Forum interconnect review.

[BOONDI]

Colin, all....

Sorry guys, been on holiday and just got back.....:p

Colin, you have (my review) PM..........

[colin.hepburn]

Alnewall

I used an input switching box to avoid the hassle of unplugging cables all the time.
Colins cables sounded remarkably similar to my regular IPL ic2 leads.
Most noticeable difference was that they are less forward in the midband than the ic2, giving the initial impression of less detail. Further listening soon revealed this is not the case.
Colins cables are well balanced throughout the audio spectrum and can present loads of detail in a very civilised way. They will probably never sound overly forward which is a quality that suited me well.
They appear to have no weak areas, and whilst listening to some acoustic double bass i thought that Colins leads did a better job of conveying the sound of this particular instrument.

In summary.
Deep but controlled bass with good detail.
Clear and convincing elsewhere.
Just as good as ic2 and possibly easier on the ear.

Looking forward to finding out what they are, because they have a similar character to some leads that i have recently assembled but are not yet run in.
Out of interest did the sound change much during the burn in period?

Best regards,
Al.

Buddam

Colin's I/Cs are a straightforward design, using what appears to be Maplin's CT100 coax, albeit that he has stripped the hard and ugly plastic outer and replaced it with heatshrink. They are terminated with some rather nice Nakamichi phonos.

I'm familiar with this cable (assuming I'm right about its provenance) and have made I/Cs myself from it. Colin's version gives a very nice sound, with all the detail I'm used to (using silver and silver-plated copper I/Cs nowadays) but also full and warm (which I prefer). They are sligtly smoother and warmer than my own offerings, which I can only put down to the phonos (which is a bit odd since I generally use Bullets, including silver Bullets on one I/C).

I've never done A/B tests on different lengths of the same cable, but generally go as short as possible (eg, PhonoII tp PreII are about 8 ins). So, if Colin's are as good as my usual I/Cs while being quite a bit longer, he must be doing something right."

All the best

Adrian

[colin.hepburn]

Paul Bannister


When I substituted these cables for my usual silver homebrew’s between CD and Pre, the first impression was of a much more enjoyable sound.

Some sort of preamble is required to give context to these thoughts. I am in the middle of trying to decide between battery bias against bypassed resistor on 300B PSE’s I have found resistor/cap a little rough whilst battery bias is over-smooth. Some people think this decision is a no-brainer but for me it’s a much closer run thing – not so much right and wrong – rather each is different. With my own cables it is difficult to know if the timbre of the voice one hears is true, even if sometimes a singer’s voice sound less rounded and accomplished.

So, to go back to the review – listening to these cables (I still don’t know what’s inside the sheathing) proved to be a pleasure. Voice was rounder, perhaps marginally euphonic. Double bass had richer tones and treble was sweet. After a few tracks I realised that this was a trade-off. I was missing some of the cleaner, incisive detail I had been used to with the silver homebrew’s, whilst finding the general smoothness relaxing. I continue to find it remarkable that a short piece of interconnect, silver or copper, can influence 15m of silver hook-up wire inside the amp.

Others will be able to discuss things like imaging depth etc. For me I have to keep it simple: did I like them – yes. Would I change – I doubt it. I would prefer to get a sweeter result with the bias and stay silver. The price of loosing signal information in the interconnect is too high for me.

Paul Bannister

Swithers
System used:
Marantz CD17 cd player
Leak stereo 20
Home made passive pre-amp
Linn sonndek
Ear 834P Phono Stage
Tannoy 6.1 MkII Dual concentric floor standers


The cable was tested between passive pre and power amp. After fitting the cable, i left a cd playing quietly for over half hour, for the system to warm up. Would just like to add at this point that i already use a home made cable of double screened coax, but the outer shielding is silver wire (possibly silver plated copper?) have enclosed a small piece inside the first bag along with your cable.

How did i find the sound of your cable? The thing that struck me first was the very lifelike voice it gave.
However, after a few tracks of playing The Corrs unplugged CD, I found the sound to be slightly narrowed, although top-end was good, I felt it was missing small detail, which i think was the cause to what was making it sound narrowed. However, i found the bass to be tight and controlled. Separation was also very good.

On changing back to my leads, the sound widened and top-end detail returned. I think this must be due to the silver wire in my cables, as this appears to be the only difference between the cables.

To sum up this cable, excellent value for money, and feel this cable would ideally be suited to a bright sounding system. Would like to take this opportunity to thank you for letting everyone sample this cable.

PS if you're interested i could always post you 2 lengths of this silver cable to try...

Many thanks,
Swithers

[colin.hepburn]

Hi Colin, all...
Boondi
First up are comments on cable construction.

The plugs used were excellent. So much so that I was tempted to buy a couple of pairs. The cable overall was well made and nicely finished. Waf is high....

I gave them about 8 hours running in time, CD on repeat play. Then I started some serious listening.

First up was David Grey's White ladder album.
The cables gave a very good account of themselves here, with "oh they make David Grey listen-able" type comments here. Good strong bass and nice treble. Good sound-staging too....Hm, time for some harder sounds.....

Heavy dub and drum and bass album next, to test that bass......

Here the I/C's showed a good bass response, let down by being only slightly (and I mean only slightly) overblown. Very deep bass response tho, which is excellent.....

They also are possessed of good musical coherence and timing. Groups played together and the rhythms were rock solid, no doubt underpinned by that sumptuous bass.....

The treble and sound-stage was tested next using a variety of solo female vocalists, solo piano, and solo sax.

The sound-stage was large and everything in it's correct location. The treble extended well and was well lit, as opposed to bright. Here however lies one of the major downfalls for a lot of I/C's, time smear. With this I/C, it was no different....There is a slight time smearing of very high treble with this I/C. It's subtle, but noticeable. It has the effect of obscuring very fine detail in the mix. I noticed it especially when a triangle or similar high pitched sound was made. The fine detail saying it was a triangle, was missing.
On went the sax.....Excellent body and staging, but again the time smear masking fine detail to the extent that one listener asked if it was a clarinet or an oboe that was playing......

To sum up, this is a good cable, with only a few very minor niggles in it's character to spoil the show. It's other characteristics more than make up for this tho.....
I feel people with budget equipment will never even notice these faults, instead focusing on what this cable did well....Soundstaging and bass.
As a replacement cable for manufacturer supplied in the box, AND retail cables up to about £35, it holds it's own with no problems and stamps it's good points / authority? all over the music. Considering that it's a cheap as chips DIY effort, then it's excellent.......4.5 out of 5......
__________________
Who am I? Just another concerned citizen....

P.S. Would like to make an absolutely obscene
fortune from hi-fi intrests......

Colin Hepburn
System
Marantz 52 SE
NAD 352 C
Whafedale 8.3s
12B4A SE. Headphone Amp

I found this cable to have great qualities
Very clean and detailed mids /heights with great bass control
The female Voices were to die for imaging was a little narrower but more life like
This cable has a dark pleasant relaxing feel to it and seems to work well with my system

Cable details

This cable is made up from CT 100 coaxial
With outer copper foil connected at one end only
Is had 100 hours burn in time on it Plus my sky TV single running down it over the last 2 years
This may explain its sound
Phono Plugs £1.49 pair from Part Code: AS-CO-P-PRCA-2
http://www.audiospares.com/home.php?cat=2

[colin.hepburn]

Sorry All had to split up the posts to big for one post

[colin.hepburn]

Hi i seems you All liked my Cable I think it was Worth the hight price of £3.98 well can we beat that anyone

[alnewall]

Colin.

It shows that some consistency between reviews is possible, even with a diverse selection of partnering equipment.
I didn't notice any lack of detail, but certain sounds just became a bit more recessed in the mix.

The remarks made by the two valve users about prefering silver cables are understandable. I think valve amps can make better use of the qualities of some silver cable.

I would consider making a set of these for a long term trial.
Thanks for the loan of your cables.

Currently trying Nick Whetstones Cat 6 "shoestring" cables from the TNT site.
This is another design that costs only pennies and sounds very balanced.

[buddam]

Colin,

fascinating stuff -hope you think it was worth the wait. Couple of points:

1. I had a closer look at the phonos and conductor and I'm sure that the foil is connected at both ends of the one cable I explored;

2. You wrote privately that it is not Maplins CT100; would like to know where you sourced it. Doubt it will make much difference, but if it's cheap and easy to source then why not.

Thanks for organising this

Adrian

[colin.hepburn]

Hi All
yep Adrian i made up two sets one with the outer copper connected at one end i must have mixed them up well that'll teach me to label the cable next time the cable i have is an off cut from my sky dish i think you can get the CT100 from http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page8.htm
or you may get it from an Aeriel fitter near you

[colin.hepburn]

Rude hell. Forgot bout this thread 16 years ago we all did that cable review for a bit of fun I do remember making those C100 cables up from the sky coaxial cable runs I had
And I am still using them
an idea maybe Mathew wood let us review an amp or preamp perhaps to help promote them on the forum just kidding Mathew.