Im a believer (siltechs vs bandridge)

jenson

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i wanted to share my view on siltech london rca vs regular bandridge rca cable.. the first truth, which was a revelation for me is - yes, cables do make a difference. i for one am a convert and a believer.

my setup

LG Blu ray player -> Cadence VA 1 -> Siltech MXT London Speaker Cable to -> Cadence Arista

*Siltechs are on a loaner to me by Cadence. in my observations, Speaker cable remains common, only the RCA changes. only the RCA's gets interchanged.

opinion on siltech london RCA Interconnect with WBT Locking connectors - bass is "clearly" prominent, lower freq's are definitely more pronounced...maybe coz mine is not a well behaved room with chair in center et all... however, image is firmly put in place. mids and highs are relaxed, laidback, at times it feels like the bass is over powering the same. maybe not forward sounding. however, i felt sound was a bit muddied by the bass and definitely added a flavor. which im confused with. for longer sessions i felt a strain due to excess bass.

bandridge - bass was lesser but smooth, with a punch, image wasnt as firmly put, but was good enough, mids and highs were "louder" than the siltech, overall, i was happy with the bandridges.

I would suspect my room playing foul play too in terms of bass management. maybe the siltechs was throwing in the actual bass which was too high for my room, since i dont have a pre in my setup (nor have a decent acoustic treatment) i couldnt adjust it. so it's very possible siltechs were passing more information than the bandridge.

eitherways, this post is more about whether it makes a difference or not, and it certainly does in spades. one doesnt even need to have audiophile level hearing sense for the same.

im yet to receive the mogmi's...i hope it works out well..
 
Great! I am a cable believer too, although I did not see results with swapping speaker cables, RCAs do matter.

All other things being equal, I would go for the cable with the most solid focus.

--G0bble
 
i switched from some non-descript 2 RCA male to stereo to Bandrige(not pro version which was almost double the price of a regular one) and i immediately found the diff and since that day and after relevant reading, all i believe is that lesser effective cables are not built for purpose probably and good cables are built for purpose and as the cost goes higher, more of the goal is visible in the material used. I think it just boils down to that than manufacturer doing some magic with the cable.

So at this rate, i think there definitely is a price point(hopefully with in double $ figure range!!), beyond which the ROI are very less thus making those ultra-expensive ones only a product of wild imagination and effort(No offense to anyone!). Its something like what you get from Fiio products and the comparitive diff you might find in alternatives which are much costlier. Fiio i believe will get you closer to the quality of its much expensive alternatives at least possible prices! (Again this is based on reading. I never owned a Fiio product.)
 
Hi Jenson

You need to upgrade from the LG blu ray player. If budget is tight, get the first generation Sony Playstation 1. You need to get SCPH 1001, 220v model. You have enough reviews on this model on the net
 
lesser effective cables are not built for purpose probably and good cables are built for purpose and as the cost goes higher, more of the goal is visible in the material used. I think it just boils down to that than manufacturer doing some magic with the cable.



there are so many perspectives to it, it's mind boggling. and to see it can make such a dramatic difference is not something to taken lightly.

i now feel, cables are the most difficult to choose from/between; majorly because we cannot go for A/B tests in a relaxed environment for the same.

secondly, as advised by bhagwan/shanti earlier, cost of the cable shouldnt be more than 10% of your setup cost. earlier, i felt it was to keep the price point in check, now i feel, what bhagwan really meant was (and im not quoting him here) - cables are meant to be delivery mechanisms, higher investment in cables is not directly proportional to better sound quality, what i now understand is - it's more about synergy (being in the same club) with the system at hand. a 100k system would (most) definitely be dealing with an "x" level of resolution and power, which would require an equally demanding delivery mechanism; which could be designed keeps such criteria's in mind...so it probably makes sense to look at cables costing 10% of the said..

just another learning curve in this forum...
 
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Hi Jenson

You need to upgrade from the LG blu ray player. If budget is tight, get the first generation Sony Playstation 1. You need to get SCPH 1001, 220v model. You have enough reviews on this model on the net

Thanks for your advice Prem; my blu ray player surely seems out of place. Bhagwan too advised me to go for a modest upgrade if possible, on the Cdp..about time.

btw, any version of PS is good enough?
 
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Thanks for the advise Prem, my blu ray player surely seems out of place. Bhagwan too advised me to go for a modest upgrade if possible, on the Cdp..about time.

btw, any version of PS is good enough?

If you get a PS1 it should be a great starting point.

A few years back many audiophiles were using the PlayStation 1 as a CD player. Even 6moons.com rated it better than $6000 CDP.

6moons audio reviews: Music Lovers Series "An Auditorium 23, Harbeth. Leben, Shindo and Sony System"

During all this audio fun, my pal Pete Riggle stopped by with an audio underground digital favorite, the Sony Playstation 1 (Model No. SCPH-1001). I had heard rumors of just how good this particular version of the PS1 is when used as a CD player and was curious to give it a listen. This kid's video game player really does have outstanding audio performance. I'm guessing you'd have to spend more than $6000 on a one-box CD player to equal let alone better it.
 
No Jenson, only the Playstation 1. You can get it for about $30-50.
 
Jenson, i think the 220v model no is SCPH 1002. The 1001 model is 110V. Its easily available on ebay.
 
In case you go for the Sony Playstation 1, you may want to look at Anticables. Those should sound pretty good with the PS1. The 6Moons reviewer liked the Auditorium 23 cables. The Anticables should give you 80% of that performance at a fraction of the Auditorium 23 price. Else build your own interconnects using Cardas or Vampire 30 gauge magnet wire.
 
man, this is like the best kept secret... ill look around!

Keep us posted if you get one and your thoughts on the SQ.

I've never used a PS1 but I do have a PS3 and its good for audio CDs but not great. I still prefer a PC with the Asus Xonar DAC or even better an external DAC like the MF M1DAC.
 
Cables do make a difference however one has to understand the cables aswell.

WBT connectors and Eichmann bullets make a bigger difference than the cable themselves in many regards.

If you compare copper to copper the difference isnt much

copper to silver yes

Copper is warmer
Silver is more resolution

in both regards a speaker need ought to be able to produce the definition where one can make out the difference.

I think a bigger difference is also noticed with hyperlitz config cables.

Single stranded multi config cables > Multistranded single config cables

I'm waiting to try out a new cable I recently purchased to see how it compares against what I know.

They're gold plated silver with Eichmann 300% conductivity bullets.
 
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Cables do make a difference however one has to understand the cables aswell.

WBT connectors and Eichmann bullets make a bigger difference than the cable themselves in many regards.

If you compare copper to copper the difference isnt much

copper to silver yes

Copper is warmer
Silver is more resolution

in both regards a speaker need ought to be able to produce the definition where one can make out the difference.

I think a bigger difference is also noticed with hyperlitz config cables.

Single stranded multi config cables > Multistranded single config cables

I'm waiting to try out a new cable I recently purchased to see how it compares against what I know.

They're gold plated silver with Eichmann 300% conductivity bullets.

most of it went as we used to say in school "bouncer"...but i think i get some of it...will read thru it. :)

and yes, i totally agree that WBT Locking Connectors are somepiece of work.

this A/b comparison has literally shook me up. the difference is quite literal. it would be insane to live with a wrong set of cables and right set of components!
 
Did you close your eyes sometimes at least to make your listening impression at least a partial blind test?;)
 
Did you close your eyes sometimes at least to make your listening impression at least a partial blind test?;)

lol :)

oh how i wish how could do a blind test. but there is no way you could mistake a massive WBT connector with the one in bandridge :) and if i had my sister help me out...well..dexters lab would've been an understatement :)


songs i used for demo were mostly from sade, bruce springsteen and floyd.
it's so "damn" apparent in the intro before breathe...the throbbing sound of heart beat is louder and boomy in siltech...in bandridge, it does sound like an heartbeat; as in the beat has a texture..

edit: i did share my thoughts with Amba at cadence - he nodded by saying "it's possible" (in response to noticeble bass bump)
 
Even I found significant difference when I compared single stranded cables vs multistrand cables. Single strand was giving better bass. I used thick copper cable (usually used for earthing) as single strand cable. On prolonged comparison, I found that single strand is better in bass but not so good in mids and overall resolution. So I shifted back to to multistrand. I tried Cat5E cable as well. It does give a different flavour but sometimes I like it sometimes I do not. I am still using single cable of 8 strands of Cat 5 for internal wires for my tweeters.I also tried different gauges (by using single strand, 2, 4, 8 and 16 thin strands of Cat5 cable). I did not find difference in sound signature but ,thicker was louder. I have not experimented with RCA interconnects.
 
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