Sorry, but I think that's a ridiculous way to view things. You don't go into a computer shop and just buy a pc without knowing what goes into it. The fact that it works ok after you take it home is irrelevant. As a consumer, the more we know about what we are buying, the better, as it allows us to make an informed choice. Too many of us hand over our money easily, and recommend others do the same not knowing enough about a product. A large part of a cables cost is it's materials, and it should factor into what you pay. In double blind tests, coat hangers, cat5 cables have been used and people loved the sound. Whilst you may be completely happy with the sound quality, it is still a con if they charge you hundreds of dollars for it. You may argue that if someone doesn't know and they are happy with it, and were happy to pay whatever price they did, it's ok, I would counter that by saying, that is taking advantage of the ignorant. It is identical to a scam, where the victim doesn't and never finds out and is frankly an immoral way to behave. I'm not saying however that the guys you linked to are like that, personally, I have no experience with them. I'm merely arguing against the logic that we as consumers should accept that less info is better somehow.
Sorry, rant over!
Anyway, I came here to share my "very expensive" experience with you guys. I have the Athena V1.2, as far as I'm aware, this is Effect.2010 (ebay name) or Effect-Audio Studio most "advanced" silver cable. Made of 8 cores, 4 each side. I took it apart to check:
Yes, that's right, I just destroyed $120 (inc delivery) of value right there.
Construction is average to decent. For something this expensive for a cable, I would expect exceptional attention to detail as these are made by a person rather than a factory. The ear guides are pretty poor to be honest and I didn't even want them as I wear mine hanging down rather than over ear, so already off to a poor start there. I don't know why Effect added them, as they don't exist on default on the ebay listing pics and nor with the previous buyer in this thread. The cable is fairly thin and flexible but because they are also tightly braided, the wire's natural bend isn't straightened out by its own weight, because it is so thin and light but is not too big a deal aesthetically. One thing this does affect, along with the plastic sleeve around is cause significant microphonics, which is a big deal. Listen at medium to quiet volumes? You will hear your every move.
The plugs are coloured white and black, with absolutely zero instructions. Turns out black is right and white is left. Also there is no markings on the plugs themselves to tell you how to orientate them. Effect seems to think it doesn't matter once left and right are sorted out, which way you insert the pin. Which does ring some alarm bells, as this guy makes these cables for specifically advertised for UEs. Let me tell you, of course it matters which way it goes in. Why else would UE insist you put their cables in with the L/R letters facing inwards (towards the bore). Without any differentiation on the plugs themselves, it's left up to you to figure it out. Funnily enough, with the way the cable guides had been moulded, and the wire straightened out, the cable guides were done completely wrong for the correct pin alignment. So to wear it without twisting the cable i would need 2 ears facing the same direction. If you can't visualise, it's demonstrated in this pic:
Unlike UE cables, with memory wire, the cable guides cannot be adjusted at all to correct this, so I would have to have have worn them with one side twisted, which given the very thin and light wire used would make one side hang awkwardly. Anyway, if you've never heard it, try putting one of your cables on one ear the other way, (if stock UE cable, with one ear using the letters facing outward, you can locate the letter on one side of the plug if you look carefully). You'll notice immediately, the soundstage is all messed up as the stereo imaging is all wrong. This should be pretty obvious to anyone who has ever replaced the cables on their TF10s. But I persevered, I was in the comfort of my own house, so no one could see me wearing this cable with over ear cable guides in the hanging from ear method, I just wanted to hear the sound now, given I spent so long trying to get the damn thing in the correct pin arrangement.
In terms of sound quality, I A/Bed them with UE clear cables (which is my standard one I use with my TF10s).
I listened alternatively to each wire on every song I played, a real pain as removing the effect cables was hard, hard enough that I thought I was going to pull out the female part/socket from the headphones themselves (which happened to a friend's set). And left my fingers raw, but this won't affect the average user as they aren't going to swap cables 10 times repeatedly.
Music was played through an ipod to silver LOD to amp and then to the TF10s. There is a noticeable difference in sq between the two cables. I'm going to avoid hyperbole like night and day, as it is rarely that. It's a noticeable difference in the treble, as you would expect generally with upgrading from copper to silver, better conductor, lower resistance, higher frequencies seem to benefit. Although, the gauge of the wire used is so thin, due to the 8 core construction, it might inhibit this factor of silver, as thicker wire has lower resistance. The treble was slightly clearer and more pronounced, but unfortunately had no effect on the sibilance/sharpness you sometimes get with some songs.
Mids, were ok, no better really or worse than my UE cables. Bass surprisingly also no difference, which was a tad disappointing. When I bought my cables, I contacted Effect, and they assured me that the 8 core wire was the best for bass (funny how it was also the most expensive), which is why I went for the premium cable. If this is the best bass it could get, I'd hate to know what the 4 core sounded like.
They offer a new Apollo cable which will set you back even more at $130 delivered, which is supposed to be better bass than the Athena. It's made of "rare" silver plated copper (their words not mine), silver plated copper is a pretty standard audio wire and cheaper than silver, but maybe they've done something special to theirs, who knows.
So, for my $120 you get a cable which seems to accentuate the treble, which TF10 already has a bit too much of in my view and no noticeable improvement in the mids which is what most are after with aftermarket cables. I'd say these cables are worth around half that price, if not less. Null Audio pushed the market upwards with what was one the first premium offerings in the aftermarket cable market for TF10s. It seems Singapore has become attuned to this as many cable makers have sprung up. There's no doubt that with the price point and the target market, Effect seems to want to emulate to some extent Null's success, but I don't know if this equivalent pricing level is warranted, although Effect have been very communicative and always replied within the day. Something I know Null is infamous for not doing very well. Null is next, I shall be perhaps embarking on another expensive/fruitless purchase, but my own curiosity is hard to sate.
One good thing to come out of this is, I've started listening to the TF10s again, they do have a very fun sound. The mids really aren't
that bad at all! A completely different view to the songs I've been used to hearing on the SM3s.
P.S.
Anyone want this cable?? It may be salvageable with a bit of knowhow, I don't know. PM me, otherwise, the trash will be receiving an expensive deposit.
. As the construction of the cables has everything to do with it's durability.
