Attachment 26827
On Friday a opportunity arose for myself to attend the East Anglia Local Group Meet Up.
As it was my Wedding Anniversary Day, I was fortunate to be excused to participate,
but Hey Ho, 'all's well that ends well' one Happy Family get together in the evening and one Happy Group at the Meet Up earlier in the Day.
I was late setting off and did not not know much about the day's agenda.
I did know that a OTA ESL 63 and Original ESL 63 were to be evaluated, so that was feeling like a good experience to have.
The Group caught me by surprise on a earlier meeting this year, when on arrival, there was a few Thousand Pounds Value of Speaker Cables in a Line Up to be Auditioned.
This was very Timely as I had Just selected my Speaker Cables following evaluations with Cables, to insert my chosen Mapleshade Cable into the Line Up was a good opportunity that proved to be a good area of discussion following their debut.
They impressed and were loaned for further evaluations.
The Friday 18-10-2019 meeting had a similar agenda that was not clear to me until my arrival.
A email request was made for any SME Compatible Tonearm Cables that could be taken
along. I obliged by bringing my Yannis Tome Pure Silver OCC and Audio Technica OFC ?
What was a surprise was that with my cables included, a Line Up of Din to RCA Phono Cables were in queued up for Auditioning with a approximate value of £1000.
The Most Expensive being the Zavfino Highland at £355 and Least Expensive being a
Old Audio Technica Copper, possibly OFC, which could be 25+ years old ?
To put the tests into context, the Cables only played one Track from Vannessa Fernandez.
The Front End: SME 20/2 > SME V > Cartridge ? > Phonostage ? Steven and Billington SUT.
Amplification: Pre ? > Power 20 Watt Graaf OTL.
Speakers: Original Quad ESL 63. ( These were the choice of the attendees following a one track A/B comparison to the OTA ESL 63 ).
Descrptions are from my notes recorded onto Whats App.
I think is fair to say that there is a requirement to carry out further evaluations, with more types of music, I will refer to the comments below as a Knee Jerk Assessment supported by a amount of thought, that will outline a initial impression of each cable.
Phono Cable 1, Zavfino Mahone Black Sheath. £119
Cable Had a very nice High, Mid's and Bass, with a SQ that was captivating, no obvious sibilance and worth further testing.
Phono Cable 2, Brand ? Solid Silver, Black Sheath, £??
Notes say- Pure Silver with Excellent High and Mid' Projection, noticeable siblance and would benefit from a extra Bass Weight.
Phono Cable 3, Black Rhodium Needle, £130
A noticeable improvement over previous cables, with very good Highs and Mid with a Deep well controlled Bass Note, very captivating and worthy of further tests.
Cable 4, Zavfino Cove, Gold Sheath, £69
Firstly this was discussed and incorrectlydescribed as being the most expensive cable, all the bling can influence.
A Step Further in improved SQ over the Black Rhodium, the Deep Blackness in the Background, Control over Surface Noise and Balance of Sound throughout the range was very captivating, showing no hnt of Brightnes or Richness, Sibilance was to memory non existant, the best so far.
Phono Cable 5, Zavfino Highland, Green Sleeve, £355
A Brighter Cable with a Forward Projecton offer a noticeable increase in the Soundstage,
there is a courseness/grain detected, the SQ is not very captivating. surface noise and sibilance are noticeable in larger measure to the cove and Black Rhodium.
Recessed for Lunch.
Following Lunch the Zavfino Cove was Auditioned again, as this was appearing to be the agreed Benchmark for the overall line up.
The opinion formed by the Goup about the Cove was seeming to be affirmed and it was believed to be the best so far.
Phono Cable 6, Yannis Tome Solid Silver OCC, £130>Purchased used for £70
A Laymans description of OCC was offered, as well as the diffference between the two seen versions.
Large Soundstage with Projected Clean Highs and Mids and Good Deep Controlled Bass,
a increase to the Tempo/Rythm which was encouraging noticeable foot tapping and hand gestures along to the replay, Sibilance and Surface noise was noticeably less than previous Silver Cables, worth further tests.
Phono Cable 7, Audio Technica Copper- OFC ?, £ 6-15 with a hunt, could be 25+years old.
This was nipping at the heels of the Cove and Black Rhodium, it has a very engaging SQ,
it also had a Detectable Colouration, that was not picked up on any of the previous cables.
As a VFM Cable, if every last bit of detail was not attempted to be wrest from a replay, then these in the company they auditioned in are a bargain, and had more attractors in their replay that a few of the previous cable auditioned.
How system dependant the above record are is a unknown, and if more time was spent with other types of music on the used system, how the report might have changed is a unknown.
I have asked the system owner to report back with their thoughts on their findings following longer and more varieties of replays.
For me, the opportunity to evaluae a variety of Phono Cables to the quality of this Line Up, is very timely, as I have been collecting differnet Brand Cartridge Tags to select a set, and then to use these through a Kabusa Wired Tonearm, with the end goal being to test Din Phono Cables.
Fridays experience was a slight reversal to the process, but I now know of a few Cables to put to the test immediately, when the preparations are completed.
