Pure-silver, cyro-treated RCA interconnects

What is the theory on the cryo? I thought it was something used in heat treat of certain kinds of steel to help with with toughness and grain structure.
 
Wow they use solid silver cable for recording/amplifying? Not just silver plated stuff?

Anyway, just hooked up the cable between my phono pre and the amp. I seem to be able to tell the difference immediately. Again, it's the transparency that strikes me as the most noticeable improvement.

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Nice David!

I'm using DIY silver cables in my rig at present (solid core 0.5mm silver inserted into teflon tubing for the dielectric, and KLE silver plated RCAs) and they sound excellent indeed. I'm not surprised that you like yours! :)
 
I think I've just dug a rabbit hole...!

Been wanting to try some pure-silver, cyrogenically treated RCA interconnects for a long time. The costs were a little prohibitive and I didn't want to DIY.

Then I stumbled on this 50cm-long pair of ICs from a UK seller on that action site (no affiliation) for about a century Aussie bucks shipped. Would be about $75 in the States?

Anyway, they've just landed and I swapped them with my QED ICs. Wow the initial impression is that, this time for the first time I do seem to hear some clear difference. So far I like it. Most noticeably the transparency has improved.

It's got that SET-like transparency that I dig so much...!

Well,David! Its about time! I've only been preaching about Cryod copper and OCC copper and silver cables for a few years now. Glad you've discovered them....and yes, they can be expensive but the results are worth it. As you can see, I've had OCC copper in my signiture for a while now...."A+ Crystal Copper" and the Triode Wire Labs are Cryod copper. The RCA's I have coming from the DAC to the preamp are OCC Silver over OCC Copper. Every interconnect in my system is Crystal Copper (OCC) and as I said the one from the DAC to the preamp is OCC Silver and OCC Copper. The speaker cables are Cryod because to get them OCC would have been a small fortune...so they are Cryod with the same results as OCC Copper. The Power cord on the amp is Cryod...and the Power cord from the preamp are OCC.
 
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Nice David!

I'm using DIY silver cables in my rig at present (solid core 0.5mm silver inserted into teflon tubing for the dielectric, and KLE silver plated RCAs) and they sound excellent indeed. I'm not surprised that you like yours! :)

Oh you been dabbing into it already eh?
How much did you spend on a 1m pair?
And how do you compare them against your favourites like Aurealis?

Well,David! Its about time! I've only been preaching about Cryod copper and OCC copper and silver cables for a few years now. Glad you've discovered them....and yes, they can be expensive but the results are worth it. As you can see, I've had OCC copper in my signiture for a while now...."A+ Crystal Copper" and the Triode Wire Labs are Cryod copper. The RCA's I have coming from the DAC to the preamp are OCC Silver over OCC Copper. Every interconnect in my system is Crystal Copper (OCC) and as I said the one from the DAC to the preamp is OCC Silver and OCC Copper. The speaker cables are Cryod because to get them OCC would have been a small fortune...so they are Cryod with the same results as OCC Copper. The Power cord on the amp is Cryod...and the Power cord from the preamp are OCC.

Well Byron I still wouldn't be prepared to pay so much, but this eBay product from the UK is very much reasonably priced. Some would even say cheap in a relative sense. The seller doesn't seem to suffer from the usual business costs associated with brand names. Pure solid silver + Cryo'd connects - simple as that, and you don't have to take the trouble of DIY. Not to mention he seemingly builds things a lot better than I'd be able to!
 
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Well, I'm not going to say whether or not they work better than other RCA connectors simply because I don't own any and have not tried them or heard any gear with any installed, but from a looks point of view, they are simple, to-the-point, and they look like they have a good grip area. So on that basis, they appear to be just fine.

And they look purdy. :yes:
 
I know right? Not only do they look pretty but they also have this no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point sort of functionality. Very ergonomic indeed.

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Signal Cable mini silver resolution. I fell for the cute picture of an I-pod next to a green apple and didn't notice that they also had copper for less.
 
Oh you been dabbing into it already eh?
How much did you spend on a 1m pair?
And how do you compare them against your favourites like Aurealis?



Well Byron I still wouldn't be prepared to pay so much, but this eBay product from the UK is very much reasonably priced. Some would even say cheap in a relative sense. The seller doesn't seem to suffer from the usual business costs associated with brand names. Pure solid silver + Cryo'd connects - simple as that, and you don't have to take the trouble of DIY. Not to mention he seemingly builds things a lot better than I'd be able to!

Well, I'm just happy to see you're getting a taste of the cryod products and enjoying them. Its one thing I've learned about you from chating with you over the years, and that is, you can hear! You do have an ear for quality sound. I've shared a fondness for some of the same gear you've had over the years.

And you got a great price on the interconnects as well....thats whats up. If some place down the road when you settle down in our hobby and decide you want to stop switching out gear and cables, and decide to own a permanent reference system (and that time will come, my friend) that's when you decide to spend a little more and perhaps you'd get some great Cryod or OCC/copper, or silver. By then, you'd know exactly what you want.

Enjoy, my buddy....and continue with your fun....talk with you later.

_slippers-
 
Thanks for the kind words, Byron.

I must give you some credit for this Cryo thing. I was merely searching for affordable silver ICs on that auction site when I ran into this UK pair. That it was Cryo'd made it look more attractive largely due to your ongoing campaign...!

I've hooked up a copper based ICs to the office desktop rig (Grave Science/Audio Principe), and I miss the silver one that I listened to yesterday already. I think I'm getting another pair on my next pay day...!


Speaking of silver, BTW, I recall that the wire inside my AN speakers is made of Mundorf silver/gold....!
 
Oh you been dabbing into it already eh?
How much did you spend on a 1m pair?
And how do you compare them against your favourites like Aurealis?

Indeed!

I built three different sets - one set with solid silver inside Teflon tubing and KLE silver-plated Copper Harmony RCAs, one set with solid copper inside Teflon tubing and Aurealis 'Star' copper RCAs, and one set with silver plated solid core copper milspec wire with Teflon dielectric and Aurealis 'Star' copper RCAs.

The cost price for the materials for silver RCAs including wire, KLE RCA connectors, outer sheathing, Teflon tubing and silver solder was around $AUD100. The materials for the other two versions cost around $AUD50 each.

I do like the KLE and Aurealis connectors as they feature a tellurium copper conductor with either a gold or silver plating, rather than a brass conductor which is the material used in the vast majority of RCAs (like the Neutrik/REAN NYS-373. The 373s are very robustly constructed though and are the best of the affordable RCAs IMHO.

The interconnects sound very very good to my ears. Sadly I don't own any full Aurealis cables at present so I can't compare them back-to-back, but they do share the same clarity and coherence in the sound. I really need to make some time to compare all three sets back-to-back, as I've had the silver versions in my system for around 3 months now and haven't been inclined to swap them out!

Aaaaand... I threw together a solid silver USB cable with separated data and power lines, but with only the ground wire connected (no +5V connection). It works beautifully between the Squeezebox Touch and audio-gd USB interface.

















 
Good stuff Pete (love the USB!) - so would you call yourself a silver-cable kind of guy now??

Ooooh... I wouldn't go that far, as I haven't given the copper cable a run as yet. However, I definitely like what I'm hearing so far! It's a very nice, clean sound but not harsh at all.

My speaker cables are DIY copper for the time being (2 x 18AWG solid core copper runs for the woofers, and 2 x 24AWG solid core copper for the tweeters) and it would not be cheap replicating these in solid silver methinks... :)
 
Yeah I don't know why I see claims that silver sounds harsh. Perhaps owing to different brands / rigs / tastes. But my impression has been to the contrary.

Man I'd love to replace my speaker cables to all-silver core stuff! But I require very long cables and the costs would be quite prohibitive. I'd still take the advantage of having the speakers away from the electronics over the silver goodness...
 
Yeah I don't know why I see claims that silver sounds harsh. Perhaps owing to different brands / rigs / tastes. But my impression has been to the contrary.

Man I'd love to replace my speaker cables to all-silver core stuff! But I require very long cables and the costs would be quite prohibitive. I'd still take the advantage of having the speakers away from the electronics over the silver goodness...

Yeah, I think much of the reputation of silver comes down to poor purity silver, or silver plated copper.

My previous experience is that solid copper wire has more accurate tonal and timbral balance than silver plated copper, but these are the first pure silver cables that I've used so they are re-setting my expectations regarding silver. Time will tell once I throw the copper cables in there.

I'd love to pony-up for some Neotech UPOCC wire as this is superb stuff with greater clarity than your average wire in my previous experience, particularly when used in interconnect cables where the signal is comparatively low. It's more expensive than the wire I'm currently using, but more pure.
 
And have you given thoughts to the Cryo treatment?
Is it even available to the DIY folks where we live? :smoke:
 
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