XLR interconnect recommendations

[Dusty Chalk]

Bah, bit the bullet on those. I got a 60 day money back guarantee so... why not I suppose

If you end up being unhappy with those, try Pure Silver Sound PSS Sextets (link) or White Zombie something-or-other (link). I've used the single-ended of the former, and intend to try the latter (I need shielded -- Pure Silver Sound don't do shielded, unfortunately).

[Tachikoma]

I did consider both of them, but in the end I decided that I have better things to do than to scour the net for elusive reviews of them

[luvdunhill]

Tough to say really. Could be good and could be crap depending on the silver wire used as well as the build quality but the description isn't really helping them...

2N silver wire?

[Tachikoma]

4N, actually. But I don't think thats a huge deal, considering that Audio Note Japan's interconnects are marketed as "only" 4N, too.

The description did almost turn me off buying them immediately =P but if its all true (about the annealing and etc) it does seem that some effort is actually expended on the cables.

[Icarium]

That's it there. Cheap and cheerful silver wire which sounds great when wound around a center core and well damped like the VH audio DIY silver design.

Laf I clicked on that link and it says:

"Auric wire is made of soft high purity stranded copper; each strand individually polished for better electron flow. The insulation is high quality cross linked polyethylene "

Are they being tongue in cheek with that better electron flow comment?

[Tachikoma]

"Better electron flow" is a marketing department's way of saying "better conductivity" but does polishing the surface of a wire make it a better conductor?

[spritzer]

2N silver wire?

I know it isn't nice to laugh at people who can't count... but what the hell

Laf I clicked on that link and it says:

"Auric wire is made of soft high purity stranded copper; each strand individually polished for better electron flow. The insulation is high quality cross linked polyethylene "

Are they being tongue in cheek with that better electron flow comment?

I'd love to see something that would prove this but more then one company does polish the conductors. I guess they are trying to achieve better conductivity through skin effect (electrons take the easiest route which is on the skin of the wore) but shiny cables just sell better.

[Asr]

I know this thread is old but I just wanted to my 2 cents on Singlepower's cables, which I've seen/handled at two meets this year (CanJam '08 and Colorado 7/26).

Pertaining to stuff I remembered to ask Mikhail, he says his cables are shielded (visually obvious, but he did say that regardless) and have copper conductors. I forgot the price but it was a very expensive number, over $1K I think.

Regardless of that, I fail to see what could possibly validate the price of his cables. He doesn't use high-grade connectors on any of them (whether speaker cables or analog interconnects) - no Furutech, Eichmann, WBT, etc. I'm not even sure he uses Neutrik because the connectors don't look standard. Physically they're pretty big too diametrically, and I have no idea what validates huge cables in the cables industry - maybe there's an argument for it on power cords but speaker cable and ICs? The construction/assembly really doesn't look all that amazing, I've seen better from the limited set of interconnects I've bought in the past. And he doesn't have name brand recognition in the cables industry either - I mean, anyone who's going to spend over $1K on cabling is probably going to get something more like Siltech, MIT, Synergistic Research, Transparent, et al.

This and other incidents I've had with Mikhail make me question what he actually sells and experiments with as projects. If he were selling cables and amps to high-end audiophiles world-wide as he's led me to believe, I'm pretty sure would've read a lot more about Singlepower Audio than I've discovered on other forums like Audiogon, Audio Asylum, AudioKarma, etc, but there's practically nothing. It's very weird, almost all of the info I've read about Singlepower is on Head-Fi, not other sites.

As far as the original topic of this thread, I'd also like to add another 2 cents about VH Audio, who makes the Symmetry XLR, which I previously owned. I also previously owned their Spectrum Ag. There are two primary reasons I sold both cables. One, I have it on good record that Chris VenHaus is an out-right liar, and I do mean out-right. Second, I also have it on good record that he sells at inflated prices. Needless to say I did not want to own cables from a vendor who has practices like that. Third, less primary reason I sold them was due to being sonically unimpressed with them. The Symmetry XLR was fine-sounding I guess but it had a critical problem as far as timing/attack compared to my Analysis Plus Silver Oval XLR.

[blubliss]

I have both a pair of Mikhail's and Synergistic Research top offering (Apex) ICs and with the shielding activated, Mikhail's cable beats the SR in one area especially, not sure of the word to use, want to say emotional involvement. The SR has a bit more bass extension. I would pick Mikhail's cable and it is a third of the retail price of the SR. (i paid nowhere near retail, let's just say less than half, for the SR and never would for any cables).

Asr, did you hear the cable in question in your system? If not, your 2 cents are pretty meaningless.

[Asr]

Asr, did you hear the cable in question in your system? If not, your 2 cents are pretty meaningless.

Oh I did, on my CDP with the Singlepower Transparency, under meet conditions. I didn't make any comments pertaining to sound quality though, just appearance and build quality - I don't think I need to hear them to make comments like those. I've owned a fair share of cables and have researched them quite a bit over the last several months.

[Tachikoma]

Anyway... I received my XLRs, and my first impression is that the sound became "syruppy sweet", and even more detailed (and louder). However, I'm not sure how much of this is because I'm using the XLR inputs instead of RCA inputs. If anyone has experience with the sound changes associated with using XLR inputs on stax amps (I use the SRM-717), please share your experiences here

The DAC I'm using is based on the AK4393, so there's another variable in there too since it could be argued that it was really meant to be used with its balanced outputs.

[Tachikoma]

Yeah, I'll probably need another half-decent XLR to eliminate them.

Well, variables aside, my setup sounds fucking great. I just can't get my mind set on this lab report I need finished by tomorrow.

[spritzer]

Anyway... I received my XLRs, and my first impression is that the sound became "syruppy sweet", and even more detailed (and louder). However, I'm not sure how much of this is because I'm using the XLR inputs instead of RCA inputs. If anyone has experience with the sound changes associated with using XLR inputs on stax amps (I use the SRM-717), please share your experiences here

The DAC I'm using is based on the AK4393, so there's another variable in there too since it could be argued that it was really meant to be used with its balanced outputs.

It sure as hell should be louder as you are feeding the input stage more voltage if the DAC is indeed dual differential.

[JimP]

ok I dutifully read through all 5 pages of this thread, but not sure of the recommendations. I'm about to just order Blue Jeans Canare Star Quad XLR to run balanced source (either 840c or miniDAC) to amp. If anyone thinks I can do better, without breaking the bank, please let me know.

[grawk]

go for the mogami instead

[JimP]

I don't see mogami option on Blue Jean website, only Belden or Star Quad... Or is there another source or mogami XLR?

[Grand Enigma]

Redco Audio is a great site. They sell components and custom cables built to your specs.

[Tachikoma]

The Starquad has a conductor capacitance 46 pf per foot and a shield capacitance 57 pf per foot, while the Belden cable only has 13 pf per foot, so going by specs alone, I'd take the Belden