[jgwtriode]

Zach obviously

http://www.zmfheadphones.com/zmf-cables/zmf-silver-mcn82[/QUOTE

Silver plated is fine....but silver gold OCC is really the place to go. Much better across the board than even highly stranded litz OCC. Burning mine now with Sennies while waiting for my Auteurs.

 

[jgwtriode]

Interestingly Silver gold is not brighter. Just more vivid and illuminated with more control and a larger more defined soundstage. Much more texural, tonal and simply "Organic"!

 

[hikaru12]

Interestingly Silver gold is not brighter. Just more vivid and illuminated with more control and a larger more defined soundstage. Much more texural, tonal and simply "Organic"!

I'm debating a silver/gold or a copper/gold cable. Gold seems to add that smoothness I'm looking for. Have you tried a copper gold? If I could improve anything in my [overall] setup is smoothness (like I got with the stock cable oddly enough), bass slam, and microdetail.

I'm definitely appreciating the added clarity to the mids of the OCC but I still miss that smoothness that have made female vocals and reverbs sound so damn good.

 

[cute]

A while ago I asked Peter Bradstock, DoubleHelixCables, and Trevor Goldman, Norne Audio, if they planned on using wire with gold content, and I got the same answer from both, no, never! They stated the reason, gold in wire was the worst choice because it is a poor conductor, vs silver and copper. They both stated that adding gold smeared the sound, not a natural sounding result. FWIW.

 

[hikaru12]

A while ago I asked Peter Bradstock, DoubleHelixCables, and Trevor Goldman, Norne Audio, if they planned on using wire with gold content, and I got the same answer from both, no, never! They stated the reason, gold in wire was the worst choice because it is a poor conductor, vs silver and copper. They both stated that adding gold smeared the sound, not a natural sounding result. FWIW.

I've read confusing results on this - Pulse Audio likes gold as he believes by increasing the resistance to a material that has very low resistance and great electrical conductive properties, such as silver, could be a best of both worlds scenario. It seems like hybrid may be the only way for me to go to get the great detail benefits of silver while still retaining the smoothness which especially for the Teak model is appreciated (I'm sure those w/ Blackwoods could just opt for silver all-together).

@zach915m - Have you tried your 2K cable with the Teak version of the Auteurs specifically? If so, what do you feel it improved upon from the stock cable? I need an end game cable and I'm willing to pony up a fair amount of $$ to squeeze out as much performance as I can from these cans.

 

[cute]

I've read confusing results on this - Pulse Audio likes gold as he believes by increasing the resistance to a material that has very low resistance and great electrical conductive properties, such as silver, could be a best of both worlds scenario. It seems like hybrid may be the only way for me to go to get the great detail benefits of silver while still retaining the smoothness which especially for the Teak model is appreciated (I'm sure those w/ Blackwoods could just opt for silver all-together).


@zach915m - Have you tried your 2K cable with the Teak version of the Auteurs specifically? If so, what do you feel it improved upon from the stock cable? I need an end game cable and I'm willing to pony up a fair amount of $$ to squeeze out as much performance as I can from these cans.

When it comes down to cables, spend your money wisely. Trust your own ears, there is no real proof of what conductor/material does what to the sound, just opinions by many, that may help their bottom line.

 

[hikaru12]

When it comes down to cables, spend your money wisely. Trust your own ears, there is no real proof of what conductor/material does what to the sound, just opinions by many, that may help their bottom line.

Yeah definitely, plus all the variables of other people's systems have to be taken into account. I don't mind splurging as I start knocking out all the weak links for that last bit of performance from my system. The new Yggy Analog V2 definitely looks pretty inciting as well. But, yea, to say that cables effect even 2% of the overall sound is an overstatement but they definitely do help give a system a push in the direction you're going for at the very least.

 

[Fatdoi]

But has anyone compared between pure silver (not silver plated copper) and OCC copper cables? Like silver dragon VS black dragon

 

[zach915m]

I've read confusing results on this - Pulse Audio likes gold as he believes by increasing the resistance to a material that has very low resistance and great electrical conductive properties, such as silver, could be a best of both worlds scenario. It seems like hybrid may be the only way for me to go to get the great detail benefits of silver while still retaining the smoothness which especially for the Teak model is appreciated (I'm sure those w/ Blackwoods could just opt for silver all-together).

@zach915m - Have you tried your 2K cable with the Teak version of the Auteurs specifically? If so, what do you feel it improved upon from the stock cable? I need an end game cable and I'm willing to pony up a fair amount of $$ to squeeze out as much performance as I can from these cans.

I just like easy effortless sound that's detailed in general - so when I designed the array's for our cables I focused on qualities that would enhance that, like finer stranding etc. without going overboard. In general the biggest difference from stock cable will be the transient "edge" of notes and how they "pop" at you with more resolution and less effort. At least that's what I notice the most when going back to back.

 

[jgwtriode]

Don't know about % ratings of differences...but silver gold OCC made a bigger difference over litz OCC copper than amplifier changes. Not as much as A DAC change... About equal to reclockers and galvanic isolators in level of improvement!

 

[Hansotek]

I've read confusing results on this - Pulse Audio likes gold as he believes by increasing the resistance to a material that has very low resistance and great electrical conductive properties, such as silver, could be a best of both worlds scenario.

This sounds like a BS pitch to me. Conductivity and resistance have an inverse relationship - increase one and you decrease the other. Adding resistance to a cable isn’t a very good idea. A cable’s job isn’t just to transmit the signal, it also has to sink the electrical voltage created by the driver motion. More resistance in the cable makes it harder for the driver to dissipate that energy, which negatively affects the damping. You can literally line up the square wave responses and see the errors.

 

[wazzupi]

Don't know about % ratings of differences...but silver gold OCC made a bigger difference over litz OCC copper than amplifier changes. Not as much as A DAC change... About equal to reclockers and galvanic isolators in level of improvement!

This guy is trolling right ?

 

[SilverEars]

Anybody around the Boston area with an Auteur? I'm curious how it sounds. Please send me a PM if you can do a mini-meet, thanks.

Is there any way to demo this without taking a 25% loss if I don't want to keep them? @zach915m I wish there was a tour.

 

[jgwtriode]

This sounds like a BS pitch to me. Conductivity and resistance have an inverse relationship - increase one and you decrease the other. Adding resistance to a cable isn’t a very good idea. A cable’s job isn’t just to transmit the signal, it also has to sink the electrical voltage created by the driver motion. More resistance in the cable makes it harder for the driver to dissipate that energy, which negatively affects the damping. You can literally line up the square wave responses and see the errors.

I have spent 40 years as an audiophile... and the one thing I have learned is to trust your ears. Sometimes the science makes sense...sometimes it does not. But everything in high end audio makes a difference. It may or may not be worth the cost. But to dismiss it outright without hearing it is IMHO outright ignorant. For example I only recently discovered the idea of properly sinking vibration away from components, ala Mapleshade. Not cheap but the results are stunning. I have messed with all kinds of devices over the years and listened to science and pseudo science. I can tell you simply it works. Not cheap but nevertheless worth every penny relative to what it does.

Remember were talking 1% gold added to the silver ...it's a subtle change metallurgically...but I submit it works wonders. Argue the science all you want...I will go with my ears;

 

[wazzupi]

Anybody around the Boston area with an Auteur? I'm curious how it sounds. Please send me a PM if you can do a mini-meet, thanks.

Is there any way to demo this without taking a 25% loss if I don't want to keep them? @zach915m I wish there was a tour.

You should of went to canjam