Lavri Cables New Iphone cable
The controversy about audio cables making a difference on how your audio systems sound will never end!
I have been an audiophile for more than 20 years, I have listened to cables that cost thousands and some that cost very little, and have found that some of each, the expensive and the not so expensive make a big difference in how my systems sound. I will call myself a believer. I have had experience with all kinds of cable designs and different conductor materials. From expending countless hours comparing different cables I have come to the conclusion that conductor material is the most important part of any cable, then the design geometry, connectors and shielding play an equally smaller part. Silver is the best conductor material due to its physical properties when transmitting an electric signal.
 
 
 
I asked Konstantin  from Lavri cables to  make me a USB type A to lighting cable which I will use to connect my iPhone 6 to my OPPO HA-2 portable DAC and headphone amplifier. 
Konstantin quickly found a lighting connector and made the cable. I received it in a couple of weeks and immediately preceded to burn it in. After about 200 hours of playing music from my old iPhone 5S to the HA-2 both receiving constant charge I quickly compared it to the Oppo stock adapter which is made of cooper. The difference was easy to hear, the most obvious improvement was an increased amount of detail accompanied by smoother, more natural sounding highs and more controlled bass.  The bass was tighter and controlled, the Mids more real sounding with more detail in the upper and lower midranges.  When listening to Jazz at the pawnshop the cymbals, and metal brushes sounded more real, with much higher detail when compared to the stock cable that came with my Oppo amp. All the micro details were just simply more present, easier to pin point them and feel the instruments and enjoy them separately, they way the recording is supposed to be reproduced.
 
The cable is beautifully made as you can see in the pictures and quality is top of the line, Konstantin takes pride in making easy on the eye, high quality long lasting products that provide joy to their users. 
Konstantin uses 6N silver solid core conductor braided into 4 core which delivers RFI and EMI rejection and provides low capacitance for the cable. 4% silver solder is used to make all of the cables, and Teflon insulation gives predominant air dielectric and is known as one of the best insulator for bare audio cables.
I use my iPhone - Oppo system together with my beloved Aurisonics 1plus hybrid, universal IEMS at work while I am typing my daily notes on the computer.  I mainly play Tidal Hi -Fi which I enjoy greatly due to it’s good sound and large amount of music available.
 
This cable was the final piece of my portable system, one that has been greatly improved by using this cable because of its ability to pass through more of the sound being reproduced by my iPhone. This cable has allowed me to get more involved into the music due to its ability to present more and easier to hear details in each track, tighter and more detailed bass, fuller more real sounding  natural vocals .
 
The physical make up of the cable is fantastic, it is flexible enough to use my 2 component  as a stack without any fear of the cable being damaged. It also holds no shape due to no cable memory and it is easy to use in different positions, whether you use your set up as a stack or side by side. Konstantin offers six different colors of the outer jacket as shown on the first picture.
The price of the cable is $70 shipped to the US, which I consider a great bargain after comparing to other companies prices.
You can contact Konstantin at www.lavricables.eu or at lavricables@gmail.com to inquire about his products, services and his prices.
 

Lavri-Cables Pure silver Quad Core cable for Ultrasone SIG PRO
 

 
 
I first learned of Lavri-Cables on an Audiogon Add one night when I was looking at the headphones for sale, in those days I was looking to purchase a silver cable for my Fitear F111 IEMS. I decided to contact Konstantin Lavri owner of Lavri-Cables who is based all the way across the pond in the country of Latvia.
I was  right away impressed with Konstantin fast response to my emails and great costumer service, specially because I did not really know what to expect from someone I never heard of and who offered such affordable prices for pure silver cables. I have to say Konstantin is very professional and a pleasure to deal with.
After I placed the order he quickly made the cable and in a couple of days it was on its way to the US,  shipping and delivery took a little over one week, which I think was very fast. When I received the cable I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was, It came inside a simple but nice black cloth bag. The craftsmanship used to make the cable is top notch as good as the best I have seen, much better than many. 
A great looking cable at an unbeatable price; I have never seen pure 6N silver cables at anywhere near this price.
 
Konstantin is an audiophile.  Like most of us, he really enjoys the headphone hobby and loves music as well.
Konstantin is in the IT business and manufactures cables as a separate  small business that he would like to see continue to grow.
Lavri cables was created 4 years ago after Konstantin realized that most companies in the audiophile cable market over charge for their cables. To ensure the highest quality, he decided to use pure silver as silver is a better conductor of electricity than is copper. Silver is known for its neutrality and tonal balance. I have to agree since most of my cables in both my speaker systems  and  headphone systems are silver.
 
The Quad Core cable for the Ultrasone Sig Pro that I received from Konstantin is beautiful  in both appearance and performance, and when compared to the stock Ultrasone cable, the sound of the silver cable is cleaner, smoother, a fraction faster with more detail in the highs and bass that is both more controlled with better definition.
 
Some people confuse clarity with brightness or sibilance when they first listen to silver conductors. I personally feel that for all silver cables a burn in period is needed before comparing the brightness of silver vs copper.
 

 
The Quad Core cable is very flexible with almost non- existent  memory.  It is, in all respects, a beautifully constructed cable.  
 
Konstantin uses high quality silver solder and the best plugs and connectors that the market has to offer. If he does not have the plug or connector that you prefer, Konstantin will do his best to get it for you. He will also build the cable to any length you need. Mine is 6.5 feet long terminated with a 3.5mm Viablue plug.  The price of the cable is 99gbp or 150usd delivered with either a ViaBlue 3.5mm or 6.3mm plug. The cable is very low in microphonics, as I was able to hear none when it touched my clothing and only a very tiny amount when it touched cable to cable.
 
I will not judge any cable without at least 150 hours of burn-in time. I have about 200 hours on this cable and the change in sound is very easy for me to hear and compare with that when new. It was originally a bit on the bright side but now sounds noticeably smoother and cleaner than the stock cable.
The Ultrasone Signature Pro has very powerful bass, but it never interfered with the rest of the frequencies even with the stock cable, it is a remarkable phone that does not get enough love in this community. 
The silver cable allows the lower frequencies to sound more controlled, as well as tighter and detailed, just the way they should sound in my opinion.  If one has listened to a high quality subwoofer driven with a quality source, it is clear what really accurate bass is supposed sound like; bass that is more felt than heard, bass that lets you hear the different layers and details in its character. This type of bass is more noticeable in the Sig Pro when using this cable.
 
The upper midrange of the Ultrasone sounds cleaner and smoother with the silver cable,  adding a human naturalness and smoothness to the sound. They vocals simply sound more realistic with better texture and detail.
The highs in Ultrasound headphones have a different character when compared to other headphones in the marketplace; they are unique, as least to my ears. The highs are not sibilant, but they have a  different kind of sound, not grainy, but with a type of sparkle. The silver cable makes them sound more lifelike while remaining extended and detailed.
Macro and micro details are more noticeable to me, meaning they are easier to hear and placed in the soundstage more precisely than with the stock cable. After listening to my Sig Pro with the Lavri cable, I will never be able to go back to the stock cable.
When listening to the song “High Hope”  in the album Rhythm And Response by Glen Hansard his voice sounded much more natural and smoother with the silver cable,  instruments had more of their own space in the soundstage and in the next song in the same album “Bird of Sorrow” the piano was beautifully rendered with great tonality and natural sound.
 
I used my main headphone system to test this cable, It consist of iMac playing Tidal, Amarra, Jriver with Jplay which is to me the best media player software available since it came out, Human Audio Tabla SPDF converter - Human Audio Muto DAC to Apex Peak-Volcano headphone amp.
Conclusion:

 
 
 
 
Konstantin has a great product range, making both single ended and balanced interconnects, power cords, speaker cables, adapters and, of course, headphone cables. His craftsmanship is superb and customer service is amazingly fast.
 
His silver cables are truly a great value when compared to the many other cable builders worldwide, therefore, I am a customer for life and can most highly recommend Lavri Cables to anyone looking for great quality cable!
 
You can contact Konstantin at www.lavricables.eu or at lavricables@gmail.com to inquire about his products, services and his prices.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
It is always exiting to discover and learn about new companies in this wonderful hobby of ours known as personal audio.  Covalent-Audio, founded in 2013, is one such company based in Chatsworth California. Covalent-Audio owner Ronnie Holtzman, once of Theta-Digital in the glory days working for Mike Moffat, had a goal of offering headphone fanatics a high-quality, high-value headphone amp.  After listening to and spending some time with their first offering, it looks like Ronnie has definitively achieved that goal with the Covalent-Audio Nucleus headphone amplifier / preamplifier.
 
The Nucleus is a solid-state headphone amp with very well-implemented features.  It sports a three position toggle switch on the front-panel which selects between the two analog inputs or mutes the Nucleus’ outputs. On the back, there is a power switch, Hi/Lo gain setting switch, two analog inputs on RCA jacks and a pair of “active” pre-amp outputs on RCAs that are controlled by the mute switch and volume control on the front panel.  The Nucleus amp has a very clean and simple industrial look to it. The amp feels solid and is built like a tank – there are no plastic covers or knobs anywhere.  The chassis of the Nucleus is constructed out of non-ferris aluminum, which minimizes external stray magnetic field interference.  Volume control duties are handled by an ALPS Blue-Velvet Pot, which works and feels great during use.  And yes, it is smooth like velvet.  Finally, the nucleus comes with a two year manufacturer’s warranty which exceeds the typical one year warranty most electronics have.
 
The Nucleus product brief on Covalent Audio’s website is as follows:
“Powerful, detailed, warm sound and versatility are exactly what the Nucleus headphone amplifier delivers. With over 1.5Watts (rms) of output power per channel and the current capability to go with that, the Nucleus is able drive a wide variety of high performance dynamic headphones, IEMs and many ‘more power hungry’ orthodynamic models with ease.  You’ll marvel at what your cans are capable of when you listen to them through the Nucleus.”
 
For those that enjoy the technical details about such things, the Covalent-Audio website has very detailed information on the makeup of the Nucleus amp’s circuitry.
 
Now Down To Business…
I have been an audiophile for more than 20 years, and believe I know good sound from listening to and owning hundreds of components from different price brackets and manufacturers.  After burning in the Nucleus amp for more than 100 hours, I connected the amp to my Muto DAC with Kimber Kable KCAG silver interconnects and began listening with my Ultrasone SIGNATURE PROs.  Since the SIG PROs are very easy-to-drive headphones, I set the Nucleus’ gain switch to the “Lo” setting and listened.  The sound coming out of the SIG PROs was well balanced, transparent, detailed and musical.
 
 
Important to note is that the Nucleus is able to drive many different CANS with various sensitivities because the “Hi/Lo” gain switch features “sensible” spacing between the two gain settings.  Many other amplifiers I’ve come across do not always offer gain setting options that are sensible spaced apart or even offer any gain options at all other than one fixed gain setting thus making this amp highly versatile in regards for use with a wide variety of headphones.
 
Condensed Points - As for the sound:
Bass: Was controlled, detailed, deep and musical -- What else can we ask for - right?
 
Midrange: Very detailed, but still musical, never too forward, or analytical.
 
Highs: Detailed, airy, present, not overwhelming, extended as the source permited.
 
Moving Onward…
Next I paired the Nucleus up with my HiFiMan HE500s, which are my hardest to drive headphones.  I moved the gain switch to the “Hi” position and set the volume between 10 and 11 o'clock on the dial.  I have to say this little amp impressively drove the HE500s with full, powerful, detailed and dynamic sound.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well this small amplifier drove the HE500s.
 
Listening to Ray LaMontagne “This Love is Over”, the sound was so buttery smooth, romantic, detailed and dynamic at the same time.  I felt as if the sound was not missing anything.  The Nucleus is very good at letting you hear the recording as well as the source reproducing it.  This is one of those amplifiers that doesn’t add much of its own “signature” to the music.  It lets the music flow through like it is supposed to.
 
Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic playing “Barber’s Adagio for Strings” sounded fantastic.  All of the string instruments sounded natural, smooth and tonally real.  This is one of my favorite classical pieces and the Nucleus/HE500 combo rendered it in a marvelous manner.
 
“Strange Fruit” from Cassandra Wilson’s “New Moon Daughter” is my favorite from all of her albums. The details were just there, easy to hear without being analytical. Highs were extended yet smooth and non-fatiguing.  Bass was potent, tight, and detailed.  The vocals produced from the headphones felt in front of my face and in the middle of the soundstage, not just between the ears.
 
Unleashing the Mad Dog Pros form MrSpeakers on the Nucleus sounded almost exactly the same, just with a closed back headphone sense of presentation.  While I consider the Pros not as detailed as the HE500s, the Nucleus/Mad Dog Pro combo yielded a presentation that was detailed enough while still being crazy musical and smooth sounding showing that the Nucleus was able to walk those dogs well.
 
I then switched to my Aurisonics Rockets IEMs to see where the noise floor was with this amp when driving small headphones.  With the Nucleus’ gain set to “Lo”, the rockets (which even though they are IEMs, do appreciate an amp with some muscle behind it) sounded fantastic.  Again, the sound was powerful, rich, detailed and complete with tight bass.  No evidence of hiss was heard when driving these small IEMs.
 
 
 
 Apples to Oranges?...
Now in comparing the Nucleus amp to my reference amp, the Apex Peak outfitted w/ the optional Volcano power supply, I’ll have to admit that I felt that even though my Peak (which is a tube/MOSFET hybrid amp) sounded better, the differences were minimal which is very impressive for the Nucleus considering the big price difference between the two units.  I consider both to be true-to-the-source amplifiers.
 
 Another factor in my above mentioning is that through tube rolling, the sound of the Peak can be altered to one’s taste so to speak, where as the Nucleus, being a solid-state amp is more of a fixed affair.  Although the Nucleus dished out great sound, I felt that the Peak did it all a little bit better.  But when you look at the roughly $1600 price difference between the two amps, the Nucleus at 400 bucks, does indeed offer a lot of great sound and value for the money.
 
Beyond the Cans…
Using The Nucleus as a pre-amp driving my Audioengine A2 desktop powered speakers was yet another very pleasant experience.  Once again the Nucleus offered sound which was transparent with great bass and detail.   There is just nothing bad to say about this little amp sonically.
 
With the Nucleus’ simple industrial styling look, it may not be the number one choice when it comes to “drop dead gorgeous” appearances but it’s important to realize that audio gear with fancy chassis work, also has a fancier price tag to go with it.  Now don’t get me wrong, equipment that emphasizes appearance is not a bad thing, but not everyone wants to or can pay the money for it. In my case I don't sit and stare at the equipment, I just listen to the music and get lost in it!  The Nucleus allowed me to do just that.
 
Summing It Up…
The Nucleus amplifier is for anyone who wants to hear the recording and source with minimal added sonic signature from the amp.  In my opinion the Nucleus does what an amp is supposed to do and lets the music flow.  Also because of its good amount of transparency and balanced sound from the top to bottom octaves, this amplifier is capable of playing all different genres of music equally well.
 
Like I said at the beginning of this review, Ronnie from Covalent-Audio wanted to create an amp that sounded great and whose price point was reachable for most of us, and without a doubt he achieved his goal.  I highly recommend this amplifier especially for the people whose priority is good sound.
 
The Nucleus headphone amp can be purchased directly from Covalent-Audio for $399.
Website:   www.covalent-audio.com
Email:        info@covalent-audio.com
 


 
 
 

 

I just simply love this amp, it sounds better in every way than y little dot mkvi +. 
I want  to thank Robert from Aphrodite Cu29 for his second to none technical advise and great customer service. 
This amplifier might not be the ultimate out in the market ,but in my opinion it is good or excellent at everything that amp are supposed to do.
It has beautiful midrannge , highs and bass . Soundstage is very 3 dementional, separation of instruments is even more amazing. Detail is plentiful and it is very easy to hear.
This headphone will power any headphone, yes including the ridiculous HE6 with power left to use with ther cans te same time. I know this is hard to believe but I have 0 reasons to lie. 

This amplifier will drive any headphone and makes them sound amazing. Great value.

This amp sounds better than most amplifiers out there costing 3 to 5 times its price. Plain and simple.

Love listening to these with my RSA shadow and Cable Pro Reverie LOD. My portable system makes great sound.

Simply the best of my headphones, sounds great with a T amp like my Virtue 1.
These cans do everything right from top to bottom . Greatest value for your money out there at this time.

This a great cans , but very hard to drive. Vocals never sounded so clear and articulate, bass is good , but not great.

Great headphones , not too far behing the best cans out there for much less. Sound better when balanced and with aftermarket cable.

Great sound in a very small package, works great with my Westone 3 and low impendence full size headphones.

Best value outhere when you are looking for First class sound, Construction, Service, Reliability, Versatility, and much more.
You can fine tune this amp with different tube rolling option to mach you headphones, cables , source, very versitile. and it sounds great what else can I say.