[KimChee]

Soundman I found the Toxic Cables far superior to the CH cables.  I also found my SP to be much better than the stranded SPC wire he is using, especially in the bass dept. 

 

[Thesoundman]

I agree, the toxic cables wire is far superior but I had to factor in the cost difference as well into the review. Also, I havent used the Silver poison so I don't feel able to comment on this. I was comparing my toxic cables SPC wire to the CH pure silver wire and I felt the SPC was better in the bass compared to CH's pure silver wire. I did say my opinion may differ from other's as well as everyone's hearing preferences are different. One man's dream is another man's nightmare as the saying goes. Im sorry if I didn't make that clear in the comparison.

 

[Toxic Cables]

Quote:

Hi all, 
 
My toxic cables Viper (SPC iem) has had 200 hours of burn in and at least 150 hours listening time and my CH silver ray cable has come back from repairs and had over 100 hours put in since the repair, (around 500 before) so I feel able to do a comparison now. Both cable are 4 ft but the viper has a carbon-fibre 3.5mm jack and the CH has a right angled neutrik 3.5mm jack.Both cables are made of different materials and ofc this will affect the sound sig. The CH cable gave my tf10s a much flatter sound with much more pronounced mids. The viper is a much warmer sounding cable that doesn't affect the tf10 sound sig at all really. If I'm being really picky, then the mids may be slightly more forward but I can't say for sure. Build quality is very subjective, the viper feels sturdier and all the connections look and feel stronger but the CH cable has an extremely smooth sheathing that doesn't get caught on anything, the viper does catch on fibres and the like so there are some slight abrasions to the sheathing but nothing major however felt I should mention it. The CH cable doesnt feel as sturdy and has noticeably more memory which can get annoying but its lighter and fits into the tf10 crushproof case better. The viper is a little bit more of a squeeze but still fits well.
 
90 percent of the time I am using the tf10s is when I'm on the move, so on the tube or walking or on the bus and as such the cables are regularly battered against my chest or caught on stray handbags etc. and I have to say, both handle this fantastically however the difference is in the microphonics. The CH cable has almost no microphonics at all, and I mean the only microphonics heard are between songs when there may be a gap and my bag catches one of the legs fairly high up. But the viper has none, and I really mean none at all. The only time there are microphonics is when I hit the plugs for the tf10 sockets which is unavoidable ofc. Both cables are sturdy and well built but the viper takes the lead in this because everything about the cable shows a level of precision and care that isnt quite matched with the CH cable. The viper with its special connectors, exceptionally good braiding and obvious level of care really outshines the the CH where even though its well built, doesn't feel as special, the connectors and braiding just don't seem to be as carefully done as the viper.
 
Now to sq, this was difficult because the cables are of different materials and this will affect perceived sq. I'll start with the CH cable, compared to stock, everything is better, but there is a drastic change in sound sig, The mids are much more forward, bass slightly recessed but highs are very clear. Overall, a massive improvement over stock but not quite as mindblowing as the viper. When I first got the viper I was disappointed to say the least, but I am a patient person and I persisted but even after 60-70 hours I was still disenchanted. However it wasn't until the 90-100 hour mark when all of a sudden the cable changed, could almost say evolved, I remember listening to avicii + david guetta - sunshine and over the course of listening to the song (around 6 minutes) everything cleared up and changed and I honestly didn't want to take out my iems. Firstly, this made me a firm believer in burn in, and I have to say it redefined my expectations for cables and the extent of their improvements. In comparison to the CH cable, I found it was better in almost every way except for separation (was a noticeable difference but not massive) and transparency (was a very close call though, CH wins by a very small amount, mostly noticable on tracks with many parts, e.g. orchestral pieces and complex house music). For everything else, toxic comes on topic, accuracy, tonal balance, maintaining the original sound sig (this was important to me) and there was something else I can't quite describe, but it made all my music sound not only great, but fun, as in, I tried my friend's ipod with crap by all those 'teen wonders' which I abhore, but I still found I wanted to listen just because it sounded great. 
 
I also feel its important to talk about customer service and imho, both were very good. Chris was a very prompt replier and didn't even pause to decide on the repair, I was simply told to send it and it would be repaired free of charge and total time from chris receiving the cable for repair and it being in my hands again was around 7 days and considering he is in america and im in the UK, I was very happy. Frank is a pleasure to business with as well, extremely fast responses, less than 40 seconds in one case and very honest. I asked his opinion on the cable for the tf10s and even though I was prepared to buy the SP, he told me the viper would maintain the sound sig better even though the SP is 50 percent more expensive so I bought the viper. I also bought an SPC interconnect from frank but there was a minor flaw on the plug and I didn't feel comfortable using it and Frank's reply was that I should return the interconnect, and when he gets the new plugs in, he will use that and not only that, he is upgrading the wire on the interconnect to his SP and pay for delivery to him and back for which I am overjoyed and thoroughly impressed by and I have no fears about frank's products as I know that in the unlikely event of anything happening to my cables, he's got my back :-D 
 
I tested these cables with tf10s, with an ipod classic 120gb and fiio e17 with a fiio interconnect and 320kbps mps or flacs in case you were wondering. In conclusion, CH cables are amazing bang for buck and anyone with a lower budget, CH cables are easily worth it and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them but if you have a bigger wallet, I honestly believe Frank's cables are easily worth the extra money and while CH has great customer service and is a very nice guy to do business with, he doesn't quite match Frank's get out there and if you ask for a banana, he'll give you a banana and an apple on top just for the sake of it kind of service which I guess is what the extra money is paying for Both cables are fantastic and for the money I think both are a great, and I don't feel I need to look anywhere else for a cable again. I have tried to keep this review as objective as possible and these are just my observations and my experience and I am not saying my word is the be all and end all of the comparison and I welcome other opinions but this is how I felt using the cables and conducting business with the two companies. 
 
Hope this helps,
 
TheSoundMan

That was a great review, i really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for taking the time in writing and especially the comparison, If i had known you would be doing a review, i would have made it even better. 

 jj. I make every single cable the best i can.
 
Apologies for the issue with the plug, it's not something i would usually notice, but now i know someone has had this issue, in future i can check every plug for this. I will take care of it as promised. 

 

[Thesoundman]

Quote:

That was a great review, i really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for taking the time in writing and especially the comparison, If i had known you would be doing a review, i would have made it even better. 

 jj. I make every single cable the best i can.
 
Apologies for the issue with the plug, it's not something i would usually notice, but now i know someone has had this issue, in future i can check every plug for this. I will take care of it as promised. 

Thank you for taking the time to read it, and your welcome. I felt a comparison would be helpful considering the discussion that was had a few pages back. Well its too late now for that, but thank you presents are always welcome 

 Its fine, its probably not even important but I figured that its a lot of money so why not make it perfect 

 Thank you for going above and beyond to fix it. 

 

[gidion27]

Hi Soundman
 
I can not wait to get my Viper cables and thank you for your review it is good to see a comparison mainly liked the Customer Serviceand build quality  bit......

 

[Thesoundman]

Quote:

Hi Soundman
 
I can not wait to get my Viper cables and thank you for your review it is good to see a comparison mainly liked the Customer Serviceand build quality  bit......

Your welcome, I strive to please I wanted to write a review in the hope it would answer any questions people might have, so I made a list of everything I wanted to know about toxic cables and Chris_Himself before I bought from them and then I wrote about each thing in the review. I found many reviews rarely mention these things and if so, rarely in enough detail for my liking so I decided that should be a big part. Afterall, stuff breaks and imo when buying other products (non-audio related) they seem great and they work great for maybe a year or 2 or maybe longer, but when they break I find most distributors couldn't care less as they have your money already. So when I get treated well, I think its important to make sure other people are aware so they know that whatever they buy is a long term investment and they can trust the company. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me  

 

[gidion27]

Quote:

Your welcome, I strive to please I wanted to write a review in the hope it would answer any questions people might have, so I made a list of everything I wanted to know about toxic cables and Chris_Himself before I bought from them and then I wrote about each thing in the review. I found many reviews rarely mention these things and if so, rarely in enough detail for my liking so I decided that should be a big part. Afterall, stuff breaks and imo when buying other products (non-audio related) they seem great and they work great for maybe a year or 2 or maybe longer, but when they break I find most distributors couldn't care less as they have your money already. So when I get treated well, I think its important to make sure other people are aware so they know that whatever they buy is a long term investment and they can trust the company. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me  

I agree, and I am sure the other cable making companies have a fan base as well.
 
The main piont of differents is that if you have experienced Frank's hi level of service, you really do not care want to look at any other cable making company. .

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

I agree, and I am sure the other cable making companies have a fan base as well.
 
The main piont of differents is that if you have experienced Frank's hi level of service, you really do not care want to look at any other cable making company. .

On this point i totally agree...okay..i admit..until now everything i buy for my hobbys (audio, pc and cars) i dont keep for longer then 3 years max..and then upgrade/change it fit something else ...even the cars i owned and tuned..i only keep them max 5 years..so most of time guarantee thingies is not my concern normally...BUT if i needed it i know who are on top of my list..and frank is on that short list!!!!

 

[noobzpro]

woot finalyl sent my order to frank now the waiting game begins!

 

[Toxic Cables]

Sorry lads, i know i said i would get the price list up this weekend, but i am really busy here trying to get the current batch of cables that are running really late out.
 
Page 85 shows most of my cables, i believe i have only added the White Widow since, which can be found few pages back. Once i get this current batch done i will take some pictures and make a list.
 
You can imagine how busy i have been, i said i would be adjusting my prices on 1st Jan, and i have not even had the time to do that, so the cables are still selling at the old lower prices.
 
Please bear with me, while i try to catch up on these order. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

Sorry lads, i know i said i would get the price list up this weekend, but i am really busy here trying to get the current batch of cables that are running really late out
 
You can imagine how busy i have been, i said i would be adjusting my prices on 1st Jan, and i have not even had the time to do that, so the cables are still selling at the old lower prices.
 
 

Really? Old lower prices huh?  Mmmmmm 

 

[rawrster]

woot finalyl sent my order to frank now the waiting game begins!

just don't do what I do and your wait won't be so bad. I keep adding to my original order every few weeks lol

 

[longbowbbs]

Quote:

Quote:

Sorry lads, i know i said i would get the price list up this weekend, but i am really busy here trying to get the current batch of cables that are running really late out
 
You can imagine how busy i have been, i said i would be adjusting my prices on 1st Jan, and i have not even had the time to do that, so the cables are still selling at the old lower prices.
 
 

Really? Old lower prices huh?  Mmmmmm 

Now we know that delaying on the "Catalog" is a ploy to sell more cables! "Get'em before I raise the price!"   Subtle...

 

[Toxic Cables]

Quote:

Now we know that delaying on the "Catalog" is a ploy to sell more cables! "Get'em before I raise the price!"   Subtle...

 You got me.
 
Honestly, i actually wish i was getting less orders. I am trying to find ways to cut down the number of orders i currently get. I think i will be putting eBay to rest for awhile and stop taking orders on there for a couple of months, but don't like the idea of having to re list everything again, that would takes awhile. Will most likely stick £500 on every cable on eBay, this will stop people buying them, then i can just take them back to the original price when i want them selling again. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

 You got me.
 
Honestly, i actually wish i was getting less orders. I am trying to find ways to cut down the number of orders i currently get. I think i will be putting eBay to rest for awhile and stop taking orders on there for a couple of months, but don't like the idea of having to re list everything again, that would takes awhile. Will most likely stick £500 on every cable on eBay, this will stop people buying them, then i can just take them back to the original price when i want them selling again. 

If u cant cope with the orders..how bout meeting up with someone else for a while..let him/her do the easy part of the work..and u the more knowledge/expertise needing handling..maybe an idea? I know ur a one man show as ur a perfectionist..but..even u need help at a certain moment..and oh yeah..when was ur week off again without ur laptop or any wires around u? Just thinking bout ur wellbeing..yep yep..am a very nice thoughtfull guy.