[quietems]

Hi,
 
Long time reader, first time poster blah blah
 
Recently purchased a Baldur mkIII cable from ebay seller sunricky (for Westone 4R) based on some mentions in this forum.
 
I was wondering, does anyone know where these are made?
 
I tried asking the ebay seller seller but they didn't respond to that question. Searched on these forums and saw a few threads recommending them but reading through them didn't see any clarity on where they're made and couldn't work out by who.
 
I did find that Nordost have a cable called Baldur for speakers- so are these made by aficionados with that as the base cable?
 
Does anyone know if there is a company website to look at for these? Or are they a single ebayer only product?

 

[Eddie C]

seems like all the iem cables on ebay are from Hong Kong so I assume they are hand made there

 

[quietems]

Ah - thanks for the explanation. That helps explain things a lot better - I'm surprised if it's that sort of thing they're not on these forums (overtly).

 

[moss23]

How are the MKiiis?
 

 

[quietems]

Quote:

How are the MKiiis?
 

Look, I couldn't tell you about the sound, nor can I talk to comparisons with mkII vs mkIII- but I can tell you about the wear.
 
Firstly, they are thicker, less compliant (thus harder to hide under a t shirt for example) and more microphonic than stock. I assume this is all expected with heavier cables.
 
Points of improvement for me would be good if the part that goes around your ear was easier to "set". Perhaps it needs a bit of hair dryer heat action but I find myself trying to bend to fit my ear every few wears (you'd think it would just set and have memory). Secondly one of the IEMs cuts in and out every 5 wears. I have tried re-seating but it keeps re-occurring (one side only). I'm not sure if this is a matter of the pins being angled wrong but I'm too scared to try to bend them, also they feel as if they're seating into the IEM properly so I haven't been game to try to do anything there (westone connector).
 
A friend of mine bought some for his Shures. His memory sleeve is different than mine and is much much worse to fit- the loop is so big, and so much not a loop, that it has no hope of ever going around even part of his ear. He also says one of his IEMs cuts out every now and again due to the cable also- which is odd as I would have thought the Shure system eliminates the possible issue with the pins not having enough contact.
 
Now having said all of this- I can't tell you about the acoustics as I have nothing to compare it with and I didn't use the standard cable after my IEMs were "burned in"- hence why I can only comment about the physicalities. Thus my attitude is if it sounds better well, that's all we're here for isn't it? I got told to buy them to enhance the sound so I did If they do that then I guess I can live with the foibles- still for the cost it would be nice that these two issues weren't there.
 
It'd also be nice to know who the cable manufacturer is.. my seller on ebay didn't answer that question when asked.

 

[bevano]

From previous messages with him, they are made by sunricky himself

 

[Seven1816]

I highly doubt HK people still make cables, I reckon they purchase from China and resell.
You can find any sort of cable in China, cos that's where I buy.

 

[JohnSantana]

probably yes you are right,

with the Baldur MKIII upgrade cable for Westone 4R UM3X RC W4R
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zees-Music-Baldur-MKIII-upgrade-cable-for-Westone-4R-UM3XRC-W4R-ES3-/261278803236

it must be made in HK or CN, otherwise the price would be much higher if it is USA, Japan or UK made like in BTG Audio or Toxic cable.