'd also ordered the Oehlbach cable. The Oehlbach is a well-made copper cable, very like the stock cable in appearance and the most flexible of the after-market cables; also the cheapest. After I'd had it for a short time, I posted some comments on this forum about my disappointment with the cable. Although there were some improvements over the stock cable, there was also some downsides. Perhaps I was a little overly critical of the cable at the time, but my initial reservations remain. The Oehlbach improves on the stock cable in the midrange and in tonal colour, as well as the solidity of the sound. However, the image is flatter and smeared - the stock cable provides a better three-dimensional image - and while the Oehlbach goes deeper than the stock cable, it lacks deep bass compared to other cables and has a noticeably compressed top end. The Oehlbach cable is also a little grainy sounding, much like the stock cable. Despite this, I think it is a worthwhile upgrade on the stock cable for its better sense of tonal colour. For me, tonal colour is more important than spatial information, so the sense of spatial "flattening" that the Oehlbach produces is not of too much concern to me, but may be to others. I like the Oehlbach at its price, especially with the 580s, with which it is an ideal match. However, the Oehlbach cable does not compete with any of the more expensive cables I mention in this review.
Looking around at the Sennheiser cable market, I was wondering which cable to try next. The Zu was standing out as the most highly rated, followed by the Silver Dragon, but I still had reservations about silver cables. That left the Equinox and Blue Dragon. The Equinox had some very positive reviews, but its spliced cable connections were of concern, but the Blue Dragon had had little significant comment - so I ordered both, which arrived within a few days of each other.
The Blue Dragon from Moon Audio is an all-copper cable in an attractive blue sheath, relatively flexible (as these things go) and uses Cardas earpiece connectors. It is very well made.
The Equinox is equally well-made, but uses spliced connections from a stock cable to obtain the earpiece connectors. Stefan Art Audio give some reasons on their website as to why they believe that this is the best approach, but this strikes me as rationalisation rather than convincing logic. I know from experience that even a short amount of cable can transform the sound, so using a section of the stock cable (however miniscule) seems to defeat the purpose.
Both the Blue Dragon and Equinox cables were run in over a period of weeks through continuous connection to an amp connected to a tuner, with some testing during that period.
It was interesting that the Equinox seemed to provide a couple of extra db of volume compared to the Blue Dragon. Straight out of the box, the Blue Dragon sounded muffled (as some have reported), compressed, and producing a lower volume of sound. The Blue Dragon continued to sound constricted and compressed for some time, with a fuzzy sound, and uncontrolled bass. This continued for a few weeks. Then it opened up and sounded bright for a couple of weeks. And then the brightness reduced and the cable started to produce its final sound. This took a couple of months, and I have never heard any cable change its sound so much during a break in period. In fact, I was thinking of returning it to Moon Audio at several times during the break in, as I kept thinking "surely now it's run in", but no, there was still a lot of running in to do. I therefore suggest that anyone auditioning this cable allow a couple of months of continuous use before assessing it critically.
The Equinox had no such issues. It improved with time, but its essential character remained much the same straight from the box.
Once run in, the Blue Dragon had a slightly dark sound, with a strong emphasis on the midrange, deep bass, natural - ie unexaggerated - highs, and the most striking ability to resolve tonal colour that I have ever heard the Sennheisers produce. The Blue Dragon does make the headphones sound a shade "softer" both in terms of volume and impact, but they compensate with a vivid, lifelike character, and a warm, velvety, silkiness that I find very addictive. They also produce the most natural sense of space of any of the cables. Instruments have a fullness and occupy a real sense of space, while the ambience of the recording venue and around instruments is strikingly reproduced. In case you can't tell, I like this cable. In fact, the more I listened to it after its lengthy run-in period, I loved this cable.
The Equinox* disappointed in comparison, especially after its many glowing reviews. It is not a bad cable by any means, but while sounding subjectively louder than the Blue Dragon, it lacks the tonal and spatial richness that the Blue Dragon produces. It does have a fairly neutral balance, and produces excellent amounts of detail with smoothness, but lacks the Blue Dragon's ability to reproduce complex tonal colours. Had I not heard the Blue Dragon, I would probably rate the Equinox more highly. I suspect the Equinox would be a better cable if it did not use spliced connections, but it is impossible to know if this is true. I liked the Equinox, which is a clear improvement on the stock cable, but I was not blown away as I expected to be after some of the reviews, especially in comparison to the Blue Dragon.
I was so impressed by the Blue Dragon, that I decided to flout my usual rule of avoiding silver cables and ordered the Silver Dragon from Moon Audio. This was partly based on Moon Audio's own claim that the Silver Dragon was a big improvement on the Blue Dragon. Once again, Drew Baird at Moon Audio provided excellent service, and I soon had a Silver Dragon running in. Knowing the break-in time that the Blue Dragon had required, I let the Silver Dragon run in continuously for at least 200 hours. Even so, it re-confirmed my preference for copper cables over silver.
In my experience, silver cables tend to sound smoother and more detailed than copper cables, but usually have an exaggerated treble, are brighter and, more importantly (to me), have a metallic colouration which I do not like. (As may be clear from the above, tonal colour is the most critical factor for me in any hi fi equipment.) I have tried many silver interconnects, including some extremely expensive ones, and have always had the same reaction.
The Silver Dragon was no exception to this. While warmer sounding than many silver cables I have tried, the Silver Dragon was still brighter than the Blue Dragon and Equinox. As expected, it had greater detail and smoothness, but its metallic colouration ruled it out for me. Others with a greater tolerance for silver cables and a greater appreciation of their strengths will probably like this cable better than I did.
Having now listened to every cable I was aware of, there was of course only one remaining - the Zu Mobius. I was conscious that it was a silver/copper hybrid, which I have never liked in cables, but on the other hand it was receiving some rapturous reviews, and combined with the fact that it was the only cable I hadn't tried, I decided to buy it.
The Zu has been running in for a few weeks continuously, although its sound has changed little over that time. As expected with a silver/copper cable, it has an exaggerated top end, and is bright. ("Brightness" is a difficult concept to pin down; there are many things I think of as "bright" which others have described as "dark" and vice versa; the Zu is an example, since many have described it as warm or dark, which is just not what I hear. It is possible, however, that what you and I mean by the term "bright" are quite different things; that is one of the pitfalls of writing about hi fi equipment.) To me, the Zu is umistakeably bright. It also has a noticeably exaggerated treble. It is fast, liquid, tight, and upfront, and it is these qualities which I suspect make it so popular. Certainly, if you think the Sennheisers are in any sense "veiled" or "distant" or "laid-back", this cable will pierce the veil, bring the sound closer and "wake up" the headphones. However, I don't consider the 650s veiled at all, and while I liked the smoothness, incredible detail and liquidity of the sound this cable produced, I didn't appreciate the tipped up treble (which is partly responsible for the increased detail) or brightness. This sense of brightness also reduces the cable's ability to resolve tonal colours.
Using the Zu with my HD83 tube amp produced some improvements. The rolled off treble of the amp was compensated to some extent by the bright sound of the cable. This was a better match than my Prehead or other solid state amps. However, the "silvery" sound was still not to my taste.
I should add that the Zu is very well made, although the aluminium connectors are a bit of a nuisance - I developed blisters trying to get then into the earpiece sockets, although once connected, they remain connected securely.
To summarise, the Blue Dragon was far and away my favourite of these cables. I love the sound of the 650s with this cable. There is a silky, velvety sound with a sense of tonal richness and a natural spatial presentation which I find produces the best sound I have ever heard with headphones. It surprises me that this cable has been so completely underrated, overshadowed as it is by the supposedly better Silver Dragon and the bright Zu. The Equinox was a good cable but a little disappointing compared with the Blue Dragon. The Oehlbach is an okay budget choice, especially for the 580s, but may not represent enough of an improvement for the 650s. The Cardas cable is excellent, and on a par with the Equinox. The Equinox is a bit smoother and more detailed, but the Cardas has a richer sound, although it is still a long way behind the Blue Dragon in that respect. The Silver Dragon was a good silver cable, and for those who like silver and appreciate the smoothness and detail it brings, the Silver Dragon may well be the best choice. But for those allergic to silver cables (like me), the Silver Dragon's metallic sound ruled it out. The Zu is well suited to those who like a bright sound or who find the Sennheisers "veiled", especially in combination with tube amps. Its speed, detail and smoothness, are obviously factors in its popularity. But for me, its brightness and increased treble - the expected results of using a silver/copper hybrid - outweighed its strengths.
So my choice is the Blue Dragon, which I truly believe should be more popular with Sennheiser users than it is. I would, however, caution that it takes an unbelievably long time for this cable to stablise its sound, which may be a factor in its relative lack of popularity.
As mentioned earlier, all of the comments above are personal opinions, and I expect - and indeed encourage - different points of view, so if you disagree with anything I have said - apart from the self-evident fact that cables do make a substantial difference - please feel free to comment.
Ross
*Please see revised comments about the Equinox below.
I should also add that the differences in sound these cables produced were noticeable and significant, and had a major impact on the enjoyability of the music played on the headphones. There is no doubt of this, and I am not interested in a debate on psychological effects or double blind testing. If you wish to raise these issues, please do so somewhere else.
This review was intended to be a complete review of all available copper cables. This is because I don't generally like silver or silver/copper cables, and was not planning to buy or audition them. As it turned out, I ended up buying them anyway, although these cables have not altered my opinions of silver as a cable material.
I have owned Sennheiser 580s, then 600s, then 650s, for years. I have two pairs of each. I like the Sennheiser sound; I think they are the best sounding and most versatile headphones around. I think they sound better than Grados, Stax (when driven by a very good amp), Beyer, AKG and every other headphone I've heard. I don't find them veiled, distant, lacking bass, impact or anything else. I don't expect everyone to agree with these opinions, but it will give you some idea of where I'm coming from.
Amps I use include the Naim Headline/Hicap, Meier Prehead, Headroom Maxed Home, Ben Duncan Phones-01, World Audio Design HD83 (tubed), and Hart Linsley Hood Chiarra. Sources were my Naim CDS2 and LP12/Ekos/Lyra Clavis Evolve/Prefix/Supercap in my main, Naim system, and a Naim CD5, and Michell Orbe SE/SME IV/Ortofon Rohmann with Lehmann Black Cube SE in the second system. Music was mainly classical and opera, but some jazz, rock and dance.
About a decade ago I owned Sennheiser's (then) top of the range headphones, the 560 II. They were dark sounding, but very good (I wish I still had them). One day, the cable broke. I rigged up a replacement cable using some cheap OFC speaker wire from an electronics store and used bare wire and electrical tape to connect to the earpieces. It wasn't pretty, but it sounded a lot better than the stock cable. It was then that I realised that the Sennheisers were capable of signficant improvement through cables (as was every other part of the hi fi chain). I then waited patiently for this realisation to dawn on others, and one day it did: I read on Headwize about the Clou cables.
I bought both the Red Jaspis and Blue Jaspis almost immediately. These cables were a silver/copper hybrid, and used Sennheiser earpiece connectors spliced to the end of the cable. Although, as I've mentioned above, I don't like silver/copper cables, it was all that was available at the time, so I had to have them. Of course, at that time the 650s had not been released, so they were used with my 600s. The cables were noticeably more detailed and smoother than the stock Sennheiser cable. The Red Jaspis was a little fuller sounding, but there was not much difference between the Red and Blue versions. However, they were bright, with an exaggerated top end, as has always been my experience with silver/copper cables. Once the Cardas cable came out, I sold the Clous.
I bought the first version of the Cardas cable, and later the second version. Again, this was with the 600s rather than the 650s. The Cardas cables represented a signficant improvement on the Clous, both in sound and construction. They were more flexible than the Clous, and used Cardas proprietary earpiece connectors, a much better solution than the spliced cable ends used by Clou.
The Cardas sound was warmer, better balanced, and without the brightness or shrill top end of the Clou cables. It was a little less smooth, but with a focus in the midrange which better suited the Sennheisers. I should add that the second version was significantly better than the first version, with better detail, and greater ability to distinguish tonal colours.
I owned the Cardas cables for several years very happily, but the 650s had come out, along with a new generation of cables. I'd also bought a Meier Prehead, whose extraordinary sound quality and transparency made it even easier to hear the differences between these cables, especially as I had ordered mine with both sockets set at zero ohms, which enabled me to make direct comparisons of cables using my two pairs of 650s with different cables from the same amp.
When the Prehead arrived, I'd also ordered the Oehlbach cable. The Oehlbach is a well-made copper cable, very like the stock cable in appearance and the most flexible of the after-market cables; also the cheapest. After I'd had it for a short time, I posted some comments on this forum about my disappointment with the cable. Although there were some improvements over the stock cable, there was also some downsides. Perhaps I was a little overly critical of the cable at the time, but my initial reservations remain. The Oehlbach improves on the stock cable in the midrange and in tonal colour, as well as the solidity of the sound. However, the image is flatter and smeared - the stock cable provides a better three-dimensional image - and while the Oehlbach goes deeper than the stock cable, it lacks deep bass compared to other cables and has a noticeably compressed top end. The Oehlbach cable is also a little grainy sounding, much like the stock cable. Despite this, I think it is a worthwhile upgrade on the stock cable for its better sense of tonal colour. For me, tonal colour is more important than spatial information, so the sense of spatial "flattening" that the Oehlbach produces is not of too much concern to me, but may be to others. I like the Oehlbach at its price, especially with the 580s, with which it is an ideal match. However, the Oehlbach cable does not compete with any of the more expensive cables I mention in this review.
Looking around at the Sennheiser cable market, I was wondering which cable to try next. The Zu was standing out as the most highly rated, followed by the Silver Dragon, but I still had reservations about silver cables. That left the Equinox and Blue Dragon. The Equinox had some very positive reviews, but its spliced cable connections were of concern, but the Blue Dragon had had little significant comment - so I ordered both, which arrived within a few days of each other.
The Blue Dragon from Moon Audio is an all-copper cable in an attractive blue sheath, relatively flexible (as these things go) and uses Cardas earpiece connectors. It is very well made.
The Equinox is equally well-made, but uses spliced connections from a stock cable to obtain the earpiece connectors. Stefan Art Audio give some reasons on their website as to why they believe that this is the best approach, but this strikes me as rationalisation rather than convincing logic. I know from experience that even a short amount of cable can transform the sound, so using a section of the stock cable (however miniscule) seems to defeat the purpose.
Both the Blue Dragon and Equinox cables were run in over a period of weeks through continuous connection to an amp connected to a tuner, with some testing during that period.
It was interesting that the Equinox seemed to provide a couple of extra db of volume compared to the Blue Dragon. Straight out of the box, the Blue Dragon sounded muffled (as some have reported), compressed, and producing a lower volume of sound. The Blue Dragon continued to sound constricted and compressed for some time, with a fuzzy sound, and uncontrolled bass. This continued for a few weeks. Then it opened up and sounded bright for a couple of weeks. And then the brightness reduced and the cable started to produce its final sound. This took a couple of months, and I have never heard any cable change its sound so much during a break in period. In fact, I was thinking of returning it to Moon Audio at several times during the break in, as I kept thinking "surely now it's run in", but no, there was still a lot of running in to do. I therefore suggest that anyone auditioning this cable allow a couple of months of continuous use before assessing it critically.
The Equinox had no such issues. It improved with time, but its essential character remained much the same straight from the box.
Once run in, the Blue Dragon had a slightly dark sound, with a strong emphasis on the midrange, deep bass, natural - ie unexaggerated - highs, and the most striking ability to resolve tonal colour that I have ever heard the Sennheisers produce. The Blue Dragon does make the headphones sound a shade "softer" both in terms of volume and impact, but they compensate with a vivid, lifelike character, and a warm, velvety, silkiness that I find very addictive. They also produce the most natural sense of space of any of the cables. Instruments have a fullness and occupy a real sense of space, while the ambience of the recording venue and around instruments is strikingly reproduced. In case you can't tell, I like this cable. In fact, the more I listened to it after its lengthy run-in period, I loved this cable.
The Equinox* disappointed in comparison, especially after its many glowing reviews. It is not a bad cable by any means, but while sounding subjectively louder than the Blue Dragon, it lacks the tonal and spatial richness that the Blue Dragon produces. It does have a fairly neutral balance, and produces excellent amounts of detail with smoothness, but lacks the Blue Dragon's ability to reproduce complex tonal colours. Had I not heard the Blue Dragon, I would probably rate the Equinox more highly. I suspect the Equinox would be a better cable if it did not use spliced connections, but it is impossible to know if this is true. I liked the Equinox, which is a clear improvement on the stock cable, but I was not blown away as I expected to be after some of the reviews, especially in comparison to the Blue Dragon.
I was so impressed by the Blue Dragon, that I decided to flout my usual rule of avoiding silver cables and ordered the Silver Dragon from Moon Audio. This was partly based on Moon Audio's own claim that the Silver Dragon was a big improvement on the Blue Dragon. Once again, Drew Baird at Moon Audio provided excellent service, and I soon had a Silver Dragon running in. Knowing the break-in time that the Blue Dragon had required, I let the Silver Dragon run in continuously for at least 200 hours. Even so, it re-confirmed my preference for copper cables over silver.
In my experience, silver cables tend to sound smoother and more detailed than copper cables, but usually have an exaggerated treble, are brighter and, more importantly (to me), have a metallic colouration which I do not like. (As may be clear from the above, tonal colour is the most critical factor for me in any hi fi equipment.) I have tried many silver interconnects, including some extremely expensive ones, and have always had the same reaction.
The Silver Dragon was no exception to this. While warmer sounding than many silver cables I have tried, the Silver Dragon was still brighter than the Blue Dragon and Equinox. As expected, it had greater detail and smoothness, but its metallic colouration ruled it out for me. Others with a greater tolerance for silver cables and a greater appreciation of their strengths will probably like this cable better than I did.
Having now listened to every cable I was aware of, there was of course only one remaining - the Zu Mobius. I was conscious that it was a silver/copper hybrid, which I have never liked in cables, but on the other hand it was receiving some rapturous reviews, and combined with the fact that it was the only cable I hadn't tried, I decided to buy it.
The Zu has been running in for a few weeks continuously, although its sound has changed little over that time. As expected with a silver/copper cable, it has an exaggerated top end, and is bright. ("Brightness" is a difficult concept to pin down; there are many things I think of as "bright" which others have described as "dark" and vice versa; the Zu is an example, since many have described it as warm or dark, which is just not what I hear. It is possible, however, that what you and I mean by the term "bright" are quite different things; that is one of the pitfalls of writing about hi fi equipment.) To me, the Zu is umistakeably bright. It also has a noticeably exaggerated treble. It is fast, liquid, tight, and upfront, and it is these qualities which I suspect make it so popular. Certainly, if you think the Sennheisers are in any sense "veiled" or "distant" or "laid-back", this cable will pierce the veil, bring the sound closer and "wake up" the headphones. However, I don't consider the 650s veiled at all, and while I liked the smoothness, incredible detail and liquidity of the sound this cable produced, I didn't appreciate the tipped up treble (which is partly responsible for the increased detail) or brightness. This sense of brightness also reduces the cable's ability to resolve tonal colours.
Using the Zu with my HD83 tube amp produced some improvements. The rolled off treble of the amp was compensated to some extent by the bright sound of the cable. This was a better match than my Prehead or other solid state amps. However, the "silvery" sound was still not to my taste.
I should add that the Zu is very well made, although the aluminium connectors are a bit of a nuisance - I developed blisters trying to get then into the earpiece sockets, although once connected, they remain connected securely.
To summarise, the Blue Dragon was far and away my favourite of these cables. I love the sound of the 650s with this cable. There is a silky, velvety sound with a sense of tonal richness and a natural spatial presentation which I find produces the best sound I have ever heard with headphones. It surprises me that this cable has been so completely underrated, overshadowed as it is by the supposedly better Silver Dragon and the bright Zu. The Equinox was a good cable but a little disappointing compared with the Blue Dragon. The Oehlbach is an okay budget choice, especially for the 580s, but may not represent enough of an improvement for the 650s. The Cardas cable is excellent, and on a par with the Equinox. The Equinox is a bit smoother and more detailed, but the Cardas has a richer sound, although it is still a long way behind the Blue Dragon in that respect. The Silver Dragon was a good silver cable, and for those who like silver and appreciate the smoothness and detail it brings, the Silver Dragon may well be the best choice. But for those allergic to silver cables (like me), the Silver Dragon's metallic sound ruled it out. The Zu is well suited to those who like a bright sound or who find the Sennheisers "veiled", especially in combination with tube amps. Its speed, detail and smoothness, are obviously factors in its popularity. But for me, its brightness and increased treble - the expected results of using a silver/copper hybrid - outweighed its strengths.
So my choice is the Blue Dragon, which I truly believe should be more popular with Sennheiser users than it is. I would, however, caution that it takes an unbelievably long time for this cable to stablise its sound, which may be a factor in its relative lack of popularity.
As mentioned earlier, all of the comments above are personal opinions, and I expect - and indeed encourage - different points of view, so if you disagree with anything I have said - apart from the self-evident fact that cables do make a substantial difference - please feel free to comment.
Ross
*Please see revised comments about the Equinox below.
