Review: Headphone Lounge FBI Reference Silver Litz Cable
Quality, Beauty, Elevation
Those are the three words I would describe Ted’s FBI "Reference" Silver Litz cable, purchased from headphonelounge.com. I am using the Reference with my Shure SE846 and Sensaphonics Custom Sleeves in Crystal Blue; the review for the custom sleeves is
here.
Quality:
From the soft-textured feel of the Silver Litz wires to the meticulously soldered/fastened 3.5 mm custom carbon plug, extra shrink wrapping past the end of the 3.5 cable, thinner than Shure memory wire and stronger than Shure’s MMCX connector, the FBI Reference Silver Litz cable oozes solid workmanship. The Reference is much more ‘controlled’ than the stock Shure cable. Meaning, I can wrap the cable around and it does not have a mind of its own. The stock Shure cable by comparison is not as ‘formable’. There are absolutely zero tangling issues with the Reference cable. The Y-connect on the stock cable would always give me issues, as I was not the only one who had the stock Y-connect want to always twist a half to a full turn, and would never stay perfectly ‘flat’ and/or parallel to my neck. The Reference cable, I am happy to say, stays perfectly set, and has zero Y-connect twisting-on-its-own issues either. The craziest thing I have seen a cable do is unravel itself, and the Reference did just that when I hung the earphone housings from the cable above the Y-connect. It unraveled completely on its own without me having to manually untwist the earphone housings! I said to myself after seeing this for the first time: “Dang!”
Beauty:
One look at the cable and you know you have something special in your hands. Pictures do not do the cable justice. The woven pattern is luxurious and the Silver Litz has the subtle sheen that makes it stand out compared to most other cables in the marketplace.
Elevation:
I do not want to get too technical into the auditory improvement(s), but I will express what I feel straight from the heart. Oh okay…as a tech I feel I should share a little bit technically regarding the specifications of Silver Litz and Litz wire as a whole. Here is a little info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litz_wire. Alright, back to my heart-felt impressions regarding audio improvement(s):
Bass – Tighter, taut, slightly faster.
Mids and Highs – I feel this area is where the Reference truly shines. The mids and highs are lush, inviting, and richer. The mids and highs also extend from what was once bottlenecked due to the stock Shure cable. The soundstage has broadened as well. Overall, the Reference being more musical is what my impression would be. I am definitely impressed of the all-around elevation in audio quality to my ears.
Service was exemplary as well. My inquiries were answered quickly, and Ted fulfilled my requests of using the slimmest setup. I did not want a huge audio plug or large Y-connects, and happy the custom carbon plug and custom carbon Y-connect are as slim as can be. Nice and subtle, yet undeniably luxurious. I inquired to Ted regarding the MMCX connectors and he eased my initial worries that anything other than the stock Shure connectors may have connection issues. He assured me his new Tri-Metal MMCX Shure-type connector should not have any audio connection issues. In fact, I may dare say the Tri-Metal MMCX connectors are just as good as or better than the stock Shure MMCX connector regarding strength/tightness of the actual MMCX connection with the earphone housing. I received my cable several days after everything was set in stone, but we did converse for a few weeks regarding the order. A much better/faster wait time than a lot of other custom cable makers currently in the marketplace, that’s for sure.
Are stock cables great? Usually they are. Depending on whom you ask. The assembly-like quality usually makes most cables more or less, the exact same and you know what you are going to get. There are times where your stock cable may go bad, of course. Also, you only have specific lengths (sometimes only one) length to choose from (or receive with your earphones), so if you don’t like the cable length, you are usually out of luck.
This is when a custom cable comes in. I emailed Ted and gave him the length that I wanted (the exact same length as the longest stock Shure SE846 cable, which is 64 inches), the type of audio plug, Y-connect, and cable I wanted. You can also choose between skulls, custom different size wood Y-connects, audio plugs, types of cable (copper, silver [with different strand amounts]) and the like. They are all posted on his website. He made my cable 64 inches, with a custom carbon-wrapped audio plug, slim carbon Y-connect and Tri-Metal MMCX Shure-type connectors. The connector is something out of this world. It is, from my pull tests, 2-3 times
stronger/tighter than the stock Shure MMCX connector. Not very strong people need not apply. I’m just kidding. Anybody can disconnect the Tri-Metal MMCX connector by using your index fingernail and thumbnail and bring them both together in between the MMCX connector and earphone housing while pulling the MMCX connector away from the earphone housing. This action will definitely build up your strength.
Is This Cable For You?
If you have any comfort issues with your current stock cable, this cable is definitely for you.
If you want a sonic improvement across the entire sound spectrum, and you have the source, DAP, amp you want, and you are looking to squeeze out that last bit of audio quality from your ear/headphones, then this cable, in my opinion, is for you.
If you are worried about the price of the cable(s) (prices are on headphonelounge.com and/or quoted by Ted if you email him), I would suggest having a significant other or super nice friend purchase one for you for any of your momentous occasions, such as Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas, Graduation, any religious holiday, waking up this morning, any occasion!
I was able to demo the cable before purchasing it, and just that alone was worthy of my appreciation and adoration. Being able to demo the cable also made the entire process that much easier.
I am not sure how many people have returned the cable after demoing his cable (especially after making it to their own specifications), but if I was to contemplate regarding numbers; I will have to say slim to nil. If I was constructing a cable this amazing, I’d probably have a little huhuhuhaHAHAHAAAAAA!! (Evil laugh) each time I sent a demo cable, knowing full well the cable probably won’t ever come back.
Here are some photos of the FBI Reference Silver Litz Cable (connected to the Shure SE846, iPhone 5 and Surface Pro 2 as my display):
Custom carbon-wrapped 3.5 mm audio plug:
Custom carbon-wrapped 3.5 mm audio plug connected to iPhone 5:
Custom carbon-wrapped (length: 1/2 inch) Y-Connect:
Invisible-like extra shrink wrap (tough to see I know!):
Reference cable with connections:
Left - Reference is very composed, Right - Stock Shure EA64CLS is very mischievous:
Reference cable (with Sensaphonics Custom Sleeve) in my left ear:
The finale: If you desire the Bugatti/Rolls Royce of, and finest of custom ear/headphone cables, look no further than the FBI "Reference" Silver Litz cable!
