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REVIEW: ELF Custom Cables,Inc Phono 1 Pure Silver Cable

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Model: Phono 1 Pure Silver
Category: Cable
Suggested Retail Price: $200.00
Description: Pure Silver Interconnect
Manufacturer URL: Not Available

Review by The Analog Kid on June 24, 2008 at 13:58:40
IP Address: 67.162.213.164
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for the Phono 1 Pure Silver


For the last few months I've been enjoying the Elf Audio Phono 1 Silver Reference interconnects, hand-made by Ernest L. Farley (hence the "Elf"). I previously posted a review of his excellent power cords, and based on my experience with them, opted to try his IC's.

I should preface this review by briefly listing some of the cables I've owned over the years, to give you an idea of my background/experience. This may seem kind of ridiculous, but here goes. From Kimber, I've owned PBJ, Silver Streak, KCAG, and Select 1010. From Nirvana, SL. Nordost Blue Heaven and Flatline. Bogdan pure silver. Cardas Hexlink Golden, Cross, Golden Cross. Silversmith silver. Discovery Essence (or is it Essential? always get the ICs and speaker cables mixed up). There are a bunch of others, but I can't remember right now (I've owned probably 6 different of the old AQ models, but can't recall the particular models). But - and here's my point (to give you a baseline of my tastes), my previous fave cables have been Nirvana SL and Silversmith.

The Elf Phono 1's were described in his Audiogon ad (if memory serves me correct) as "soft pure silver, optimally designed for analog usage." Or something close to that. Got me interested, as I run a solely vinyl system, and needed cables that are able to transfer low level cartridge signals to my pre with accuracy.

When they first arrived, I was a bit skeptical. Nicely built, but the RCAs looked like "cheap" old-school connectors - you know, the ones with little separations, like the stock cheapies that come with low-end components. They didn't provide a firm fit to my table, amp, or pre, but a quick squeeze with a pair of needle-nose provided a quick and easy solution (ah, the benefit of those little gaps!).

My initial sonic impression was that they sounded pretty much like typical, unbroken-in silver cables: bleached, tilted way up, bright and a bit edgey. I wasn't concerned - just ran tuner signal through them for a few days. After about 50 hours, they still sounded a bit tilted up, and I wrote Ernest. He assured me that they need AT LEAST 100 hours breakin - something you definitely want to attend to - you should make NO judgments about these cables until they're fully broken in.

After the requisite 100 hours, things changed dramatically. All of the previous deficiencies dissipated, and the sound that emerged was one of sweetness, openness, and incredible transparency. Bass impact was incredible, midrange sounded natural, and high frequencies were hugely extended and pure. VERY evenly balanced across the full range, and natural sounding. Great resolution of inner detail. The more I used them, the more natural they came to sound, and the more I came to enjoy them - as a reliable, accurate, sweet, uncolored, reference.

After two months of regular usage, I decided to do a "cable shootout" against my previous reference cable - the Nirvana SL. Now THIS is where things get interesting. It's really an unfair comparison - an $800/meter cable by a major company against a $200/meter cable from a one-man outfit. But I kept thinking, "the Elfs can't be ALL that," and I knew from previous experience that Nirvanas had been one of my two favorite cables.

So this afternoon I spent 2 hours in a "shootout." All variables were held constant, including volume (obviously). Only two musical pieces were used: Classic Records phenomenal 45 RPM pressing of Brubeck's Take Five - specifically, the songs "Everybody's Jumping" and "Pick Up Sticks" - and Side A of the new Radiohead LP.

Started with the Elf - as it's been in my system for the last 2 months. Got my "baseline," then switched to Nirvana. BIG reduction in noise. In fact, I thought for a moment that I had hit the "mute" button on my pre. They don't call it the "quiet cable" for nothing. Blacker backgrounds than the Elf, and the other biggest difference was more complexity in timbre - cymbals, for example, were simply more complex and layered sounding. Switched back to the Elfs - HUGE increase in bass impact, openness, and transparency. High frequencies sang, and dynamic contrasts exploded.

I spent the next two hours back-and-forthing. Interesting contrasts. For example, on Track 1 of Radiohead, toward the end of the song (don't know the name of the track....yet), this electronic "scratching" comes in. Through the Nirvanas it was smooth and interesting. Through the Elfs, it was abrasive and dramatic - as intended. The more I listened to both, back and forth, the more I came to realize that (1) the Nirvanas provide a more refined, contained, and "sophisticated" sound, but also sound more muted and restrained, and (2) the Elfs sound more transparent, open, and dynamically explosive. Which is "right" or "better"? Well, it depends on your tastes. For me, I concluded - based largely on prior bias, that I would stay with the Nirvanas....and that decision lasted all of about 5 minutes. At the end of that time, listening to Radiohead, I couldn't help but feel that I was missing the "life" and "energy" of the recording. Switching back to the Elfs brought it all back. The ENORMOUS dynamic contrasts in the tracks, the riveting musicality.

So, it's been an interesting comparison. My overall conclusion is NOT that the Elfs are "better" than the Nirvanas. But... I'm keeping the Elfs and selling the Nirvanas. The Elfs are so sweetly musical, natural-sounding, open, transparent, and dynamically explosive, I simply can't tolerate a cable that sounds more "constrained."


Product Weakness: none that I've yet experienced - another winner from Ernest Farley!!
Product Strengths: customer service, build quality, thunderous bass, transparency, natural tone, sweet highs, openness, HUGE bang/buck


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Parasound HCA-1000A modified by BPT
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): GNSC Reference ARC SP14
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Music Hall MMF-7/Grado Sonata
Speakers: Snell Model D
Cables/Interconnects: Elf Audio Phono 1 Silver
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, Rock,
Room Size (LxWxH): 22 x 11 x 9
Room Comments/Treatments: RPG Diffusors
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 Months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Monster HTS5000
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: ELF Custom Cables,Inc Phono 1 Pure Silver Cable - the analog kid 13:58:40 06/24/08 ( 1)