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In Reply to: RE: silver treatment posted by stator_99@yahoo.com on January 15, 2008 at 13:55:37
I have been using contact enhancers for about 5 or so years. Used in every application possibly emaginable (except tube pins) within an A/V system. I have used Silclear, Walker Audio SST (cryoed) and Quick Silver Gold. I have on countless occasions while experimenting with fuses, cabling inside components and system cabling, removed the contact enhancer then evaluate. Then re-applied the contact enhancer, let the system settle-in/break-in and evaluate again. So here is my take on contact enhancers in my system and a few other systems that I assisted with the application of the contact enhancers...
By far the best is Quick Silver Gold. Quick Silver Gold is so much better in my experience that I would never again recommend any of the others I have tried. To my ears, Quick Silver Gold does improve the sound of connectors from Oyaide and Furutech (I have both Oyaide and Furutech connectors in my system). I cannot remember for sure, but I do not think Quick silver Gold actually has any gold in it. If you want to know for sure about the contents, contact the manufacturer. I have spoken to the owner and designer at length before purchasing the Quick Silver Gold, really nice guy. By the way, my entire system is treated with Quick Silver Gold. Took me two entire days to remove the Walker SST and apply the Quick Silver Gold. I did try the Quick Silver Gold in a few places in my system before taking the plunge and treating my entire system.
I have never experienced a short using contact enhancers. As previous posters have mentioned, how much and how the contact enhancers are applied is the key. Follow the directions of the manufacturer. I cannot remember with Silclear, but Walker Audio SST when dried will get hard and could flake. Quick Silver Gold does not flake.
There is a break-in period for contact enhancers. For Silclear and Walker SST it takes a few days of system use. For Quick Silver Gold the break-in is much longer. Quick Silver Gold takes at least 3 weeks for the system to settle and the break-in continues. If you critically evaluate sooner you will probably be dissapointed.
I cannot remember now regarding the Silclear, the Walker SST will add a bit of top end extension like most silver cabling and the system seems a bit cleaner. Quick Silver Gold is completely different. The easiest way for me to verbalize what Quick Silver Gold does is that it adds delicacy to the mid range and higher frequencies, truer timbre (to all sounds) and increases micro and macro detail.
In my opinion, for anyone with a mid-fi to Ultra-fi system, Quick Silver Gold is a must try. My 2 cents on the topic. Oh yah the disclaimer, YMMV and I don't sell Quick Silver Gold or any other contact enhancer and am not affiliated in any way with a contact enhancer manufacturer.
Chris
Follow Ups:
Agree with cdc on the break-in time. Makes A/Bs a real PITA, though. You can get an over-all flavor, I suspect, if you go back and forth (another real PITA, too!) so it's worth trying anyway. But as with all things audio, break-in time must be considered when evaluating. Thanks to cdc for reminding everyone of that!
Interesting findings on the QS Gold, cdc. Heard good things about their stuff, but never tried it. Hell, anyone else interested should probably try them all, too, and see which ones they like in their own system, and report back. As always, YMMV!
PITA is a nice way of putting it if treating an entire A/V system. Especially if going inside gear! I just re-read your post. I am trying to remember my experience with Silclear. The only thing I remember is that I liked the Walker SST better at the time. If you like the Silclear, you will be thrilled with the Quick Silver Gold. In my system, Quick Silver Gold puts the Walker SST to shame. Quick Silver Gold is much more expensive then Silclear, but dude it is worth every cent. Especially if you have a nice system. Peace out...
Chris
cdc-
Checked out your system. SWEET! Looks like a HT delight. Way cool! Hope you enjoy the hell out of it often!
DEFINITELY will look into the QS Gold. (I suspect that there isn't any gold in it, either.) If I recall, the guy who makes it used to be a partner with RAM, but I could be wrong there. A re-do of the whole system's contacts is quite daunting, but may be worth an afternoon to invest if it yields the results you suggest it might. The Silclear's been just fine for me, as I use it mostly to prevent oxidation and not because it had an overwhelming positive effect sonically. But I use such friggin' small amounts of the stuff, maybe that's why I don't hear a huge difference. The difference I hear is just a little more openess, airiness and detail, but without any glare (thankfully!) I'll have to try this QS Gold sometime. If I do, I'll certainly let you know!
Thanks for the great post, BTW. I LOVE IT when folks share their audio experiences. It's so nice! What a great community we have here. And thanks again for your contributions. I know they got me thinking!
You are welcome. I should update my system specs on AA. My system is more complex now. Tweaking my system has been my main hobby this year. Every chance I get, tweaking the system is all I do and enjoy/listen to the system.
You are right, you don't use much of the contact enhancer. But then again, it depends on how complex your system is. I also get inside the components and treat fuses, IEC connections (many of my IECs are Furutech with screw down terminals), signal and power jumpers, inside of power cord connections, all power socket blades, video connections, basically any mechanical metal to metal connection. Since you do not use a lot, you may want to see if you can get 2-3 friends to go in with you.
One other thing I found to be very effective. Alan Maher taught me this trick about a year ago... Lightly polish the mechanical connection with polishing steel wool and Caig ProGold 100% solution or Caig ProGold G5. Buff with a cotton pad. At this point, the connector will be really shiny (like it was polished...lol) Then remove any traces of the ProGold with rubbing alcohol and then apply the Quicksilver Gold. You will hear a difference. The polishing before use or before Quicksilver Gold application seems to lower the noise floor. The polishing of the connection and then use of the Quicksilver Gold is a very nice and inexpensive upgrade to a system.
Chris
cdc-
Been polishing for years with that Flitz blue goop and a dremel mounted with a bristle brush, followed by a good rubbing with the Flitz rag. A gazillion RPMs for a few minutes with the dremel and Wow! Also, no scratching or scoring! And talk about shiny! So I couldn't agree more with you and Alan on how to prepare connectors (and now you know why it takes me a full afternoon to re-do my connectors!) And yes, I clean and treat all those areas you mentioned, at least to the extent they exist in my system. (Again, that's why it takes 5 hours!) You can't skimp on the cleaning, or why do it?
As for the Caig ProGold, I'm glad Alan has you strip that stuff off before going any further. I cannot understand why people like to leave that stuff on, as it just destroys the sound quality in my system. (It IS good for stripping gunk off, though.) In fact, a friend in the industry who is good friends with an engineer over at Hoffman's remixing/recording facility here in LA, said he told the engineer (who shall remain nameless) what I thought about ProGold, and the engineer agreed completely that ProGold rolls off the high frequencies, diffuses the mid-range and fattens up the bass. (Gee, no wonder it's so popular!) In his words, it simply gets between connection surfaces and adds a euphonic (?) distortion that many audiophiles find beneficial to their systems. (Unfortunately for me, not so beneficial in my system, that is!)
The use of these products from Caig to strip stuff away is just fine, but to leave it on is a mistake, IMHO. Another example: when I got my new tubes from ARC for my highly modified CL 150's, I couldn't believe how shitty they sounded. Rolled-off highs and inner detailing, diffuse mids and a bloated, tubby bass. So I called ARC and found out that they treat ALL their tube's pins with ProGold before sending them out. Great! So there I was, cleaning each friggin' tube pin (and that's a LOT of tube pins!) into the wee hours of the night. You can bet I was enjoying EVERY minute of it (Like Maxwell Smart always said, "... AND LOVING IT!") Oh well, one man's drink ..........
Will definitely check out that QS Gold stuff soon. Thanks again.
BTW, it sure sounds like you LOVE tweaking! GREAT! Have you been to tweakaudio.com (i.e., Ric Schultz' website for EVS)? If you love tweaking, you'll love Ric, I can guarantee it! Check him out, he's super reasonable in pricing and very, very tweaky. Lots to learn at that site, no doubt. Free tweaks that work are always nice. And his tweaks WORK! You'll be stoked, I promise.
Best wishes,
Winston
I will checkout tweakaudio.com. Thanks for the heads up!
Best Regards,
Chris
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