Slic Innovations Eclipse C Interconnect at MCRU

[Marco]

Because, in this case David (a trader) has initiated the review process by sending out cables to you, rather than you simply having bought them without being prompted, through your own volition, and then reviewed them on forum for the benefit of other members.

We're still playing around with the final wording of the new rule, but essentially it will be along the lines of this:

In any forum review, the author must state at the very beginning whether the product(s) concerned have been purchased yet or not, and then later update that information accordingly, if or when the product(s) in question have been bought at the end of an initial loan period. This lets everyone know what the score is in that respect and enables people to judge comments made on that basis.

ALL products discussed or reviewed MUST be at the volition of the user, not the seller. Therefore in future, there will be no premeditated promotional selling allowed by dealers, such as on the lines of: 'here, try X and let everyone know how wonderful it is'...

There will be no hyping-up of products, secrets or 'mystery wonders'. Prices and full details of products must be provided up front at the start of any review, or when any comments are made about them on the forum. If such information for any reason is unavailable, then comments or reviews must wait, and only be posted when said information becomes available.

That's not the final draft, but the new ruling on product reviews by members will essentially be moderated along those lines.

Marco.

[choirboy]

Because, in this case David (a trader) has initiated the review process by sending out cables to you, rather than you simply having bought them without being prompted, through your own volition, and then reviewed them on forum for the benefit of other members.

We're still playing around with the final wording of the new rule, but essentially it will be along the lines of this:



That's not the final draft, but the new ruling on product reviews by members will essentially be moderated along those lines.

Marco.

Hi Marco,

I understand your ruling but my story is not the same as Franks.
I dont have the Slics on loan or for review. I bought them with my hard earned money!
I only heard of the Slic when Frank posted about it.
I then bought a couple of pairs recently after i read some thoughts on the now closed threads.

David has not sent me anything on loan at all.

The Slics he's sending me are in fact mine, I'm just a buyer pure and simple

Hope that helps to clear some confusion

[jandl100]

Hey, that new rule looks pretty fine and dandy.

But watch out for the Grammar Nazi's (sic) on "let's".

[Marco]

Hi Marco,

I understand your ruling but my story is not the same as Franks.
I dont have the Slics on loan or for review. I bought them with my hard earned money!
I only heard of the Slic when Frank posted about it.
I then bought a couple of pairs recently after i read some thoughts on the now closed threads.

David has not sent me anything on loan at all.

The Slics he's sending me are in fact mine, I'm just a buyer pure and simple

Hope that helps to clear some confusion...

Sorry for the misunderstanding. In that case there are no problems, Michael, so when you get them, review away!

Marco.

[Marco]

Hey, that new rule looks pretty fine and dandy.

I'm glad you approve, Jerry. I think it's the fairest way of doing things

There's of course an element of trust in this, as we have no way of proving whether anyone has actually bought the products being reviewed, even if they say so (although I'm sure that Michael has bought his Slics), but at least it sets some sort of precedent. I should mention that if anyone is caught out lying, then it will be considered as a banning offence.

Furthermore, 'bought', in this context, means bought permanently, as in at the end of any trial period. Before that point, even though the user has had to pay up front for any items, in order to assess them, it does not count as an actual purchase.

But watch out for the Grammar Nazi's (sic) on "let's".

Noted - and edited!

Marco.

P.S All this stuff will be moved to the Noticeboard and also Critics Corner later, in order to tidy up David's trade thread. I just thought it was pertinent to mention the new ruling here, as it's largely been put into place as a result of some of the negative attention the Slic cables have attracted for various reasons.

[Yomanze]

Hi Marco understand why new policies are being made and agree with them, but if we order an item and pay for it on sale or return, then send it back and post a review how it wasn't for us, this isn't in the nature if what you're trying to prevent, so we should be able to buy something on trial and review it even if we send it back?

At the same time when Stan sent me a BM2 I reviewed it in PM and not with a public post, a while back now, so there is a clear line between being sent a product vs, buying one.

[Marco]

Hi Neil,

That's a fair and very valid point. My answer to Alan here should pretty much cover it: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...110#post549110

Essentially, what we're clamping down on is the abuse of the forum to 'hype-up' specific products (cables or otherwise) for any form of personal or material gain - and in future this situation will be much more strictly monitored.

Therefore, in terms of the situation you've outlined, there would be no problem, providing that the subsequent review was done for the right reasons.

Marco.

[MCRU]

SLIC Review

"Hi-fi is full of hyperbole, it always has been, so sifting the wheat from the chaff has never been easy. When I started hearing about this cable on the Art of Sound forum I didn't pay it much mind - the years have desensitised me and I was happy with my Nordost Valhalla interconnects - they're incredible cables that have continued to impress me with their speed, accuracy and general ruthless "warts 'n' all" musical portrayal.


Still, after a while my curiosity was piqued so I thought I'd give them a go. There's a 30 day money back guarantee - in a way that's better than a free trial because you don't have to worry about having to pay for it if you do like it. It's a lot cheaper than the Valhalla (about 1/7th the price for a metre pair) so my expectations weren't that high.....


A couple of days later the postie delivered a nice solid box with some fairly chunky ICs inside. They're sheathed in webbing with silver (plated) plugs and heatshrink showing the directional arrows. I've seen flashier cables but seeing as they're going to live down the back of your kit, what does it matter?


I swapped out the Valhalla between phono stage & pre and put a record on. Realising that the SLIC interconnect was better took about 0.5 of a second. It took ten seconds to really grasp how much better. Nordost Valhalla is astonishingly good cable - I worked my way up through the Norse range a few years back and the final (this is before Odin and I'm not a multi-millionaire) step up was breathtaking. Whether it's worth it is a relative question. Anyway, the SLIC made this all irrelevant. It is without doubt the most neutral, transparent and revealing cable I've ever heard. It makes me want to accost strangers outside my house and say "come in and listen to this!". Everything I've played has had detail I was previously unaware of, nuances to vocals, facets to guitar lines, subtle variations in rhythm. The cable opens the sound so much there's space for all the elements of the music to do their thing, free from interference. Nordost Valhalla is still an exceptional cable but I'll be selling mine and buying more SLIC - another pair is already on order.


So, what does it sound like? That's an impossible question to answer - it's so even handed it has no "sonic signature". Cables never improve a signal, all they can do is take away. This interconnect takes away less than any cable I've ever used.


SLIC. I must confess I don't like the name much, I know it's an acronym but it makes me think of something it's hard to get a grip on. Maybe that's appropriate though.




System: Renovated Technics SP10mkII, silver-wired SME V, Clearaudio Victory LOMC, Whest PS.30RDT, Music First pre, highly modified Audio Innovations 1st Audio power amp, Nordost Thor power distributor, Living Voice Avatar speakers.


Cables: Nordost Quattro Fil, Valhalla, Vishnu, SLIC, Tellurium Q Green and Ultra Black


Isolation: Pro Audio Bono, Vistek Aurios, Black Ravioli, Sonority Design


MR. J. TILTMAN."

[MCRU]

PETE HOLLIDAY | MAY 2014

KIT : ESOTERIC K-05. FEEDING AUDI RESEARCH DAC 8, VIA CHORD SARUM DIGITAL INTERCONNECT. THE SLICS ARE IN USE BETWEEN THE AR DAC8 AND MY LUXMAN CLASS A INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER. THE AMP IS FIRING A PAIR OF PMC EB1 FLOORSTANDERS, WIRED WITH AVID AUDIO SCT REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE, WITH DRAIN WIRES BACK TO THE MAINS EARTH.

The kit I have owned for many years is deliberately transparent in delivery and I have always relished kit that can be as natural-sounding as possible. The Class A Luxman excels at soundstage and the mid-range, particularly with cello and oboe (as well as saxophone and lead guitar/vocals) is very sweet, without ever being ‘wearing’ even at high volumes. The PMC’s lap this up and present a wide and deep soundstage that completes the picture.

So, why would different cables make a difference? Well, the sheer transparency of the kit means that cables can make a real difference and this is why I was keen to hear the new SLIC ECLIPSE C from MCRU.

I now have both balanced XLR versions (between DAC8 and LUXMAN) plus RCA connector version which I use a s a direct feed from the Esoteric analogue outputs to the Luxman.

There was an immediate opening up of dynamics – best described as ‘energy’ and more space between instruments in classical pieces. Sometimes this can happen with cables that are brighter, only to find that what first seemed like a major improvement, became artificial and too bright. Not so with the SLIC – they are not bright-sounding cables, they are very realistic to the recorded sound and, to my ears, provide a very sweet midband, tight (not woolly) bass, a deep soundstage and great rhythm and timing. I have no idea what the component parts are – whether solid core, multi-strand, or both – all I know is that with all the types of music I listen to – and that is a wide range, the SLICs bring something to an already excellent sound. I have not heard any real change after ‘burn-in’ with extended listening, which means that unlike some cables, you don’t have to wait months to find out what the true sound is like! If changes do happen, I will happily write a further review. Finally, they are easy to install, as very flexible – and, if you like deep and wide soundstages – the SLICs provide that in abundance. Although the components are not the most important aspect of any cable – they remind me of the very best single-wire silver interconnects, where brightness does not exist, but clarity and space do.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I've now split this thread to seperate the Trade and Non-Trade content.
If you want to read reviews of this cable, they are here

You may also want to read the two other threads on the subject - you'll find them by using the AoS search function. Terms such as 'Mystery Cable' may give you the results that you seek.