Silver Anniversary

[Stupinder]

At best i'm a bit of a cable sceptic BUT the above does really sound horrible when its been connected to all my kit over the last 3 years. Over bright and harsh and never lasts more than a few hours. So what's going on? I know i'm not imagining it because i'd never read about the cable before i came to my conclusions -i bought it blind for a few euros.

What is it about the construction that makes this cable sound so crap, or am i indeed imagining it (I genuinely don't think I am by the way!)

This is not an invite to wage a war but a genuine question about the one cable that really does make a difference....that i've heard, Imo, etc etc

Good news i sold it on a while ago to a french guy who thought it was great -I even put in the description that i thought it sounded harsh with my kit.

[Effem]

I had 3 inches of the damn stuff as jumper links and that was bad enough. No idea WHY it sounds shite, but it does

[lordmortlock]

AND it continues to get superb reviews. Odd.

[earlofsodbury]

I don't know why it should sound as bad as it does, it's just wire, but it does, in every application I've tried - and it was my first ever foo purchase Horrible stuff

[myrman]

I thought Silver Ani was for WHF readers only

[robin]

i bought s/a cable many years ago as recommended by what hi-hi mag, i got some cyrus speaker cable cheap of e-bay, and bloody hell the cheapest upgrade ive ever had total night and day, i threw the siver ann in the bin, i strongly suggest you do the same its

[mmar]

its shit cause it aint silver it looks silver but it aint !

[wee tam]

i do keep trying cables etc andI/C,s but as always end up putting back my very old very unwieldly very not wife friendly audioquest blue ,
but this shit didn't last 10 minutes , the wife and dogs thought it was shit to black sabbath screatching and the dogs left the room closely followed by the wife
back to the spirit of the wam if any one takes them that is, if not the bin junkies can have them.

[artsenna]

also owned them before. hated them. IMO, the only purpose them cables serve in the big scheme of all things hifi is to 'brighten' up the most budget of systems.

[dim_span]

if the silver is too bright on your system, try some copper cable .... Van Damme is pretty good and very cheap (£1.99/m) ... there were some excellent reviews on WHFI from owners recently (the past week)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I bought some of their thicker cable a few months back (6mm diameter) .... bought it as a spare and have not tested yet

I use the old Hitachi cable and am well pleased, but it's hard to find

[Stupinder]

if the silver is too bright on your system, try some copper cable .... Van Damme is pretty good and very cheap (£1.99/m) ... there were some excellent reviews on WHFI from owners recently (the past week)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I bought some of their thicker cable a few months back (6mm diameter) .... bought it as a spare and have not tested yet

I use the old Hitachi cable and am well pleased, but it's hard to find

Like I said, i moved it on a good while ago. Use Vanne Damme and some flat Ortofon copper stuff, dependent on which set of speaks i'm using. Jumpers on the A1s are mains wire. I also use from time to time, just to see if I can hear any difference, some thick copper mains multistrand calbes i made up -would still be using these on all the system if they were long enough and i didn't have other bits of copper lying around.

But seriously, there must be something in the wire, or its construction, that makes it sound shit......Serge where are you?

[Peter Empson]

I'm not a fan of this cable either, not my cup of tea at all. As with many silver plated cables to me the sound lacks cohesiveness throughout the frequency range and has brittle upper registers (that are surprisngly shut in at the very top). My gut feeling is that quality of the raw materials is rather limited (understandable at the price point, but why silver plate if standard copper would sound better at this level as I'm sure it would).

As for why the press like it so much I imagine it might be useful if it 'corrects' a flaw in a poor room/system. It could also be that silver plating tends to make some high frequency detail more obvious and reviewers often like this effect as it's easy to spot in a 5 min swap over. I certainly can't imagine a reviewer would be swayed by the fact that a manufacturer has an absolutely huge advertising budget...

I should add that I have sold this cable (it was almost impossible not to when the press were raving about it) but I have always done by best to inform customers that I felt better alternatives existed.

[d_a_n1979]

I do think its aimed for the budget market

I had it in my first few system and it wasnt that bad but it wasnt brilliant either!

Im a huge fan of Chord Oddyssey but TBH the QED Revelation speaker cable Im using currently is superb!

[dim_span]

suppose it all depends on your system .... I have an old Pioneer SA-9800 amp, a marantz cd63 MKII K1 signature cdp and an old pair of B&W DM2 MK1 transmission speakers

the amp and speakers are classed as 'warm' sounding ... the cdp is classed as being on the bright side .... I found that using the Silver High Breed Coherence interconnect (copper with a silver sheath), and old Hitachi LC-OFC (copper) speaker cables, my system sounds pretty awesome (to me)

My ears are old, but I do hear a difference is cables, only small differences, and specifically in the treble/bass .... with silver speaker cables, the s's sound like z's on my main system (a good track to test for this is Prince's Purple rain) ...

I seem to have found the sound I enjoy and the synergy (for me) is very good ....

suppose you need to experiment and try different cables etc until you find what you enjoy ... I have been lucky, and it has not cost me much

[rabski]

The only thing worse than silver anniversary was my anniversary. But then I walked out on the bitch shortly afterwards, and things only got better. Similarly, I junked the SA cable I had, and I've never gone back.

I don't know what it does technically, but in listening terms, it seems to fuck everything it's connected to. Anyone who has given it an award should have their ears cleaned out with a 20cm masonry bit on a Bosch hammer drill. Anyone who doesn't believe cables can make a difference should have a go with this utter fuck-crap-shrill-bastard stuff. If it doesn't screw your system then either your system is crap, or you're deaf.

Cables don't make a difference? Well, quite possibly they can't improve things, but they sure as hell can make things worse.

As proof, I give you...........

[qu-be-2]

My 'speakers can sound a little shrill sometimes in the upper mids and treble. Could it be the Silver Anniversary cable that I bought on a certain magazines recommendation? I'm beginning to think it might be contributing after reading this thread

[Stupinder]

suppose it all depends on your system .... I have an old Pioneer SA-9800 amp, a marantz cd63 MKII K1 signature cdp and an old pair of B&W DM2 MK1 transmission speakers

the amp and speakers are classed as 'warm' sounding ... the cdp is classed as being on the bright side .... I found that using the Silver High Breed Coherence interconnect (copper with a silver sheath), and old Hitachi LC-OFC (copper) speaker cables, my system sounds pretty awesome (to me)

My ears are old, but I do hear a difference is cables, only small differences, and specifically in the treble/bass .... with silver speaker cables, the s's sound like z's on my main system (a good track to test for this is Prince's Purple rain) ...

I seem to have found the sound I enjoy and the synergy (for me) is very good ....

suppose you need to experiment and try different cables etc until you find what you enjoy ... I have been lucky, and it has not cost me much

Nowt wrong with other silver foo cables i've heard. It just seems to be this SA stuff that, as others have stated, turns everything into shit.

[Stupinder]

My 'speakers can sound a little shrill sometimes in the upper mids and treble. Could it be the Silver Anniversary cable that I bought on a certain magazines recommendation? I'm beginning to think it might be contributing after reading this thread

Buy some cheap copper wire and hear the difference -you'll be amazed i reckon!!

[rabski]

Buy some cheap copper wire and hear the difference -you'll be amazed i reckon!!

Buy or try something else and you may be surprised.

I suggest killing and gutting a couple of zebras, drying out the innards and using that. Alternatively, some damp washing line or a pile of paper-clips joined together.

Or, as you might guess I'm suggesting, anything else at all.

[barry2tone]

My 'speakers can sound a little shrill sometimes in the upper mids and treble. Could it be the Silver Anniversary cable that I bought on a certain magazines recommendation? I'm beginning to think it might be contributing after reading this thread

Well, possibly. You have to decide what you think you learn from reading cable threads

It's maybe worth pointing out that this is how small (esp plasterboard) rooms sound anyway - lots of reflection of mids-treble. Room treatment is more important than cables IMO, but there are some cables I would'nt want.