CVH fine silver wire I/C's are out

[Greg.]

Having been a strong advocate of this design for a few years (Lord said I was evangelical on the topic) I now have none of them in the system. They had limited application anyway, but I'd retained them between CDP and Pre-amp for this period.

I've just bought Emmylou Harris' 'Heartaches and Highways' on CD (8122 73123-2) as it's not available on vinyl, because I wanted a recording of 'Love Hurts' which is her duet with Gram Parsons. With the CVH it sounded disjointed and the mix did not blend. Grams vocals were at times sibilent and the overall sound was not pleasing. It maybe that the quality of the fine wire design deteriorates over time. I don't know, but swapping in my alternative of IPL Acoustic IC2's restored the sound balance with no sibilance and produced a very enjoyable listen. Bass seemed more extended. Because of this I then went to my favourite bass test being a CD of Bach organ music. Certainly there was more bass revealed with more extention. Kind of riveted you to the seat which was in itself vibrating with the low frequency sound. A very real three dimensional experience. Please note, no sub-woofer involved or needed.

I've stuck with the CVH cable for some time without considering a change, although in the meantime there has been much change to my amplification and maybe that is why I've now moved on. It goes to show that if you introduce one change to a system, it's then worth testing other components in the link as it might be that further benifit can be obtained with simple changes.

Best wishes,

Greg

[Richard]

I'd agree with that exactly. The silver ones sounded thin and brittle when Jonny and I had a listen (Andy and Leo made them up before they appeared on this BB. Not sure if they stuck with them. I take my own if going anywhere for a listen.) They certainly exagerated treble at the expense of bass. We use heavy copper cored coax with very low R and C and high shielding - not trendy in some quarters but sounds right to us. These are particularly suited to CD I think as the last thing you want with some players is bright sounding cables.

Rich

[leo:)]

Originally Posted by Richard

I'd agree with that exactly. The silver ones sounded thin and brittle when Jonny and I had a listen (Andy and Leo made them up before they appeared on this BB. Not sure if they stuck with them. I take my own if going anywhere for a listen.) They certainly exagerated treble at the expense of bass. We use heavy copper cored coax with very low R and C and high shielding - not trendy in some quarters but sounds right to us. These are particularly suited to CD I think as the last thing you want with some players is bright sounding cables.

Rich

Hi Rich,

No, I don't use that CVH cable, infact I never really used it to be honest only tried it out ages ago, It worked ok in Andy's system though.
The IPL stuff is not a bad cable at all but in my opinion the Alaqeia is much better.
I still like that best of all you use Rich, it probably has the least amount of a sonic signature I have heard from a cable IMHO, its a shame you can't buy it anymore

[Paul Welsby]

I am still using my CVH designs with solid silver bullet plugs.

I havent changed these to compare with anything else recently but might just have a play around now.

I think some people do see silver as "thin" and some people see it as "lifting the sound and removing a layer of mud". I haven gone for any silver in KEL84 like some. Maybe too much silver goes too far and into "thin".

Paul

[Tony Moore]

As many people may know, I was also one of the adopters of the CVH I/C three or four years ago. I still have a coil of ptfe tube under the stairs! I have to say though that I've not used it in my main system for a while now. I was introduced to another brand of I/C on a trip to Nottingham (to visit some famous WAD BBers ) a good while ago and I've been using that brand ever since. (Missing Link Alaqeia) In construction this brand is similar to IPL IC2 but is certainly different musically. To my ears it's got a less glassy presentation, very smooth without being rolled off. (it _is_ at least twice the price though) I recently bought some "off the roll" and made up my own I/Cs using standard bullet plugs and the sound is fantastic. But it's all about system matching and for me the CVH didn't quite match and balance out the other components, at least at that time! I did try one of my old CVH cables recently but wasn't impressed. However the silver wire has oxidised a great deal and I'm not sure how that would affect the sound.

Tony

[Greg.]

Hi Tony,

Looking at the Missing Link website, the description of the Alaqeia cable is the same as IPL's IC2. IPL provide additional information in that the conductors are made up of 19 strands of 0.25mm silver plated OFC. Are you able to identify any specific difference between the two cables apart from what your ears tell you of course?

Best wishes,

Greg

[Tony Moore]

Hi Greg,

The only physical difference I can see is that the teflon around the cores is thicker in the Alaqeia and that the outer sheath is not teflon. The core sizes and number of strands appears to be the same. Oh and the Alaqeia is also wound tighter, more twists per unit length.

As to soundwise, I'd have to say that they _are_ very similar but that the Alaqeia just sounds that bit more "refined" in my system. I have to say though that the Audax midrange driver in my speakers is very revealing and to my ears anyway can bring out a glassy tone if the I/Cs allow it. In Nottingham we did test out CVH against Missing Link and the difference in detail was astounding. On my system the differences aren't so great but even so I prefer the ML over IC2 and certainly over CVH.

Cheers,
Tony

[Rob042]

ok I given in - wheres the link for these ipl's?

Rob

[david counter]

sad news, I emailed Ivan, due to the manufacturer uping his minimum order to 2000 metres he doesn't know if he can offer IC2 anymore,

Originally Posted by Greg.

Having been a strong advocate of this design for a few years (Lord said I was evangelical on the topic) I now have none of them in the system.

You have seen the light!


Seriously, I was very grateful when you lent me a pair to audition way back then. I found them to have a very slight 'noise gate' effect which removed the quietest sounds, this may have led to their 'dynamic' sound. Like others I also found them just a little bright, and at the time preferred a copper cable.

Since then I have wholeheartedly followed another one of your suggestions; IPL IC2. This is my main interconnect as I have it partially hardwired from Phono to Passive and also partially hardwired from 300B PP back to the Passive. This is a good cable, not exactly 'budget' at approximately £5/m (?) but good value for money and very practical unlike the CVH!

I'd suggest to others interested in it that organising a group buy may help to nudge Ivan to buy another roll ...
http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk/