[McPanse]

I recently upgraded my headphone rig to include a bunch o' silver cabling and I'm wondering if maybe I overdid it.

Here's exactly what I'm running with: HD650s re-cabled with with a 10' Silver Dragon V.2 cord running out of a Little Dot MK IV amp connected to a Cambridge DACMagic via a pair of Yacco Lucky Seven silver RCA interconnects. My sources are an Airport Express and Marantz CD5001, both rockin' Monoprice digital cables.

The silver cables replaced the stock HD650 cable and Monoprice RCA interconnects.

As for the LD MK IV, I long ago swapped out the stock output tubes for a pair of Mullard M8100/CV4010 tubes.

I've also been messing around with the LD's gain switches, currently set at +4.

Tonight's my first chance to do any critical listening. If anything, I'd say the silver cabling added perhaps a bit too much brightness and transparency that reveals the shortcomings of some of my source material.

Right now I'm listening to a mostly acoustic Chesky CD and it sounds pretty good except for perhaps a bit too much sibilance, and slightly recessed. Or maybe I'm just congested (ear-fi thread, anyone?).

In any event, I'd be interested in hearing from the wise men out there about the pros and cons of adding more silver cabling to a setup like mine.

 

[ford2]

Quote::In any event, I'd be interested in hearing from the wise men out there about the pros and cons of adding more silver cabling to a setup like mine.






So would I.

 

[BIG POPPA]

I am the man to talk about Silver in a rig. For what I am listening to right now. My MS-1's have 24AWG silver plated copper, IC's are 16AWG silver plated copper with Rhodium connectors. The Power cable on my Amp is silver plated copper with Rhodium over Silver connectors.
OK, Silver can be a P.I.T.A. in the beginning. It needs time to break in. And some times it can be a while. But after it breaks the music will be smoother and the soundstage taller. It helps with some of the faults of tubes. In Solid state a little silver goes a long way. I prefer gold in Solid State to calm it down a bit and to add a little lushness to the sound.

 

[qusp]

I do believe that silver cannot just be used Holus bolus (on everything no matter what) you must look at the big picture and match it to components. silver is great with the right component, but with the wrong one it can suck the life out of the sound. if the rest of your kit isnt up to the task thats another issue. it does indeed take some time to flower so to speak, although some wires moreso than others.

I dont know how you handle all that SPC Big Poppa! I personally cant stand the stuff in my rig. I use it on the odd power circuitry, or power cable, but otherwise I find it to never fully settle in and become 'at home' its like its got an identity crisis or something

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McPanse /img/forum/go_quote.gif In any event, I'd be interested in hearing from the wise men out there about the pros and cons of adding more silver cabling to a setup like mine.

"Silver cabling" doesn't really specify anything because silver cables can sound God Awful to Heavenly depending on type of silver, geometry, dielectric, connectors, etc, etc.

I love great silver cables more than great copper cables in general, but silver-plated-copper is whole another ballgame. I can only tolerate spc in power cabling and subwoofer duties usually myself..

 

[BIG POPPA]

Hey qusp, trial and error. That is how I handle it. With the new Woo 3+ with all the upgrades and a few tubes had to learn the sound again. Mixing tubes is a blessing for me, and a curse to my wallet. Ask it, it is still in therapy

. Just ask what the whole set up is? It will be long. Have a lot of stuff in transit. Silver and tubes is a good match. This my 3rd tube amp. Have a few miles with silver and tubes.

 

[mrarroyo]

I tend to favor silver or silver plated copper over anything else. However it does take trial and error to make sure it matches your components and "ears".

 

[Uncle Erik]

If anything, the brightness likely comes from adjusting the gain on your amp.

You might have compounded that with tubes that have sharper curves.

 

[McPanse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anything, the brightness likely comes from adjusting the gain on your amp. You might have compounded that with tubes that have sharper curves.

The amp's minimum gain setting is +3, the default setting. The manufacturer has recommended +10 for the HD-650s, which strikes me as too high since it prevents me from turning the volume much past 8 o'clock (and 0 is 6 o'clock). So with an interest in keeping the volume up around 11 o'clock, I turned down the gain.

I reverted to the stock HD-650 cable last night and everything sounded pretty darned good to my ears. If that continues to be the case, I should be happy that the Silver Dragon can go back to Moon and silver upgrade will have only cost me the $75 I shelled out for the used ICs.

More listening is needed. In the meantime, any advice on the gain setting?

 

[McPanse]

While comparing the stock cable with the Silver Dragon yesterday afternoon, something happened to my HD-650s. The left-side cable connector wouldn't stay in and then the left side stopped working altogether. So my 15-month-old cans are boxed up and heading back to Sennheiser Monday for a warranty repair.

In the meantime, I'm trying to decide whether to send back the Silver Dragon while I'm at it, or give them another try once I get my HD-650s back.

If the Silver Dragon still doesn't do it for me, I'm thinking about trying a Blue or Black Dragon.

Any one using Blue or Black with HD-650s and a tube amp?

 

[momomo6789]

theres never enough silver !

 

[webbie64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG POPPA /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...OK, Silver can be a P.I.T.A. in the beginning. It needs time to break in. And some times it can be a while. But after it breaks the music will be smoother and the soundstage taller. It helps with some of the faults of tubes. In Solid state a little silver goes a long way. I prefer gold in Solid State to calm it down a bit and to add a little lushness to the sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...I love great silver cables more than great copper cables in general, but silver-plated-copper is whole another ballgame...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I tend to favor silver or silver plated copper over anything else. However it does take trial and error to make sure it matches your components and "ears".

What they said.

It does take time. It does burn in. And it does depend on the quality of the silver you are using - and I'd regard Moon Audio as being in the very very good league (similarly I'd regard Apuresound as a fine example of a silver-plated-copper). But I also agree an excellent silver/gold blend (ala Crystal Cables) can be a finer tuned implementation in Solid State synergies.

So I'd be very patient and give them plenty of burn in time before returning to Moon. It very much sounds to me that this 'visit' on your audio journey is one of those where you should book some accomodation and really check out the local scenery for a while before moving on with your journey.

 

[McPanse]

I've got nothing to lose at this point beyond $275 less transaction costs should I decide to sell the Silver Dragon or trade for something else down the road. So the HD-650s are heading back to Sennheiser today for repair and the Silver Dragon is staying here, awaiting their return.

Meanwhile, my best-sounding backup headphones -- Grado SR-60s --are at the office, so I had nothing to listen to this weekend besides my PX-100s and UE 5. Nothing shows the shortcomings of otherwise decent headphones than getting used to something much, much better.

It's like visiting a winery, totally digging their normal vintage and then tasting the much more expensive reserve. When you go back to the normal vintage, it tastes like a watered down version of the reserve.