The £4 (£2) Interconnect That Saw Off A £500 Set.

[icehockeyboy]

Some years ago, on a different planet, well, a different forum to be more precise I posted about an amazing "find"

Perusing the junk box in an Empire store in Derby as it was just about to close down, I happened across a pair of non descript ic's for the princely sum of £2, half price in fact.

I bought them in case I ever needed to be without the quality ones I had at the time, which were £600 Black Rhodium Oratorio's.

Having decided to sell the BR's a month or three later (can't recall what was to replace them) and a sale agreed, I brought out the £2 jobs, assuming they would be only just better than the freebie ones normally supplied with the relevant kit.

To say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement!
I could not believe the sound via these stupidly priced and not very sexy to look at ic's could sound so good, so being mates with the team at the now sadly closed Sevenoaks in Nottingham, I took them in un announced, and asked if we could do a blind test, (in as much as only I knew which cables were in use at the time.)

Their most expensive Chord Signatures at well over £500 were connected between some top end MF kit, into some equally expensive speakers, Spendors possibly, can't recall!

Three people were in the shop, two staff, and a Sevenoaks guy from Sheffield I think it was.

Music was played, cables were swapped over, more music played, making sure that the volume was constant at a certain setting, and more swapping and listening took place over the next hour.

The conclusion? Well I'm sure you can guess, otherwise you didn't read the header of the post! :doh:

All of them picked my £2 ic over the Chord Siggy, with the usual "air around the instruments" type of talk only we of the slightly mental hifi ilk use! :eyebrows:

Why have I decided to recall this story? I just found them again, and decided to see if I believed they still cut the mustard......pleased to report they do, albeit the fact I am "only" using Silver High Breed Quintessence ic's at around £80/100 a set, and not the much more expensive BR's or Siggys as before.

I am now of course wondering if I had done this a few weeks ago if my recent purchase would have gone ahead..........:scratch:

[Reid Malenfant]

Soooooo......

What the hell are they then? :eyebrows:

[icehockeyboy]

Dunno Mark!

A guy over at that other forum had some that looked very similar, and I believe his findings were similar to mine.

They are attached, as opposed to "real" ones being two runs, a pale grey colour, and metallic coloured plugs.

That's all I can tell you without ars*ng around behind the rack to......Oh..hang on...let me turn the Touch around........Hmmm...all they say is AUDIO R and surprisingly AUDIO L on them.

[Reid Malenfant]

:lol:

Ah well, can't say I didn't try ;)

[Audio Al]

Soooooo......

What the hell are they then? :eyebrows:


+1 :D

[icehockeyboy]

I suppose the lack of identification on them is down to the fact they are just dirt cheap generic ic's!

One thing I noticed before, not that it makes a jott of difference as I have enough headroom, is that I need to up the volume a bit to achieve a similar level to when I use the other ones.

I now recall the other guy bought his for about £6.75 from an online supplier......rich bugger! :D

[Fi-Wi]

If they sound(ed) so much better than the Chord Signatures, why didn't you replace the latter ones for the superior cheapos?

Same thing for the Silver High Breed Quintessence. :scratch:

[DaveK]

If they sound(ed) so much better than the Chord Signatures, why didn't you replace the latter ones for the superior cheapos?

Same thing for the Silver High Breed Quintessence. :scratch:

Yep, I was thinking the same thing - if you found them to be so good when they were all you had, what did you replace them with and why?

[webby]

I just found them again, and decided to see if I believed they still cut the mustard

Hmmm, why aren't you using them? :scratch:

[seoirse2002]

Hi Craig,
I think you'd better send them to me:cool: as they seem to be much better than the ones you sold me!:lol:

[icehockeyboy]

I never had Chord Siggys, they belonged to the shop. I did have Anthems, but that was before the BR's, which was before I came across the Silver High Breed.

Come on gents, you of all people know what it's like to swap and swap and swap (enter Jandl here!)

Truth is I had put the cheapos away, and forgotten all about them until today, when I was starting to empty the kitchen in readiness for it's replacement, and found them in a bag of old wires!

I am enjoying how they sound, but at the same time thinking....how can I possibly tell anyone what I am using for ic's!

[Reid Malenfant]

I am enjoying how they sound, but at the same time thinking....how can I possibly tell anyone what I am using for ic's!
Bit of a problem there me thinks! :rolleyes:













Seeing as you have no idea what they are anyway :rfl:

[Gazjam]

Hiya Craig,
have faint memories of you talking about these over on the 'Wam?

mibbay do a search on there let us know what kind they are?

[icehockeyboy]

Hiya Craig,
have faint memories of you talking about these over on the 'Wam?

mibbay do a search on there let us know what kind they are?

Spot on Gaz!

I would if I could remember what the header was.........:scratch:

EDIT> Haven't found THAT thread yet Gaz, what I did find though is you saying the NVA Sound Cord and Silver High Breed cables the best you have ever tried!

[realysm42]

How could you possibly forget about a £2 set of ic's that beat a £600 set?

[icehockeyboy]

Simple, I was gobsmacked at SHB's that Jandl had found, and had swapped them out.

[MartinT]

Is there anything written along the cable itself to give us a clue?

[southall-1998]

Is there anything written along the cable itself to give us a clue?

Don't hold your breath.

[DSJR]

:worthless:

[brian2957]

A picture of them may help someone on the forum to identify them.
Brian.

[icehockeyboy]

There is nothing on them at all, but when I have a break from trying to lift up all the glued to the floor vinyl tiles in my kitchen, and free myself from being stuck to the floor thanks to the glue residue, (any suggestions for a solvent to remove this?) I will take a pic and upload it.......That of course after I finish on air.........A mans work and all that! :)

[brian2957]

Thanks Craig, I'm in the middle of decorating myself. Very tempting to crack open a couple of tinnies and sit out in the sun in the back garden :eyebrows:
Brian.

[DSJR]

Just going to say - and I think this artifact has been measured as well - the livelier nature of an inexpensive interconnect can often be attributed to increased "hash" in the sound. many domestic audio systems with underpowered passive speakers are laid back as it is, and a livelier component can sometimes appear to be "better" even though it's possible distortion causing this - how do you think Naim survived so well in their CB era especially? All distortion of the odd order kind adding to the fun, combined with crude band-limiting filters before the 72 came along..

Just a thought. The Mark Grant HD cables, given a little time to sort themselves out, seem to be bright and clear (certainly the HD1500 ones) but without obvious smear or splatter compared to cheaper wires.

[icehockeyboy]

Just going to say - and I think this artifact has been measured as well - the livelier nature of an inexpensive interconnect can often be attributed to increased "hash" in the sound. many domestic audio systems with underpowered passive speakers are laid back as it is, and a livelier component can sometimes appear to be "better" even though it's possible distortion causing this - how do you think Naim survived so well in their CB era especially? All distortion of the odd order kind adding to the fun, combined with crude band-limiting filters before the 72 came along..

Just a thought. The Mark Grant HD cables, given a little time to sort themselves out, seem to be bright and clear (certainly the HD1500 ones) but without obvious smear or splatter compared to cheaper wires.

You may well be right.

Some (not me!) might say there is no difference in any ic!....Just throwing the cat amonst the pigeons!! :ner:

Joking aside, having sat and listened last night, I thought the bass was a bit light, but discounted that thought when I played some different music, and it was there again.

[DSJR]

Some (not me!) might say there is no difference in any ic!....Just throwing the cat amonst the pigeons!! :ner:

Joking aside, having sat and listened last night, I thought the bass was a bit light, but discounted that thought when I played some different music, and it was there again.

I've been in a row on HDD/AVI forum because of this. There are a few very fixed-attitude characters that defend the non-existance of sonic differences in competently designed cables to their dying breath, yet I've had so many comments over the years from clients who, for example, got the direction wrong, or in a notable case with some then unmarked Chord Solid IC's, were able to hear quite distinct "impressions" which closely matched each other.

It's a fascinating thing comparing the mark Grant HD1500's with my home made Klotz AC110 cables. The frequency extremes are certainly differently presented, not hugely different, but enough to just tell with my limited stereos and hearing. The Klotz has incredible bass IMO, but the MG's seem a touch clearer on modern mixes using sampled hi-hat, hand claps and cymbals. It's not huge, but enough to notice over time when you're relaxing with the music..

[Gazjam]

Spot on Gaz!

I would if I could remember what the header was.........:scratch:

EDIT> Haven't found THAT thread yet Gaz, what I did find though is you saying the NVA Sound Cord and Silver High Breed cables the best you have ever tried!

Never owned the High Breeds sorry Craig! ;)

The NVA I had was the digital coax you sold me (or did we do a trade for a PSU or summit?)
It was the best I'd heard until I got the Supra Trico with silver WBT plugs...

Good cables good cable, happy to say I'm not worrying about all that stuff now

*EDIT*
This the chappie Craig?
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?3705-Shock-finding&highlight=interconnect

(My Google-fu is strong :))

[icehockeyboy]

Never owned the High Breeds sorry Craig! ;)

The NVA I had was the digital coax you sold me (or did we do a trade for a PSU or summit?)
It was the best I'd heard until I got the Supra Trico with silver WBT plugs...

Good cables good cable, happy to say I'm not worrying about all that stuff now

*EDIT*
This the chappie Craig?
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?3705-Shock-finding&highlight=interconnect

(My Google-fu is strong :))

Yep! That is the one, I notice my memory of what I sold was a bit iffy....I thought I had flogged the BR's, it seems I was Awaiting them, but had sold the Nordost's! :rolleyes:

Just taken 2 pics, but despite hooking up the phone to the lappy, the damn pics are nowhere to be found!! Bugger! Need to go and pull dining suite from garage in readiness for collection, so back later, hopefully with piccys!

[icehockeyboy]

Ok....the pix are there on my BB, I connect it to the lappy, tell it to import the pix from phone to lappy, it seems to be doing it, after all Iv'e done it many times, but then when I look, it isn't there!

And before any smart arse says it's me...............!!!!!!!!!

[Gazjam]

Should have bought an Android...... :)

[Mark Grant]

Ok....the pix are there on my BB, I connect it to the lappy, tell it to import the pix from phone to lappy, it seems to be doing it, after all Iv'e done it many times, but then when I look, it isn't there!

And before any smart arse says it's me...............!!!!!!!!!

On an Android phone I email the pictures to myself, less faff than plugging wires in to a computer and if wi-fi is connected it is almost instant.
If you email them to your gmail account they are then stored in google as a backup that is easily searchable :)

can those BB things email pictures :)

Should have bought an Android..;)

[MartinT]

I use SkyDrive, which is the best cloud storage I know of. Apps for all devices and it just works without the common 10MB e-mail size limit.

Should have bought a Windows Phone...

[DSJR]

Can't you post 'em on photobucket and link directly to here? I don't want to open a bloomin' windows live account thank you...

[Gazjam]

Dropbox is great. https://www.dropbox.com/

been using it for ages

[icehockeyboy]

Just tried to post the pic, and all I ended up displaying was my hotmail page, which someone that I don't know on Windows Messenger, was showing a rather naughty pic of her bits and pieces!

[southall-1998]

Another excuse :rolleyes:

[icehockeyboy]

Another excuse :rolleyes:

The heck it is! Ask the people who managed to cop my Hotmail stuff before I managed to delete it!

I had copied the pic, which at someone's suggestion here, I e mail to my own addy, and the copy and paste, and it didn't work! :(

[MartinT]

You can't copy/paste pics, you have to host them somewhere and link to them. See here:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2

[nat8808]

Any luck?