Displaying items by tag: silver - StereoLife Magazine

Meze Audio has never treated cables as an afterthought, offering several upgrade options for its headphones alongside the standard cords supplied in the box. The latest addition takes that idea considerably further. Ultra Cable is the company's new flagship headphone cable, built around extremely pure silver conductors, an elaborate hand-braided geometry and metal hardware designed with almost as much attention as the headphones themselves. It is also priced accordingly, positioning itself as an accessory primarily for owners of Meze's most ambitious models rather than a casual replacement for a worn-out cable.

Cable ranges are rarely about sudden revolutions. In high-end audio, they usually evolve through materials, geometry, shielding, insulation and connector design - the kinds of changes that are not always visible from the outside, but can matter when the whole purpose of the product is to carry a signal with as little interference as possible. Siltech's new Classic Legend MKII series follows exactly that logic. It continues one of the Dutch company's most important cable families, but introduces a deeper internal redesign intended to make the range quieter, more stable and more complete.

Acoustic Zen is an American company that has never belonged to the group of the most recognized cable manufacturers such as Cardas, Audioquest, Nordost and Tara Labs, but its products are well-perceived by audiophiles because of the sonic qualities and conductors used inside them. The brand was founded by Robert Lee, who previously created Harmonic Technology cables. It's no wonder that the products of both brands combine more than just the name of the founder. There's a similar philosophy and materials, with special regard to the metal of which the conductors are made. Americans were among the first who began to use mono-crystal alloys. Methods of obtaining wires with long crystals are different, but the idea is quite simple - the less microscopic barriers in the conductor, the clearer and less distorted signal.

Have you noticed that founders of companies producing audiophile equipment are often educated in a completely different direction? Some are electrical engineers or professional sound engineers, but a racing driver brought Naim devices to life, a sociologist founded Enerr company, and a clarinetist is responsible for Musical Fidelity brand. Theoretically anyone can set up a factory of audiophile cables. The only question is whether it will function properly. Buying plugs and wires from external suppliers, linking them together and decorating with your own emblems is something completely different than actual production of cables from scratch. That is how the Albedo works - a company founded by Grzegorz Gierszewski, who was trained as a goldsmith. Of course his cables aren't made from silver rings, but silver is a conductor material used in all models.