Cable Asylum: REVIEW: DIY by Chris VenHaus DIY Silver Interconnects Cable by Detlof

Model:	DIY Silver Interconnects
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	materials cost about $80
Description:	32 ga. .9999 Silver Teflon insulated wire spiraled around Teflon core
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Chris VenHaus
Model Picture:	View

Review by Detlof ( A ) on February 26, 2007 at 11:43:19
IP Address: 83.78.141.103

Add Your Review
for the DIY Silver Interconnects

Since I am happy with the general wiring, which is fine tuned to my system, wires which are not commercially available by the way but made by a friend in very small quantities, I decided to try my hand at a pair of ics to hook up my beloved Otari to my system. At the beginning those ICs were a bitch to make, I did not seem to get the spacing to stay in place, as described by Chris until I slid a metal rod into the teflon tubing and secured it on both ends. From then on it was easy. I terminated with Eichmann silverbullets at the Jolida end and with Neutrik XLRs at the Otari side. Originally I had used a 250 £ top British cable with the Otaris and in my first test I simply replaced one channel with my newly made cable. The result was quite surprsing: The side with the "DIY" seemed sometimes to play a tad louder than I was used to and Martha Argerich's piano, which was recorded slightly to the right, seemed occasionally to move a few inches more center. It was a disconcerting experience and I switched back to the Brit, listening to this tape while I finished my second silver cable. When I had done, much faster than my first one, thanks to the rod, I rewound the tape and settled in to some serious listening. It was quite amazing how my old Otari suddenly sprung to life!
The soundstage opened up in width and depth and Martha's piano remained firmly off center, where it belonged. I realised now, that the apparent difference in loudness from before was due to the much better rendition of fast transients of the DIY, which this music has plenty of. My Jolida is no slouch in rendering those with authority and for the first time I realised, that my Otari was on par with the rest of my system. It was as if a few levels of veil had gone, a certain background grainyness had disappeared, you could -for the first time- easily differentiate between the violas and the celli, the violas and the violins in the string section and brass sounded as brassy as it should. I discoverd the repeated sound of a triangle in the Liszt concerto, which I had never heard before. This is how this cable renders music transparent and well layered. Bass was excellent, but here the Brit was no slouch either, yet also here the silver cable gave a somewhat better definition. The smack of a kettle drum seemed sort of "rounder". In short, this cable, if done right, is highly musical, it has "prat", speed and definition, its rendering of transients belongs to the best I have heard so far. There is no trace of coloration as far as I could discern. It seems perfectly neutral to these here ears. Musical instruments not only sound right, but also stay firm in their well defined space. One of the advantages of analog is, that the aura of instruments, if recorded right, does not get lost. Chris' cable brings it right. Bass is good, the midrange ok, the highs are impeccable. As far as my old tapemachine goes, a revelation. Thank-you Chris!

Product Weakness: takes patience to do right
Product Strengths: Speed, definition,resolution, rendering of transients from ppp to fff are perfect, no trace of smearing anywhere, no apparent phase shifts, lots of prat, highly musical.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	modded and tube rolled Jolida JD 1000RC
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Otari Tapemachine for this test
Speakers:	Quad 63 with Gradient subs
Cables/Interconnects:	various
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	7.5 ips tape DGG Chopin amd Liszt Piano Concertos, Martha Argerich, Claudio Abbado, London SO
Room Comments/Treatments:	none
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2-3 hours
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio P -600, Gradient electronic X-over
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	takes patience to do right
Product Strengths:	Speed, definition,resolution, rendering of transients from ppp to fff are perfect, no trace of smearing anywhere, no apparent phase shifts, lots of prat, highly musical.