Silnote Morpheus Reference II IC's

[blackraven]

Well I received my Silnote IC's today and I am listening to them now. They do sound different then my BJC's. It is hard to put my finger on it except that they have tamed some of the sibilence in my system which is a good thing. They may sound a little warmer too. I am not sure if the bass is a little looser or it if it my imagination. These are supposed to be used cables from a recent audio show direct from Silnote. They supposedly list for $795 but I doubt that people buy them for that price. I paid $199pr. I will post more impressions later after extensive listening.

[Mr Peabody]

I don't want to be Mr Obvious, but did you check to see if the cables were directional?

[Jack in Wilmington]

Well I might be "Mr I Missed That" but where in your system did you install these cables, between the Pass and the VA? Nice pickup, by the way. $800 cables for $200 is a good deal. I'll be looking for a good deal like that myself.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Well I saw the cables you bought on Audiogon and I didn't want to be a "copy cat", so I bought a pair of Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II XLRs. These are $675 retail, but like you said BR, who would pay that. The seller was asking $235 and I offered $200 and he accepted.

[blackraven]

Nice pick up Jack. My limit is $200 for cables. The Silnotes are directional. I think that they sound better than the BJC's but I only have about 1 hour of listening. I am running them between the preamp and amp, I may swap them and put them between the DAC and preamp. That is probably where they will eventually end up as I am currently looking at a Pass X1 preamp to buy and I will need XLR's.

[Jack in Wilmington]

That's where my AZ cable will go, between my DAC and my integrated amp, which will become my pre when I get my new amp.

[blackraven]

After a few more hours of listening the verdict on the Silnotes is that they are a keeper. They have a darker or slightly warmer sound if you will compared to the BJC's. They seem to have a slightly wider sound stage, smoother treble and the overall tone is just more pleasing. I can't say the the change is dramatic and by no means are the cables worth more than $200 but they do sound better. Even my budding audiophile son who has an excellent ear was able to hear the difference. I guess that is about all I can ask of a cable. I would like to get a pair of Cardas Microtwin 300b's for comparison.

My next purchase will be a pair of XLR's if I buy the X1 preamp. Any suggestions for cables under $200pr.?

[Mr Peabody]

If the improvement wasn't that large over the BJC it doesn't say much for Silnote considering their retail price. When I upgrade cables in some instances the difference is like moving up a model in one of my components.

There's different schools of thought, or practice, but I personally would not mix brands of interconnects. I really don't know of any XLR's under $200.00. XLR's are typically a bit more expensive, sometimes the ends can cost that much. There are some who say the connectors are a large part of the entire cable's performance.

Just curious what makes you not want to try the Anticable?

[blackraven]

Mr P. every thing I have read about anti cables is that they can be bright sounding in some systems. The Silnotes are an improvement over the BJC's just not night and day. I can't put my finger on it but they just sound better than the BJC's. And it is more noticeable on certain music. LeRoy sent me some high end Synergistic Research cables to try in my system and they were a marginal improvement over the BJC's which proves to me that cables are very system dependent. The BJC's certainly out performed cables from Tara Labs (too bright), Audio Quest Corals and Rubies, Virtue Audio which sounded like Dreck (muddy, no detail or treble), and Monster M1000i's which believe it or not sound very good. I picked up all these cables on Audiogon for very little. And all of them retailed for much more than the BJC's.

[Mr Peabody]

I wouldn't say the Anticables are bright but they certainly do not mask or color like many cables do, they are true to their name, very pristine. I've had good luck with them on AVA, CJ and my Pass. However, I did take a set of IC's over to Frenchmon's and in his system with the mix of other cables the Anticables came up a bit thin although providing good textural detail. The Anticables are directional though and I'm not so sure they were in correctly, one of the other cables indicated their cables go the other direction opposite the AC's which may have also had some effect. Certainly not the cable to use if you are trying to use cables for tone control but ideal for honesty in your system.

[blackraven]

There are a few XLR's for sale on Audiogon for under $200- Kimber Kale Hero's, Acoustic Zen Wow's, and a pair of Silnote's like the IC's I just bought but in XLR. I like the darker sound of the Silnotes so I think that I will go with them if still available.

[Jack in Wilmington]

My Acoustic Zen cables arrived today and I installed them between my BDA-1 and my Anthem 225. I was very surprised with the results so far. I played Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony and noticed a immediate improvement in the detail of the horn section and the impact of the kettle drums. Now I don't know if this is attributable to the XLR connection or to the Acoustic Zen cable. I'll have to keep my eye out for another to hook my amp to the pre when I get there.

953095319532

[blackraven]

So last night I was listening to my system for about 2 hours and I was trying to put my finger on what was different about the cables and then I realized that the background was blacker and the sound is more liquid with the Silnotes. There is no hint of any harshness in the upper frequencies.

[Jack in Wilmington]

With the pending purchase of my new preamp, I started looking at a second set of XLR cables to connect the Pass Labs to the Cary preamp. I found another pair of Acoustic Zen XLR cables on Audio Asylum and the seller is only about 10 miles away. He was coming down my way today and said he would drop them off. Can't beat that. Front door delivery free of charge.

[frenchmon]

Yeah Jack...you cant beat that! I've order a 8 ft pair of Triode WiRE Labs Speaker cable and cant wait till they get here......no door service like your tho Jack.

[JohnMichael]

Sounds like everyone is finding some good deals on cables. Congrats all. As many of you know I am a solid core fan and a fan of Audioquest. Music Direct has some good deals on Diamondback XLR's at $99 and King Cobra XLR's at $149 a pair.

I appreciate what is being said about the cables sound different but it takes some time to determine what the differences are. I can hear a difference in cables but it sometimes takes me weeks or more to hear if they are truly better or just different.

Case in point was my enthusiasm with AntiCables. I did not find them bright but I began to hear something I could not enjoy. I hear a reduction of instrumental textures. I also hear a glassiness to the sound and almost a fragile aspect. If the violins were made from glass that could break easily. Sounds strange but that is the coloration that damped my enthusiasm.

Glad to read a good cable discussion.

[JohnMichael]

I also like my Transparent cables that MR. P suggested to me several times. They are not as open in the upper frequencies as the AQ but very enjoyable cables used in the bedroom system. Of course their least expensive XLR cable was $495 and since I just bought the Sony XA5400ES I did not have the money for those. I was itching to go balanced so the AQ were a great bargain. I would like to try some mid range Transparent cables one day.

[frenchmon]

JM.....I've seen the deals over at MD on the deals on Audioquest. I've had limited exposure to AQ cable but remember them being a more warmer cable. Is that so?

I've also heard the Anti Cable in Peabody's system and what I got from them, and I've shared what I thoght with Peabody, I did not hear the fine detail from the Anti cable.

[blackraven]

I just sold my Grant Fidelity tube buffer today, so I ordered a pair of the Cardas Parsec XLR cables. Hopefully these old ears will be able to hear a difference between these and the borrowed Blue Jeans XLR's that I have been using.

Parsec Interconnect (http://www.cardas.com/parsec_ic.php)

They list for $368pr for 1 meter XLR's. I paid a lot less.

[JohnMichael]

JM.....I've seen the deals over at MD on the deals on Audioquest. I've had limited exposure to AQ cable but remember them being a more warmer cable. Is that so?

I've also heard the Anti Cable in Peabody's system and what I got from them, and I've shared what I thoght with Peabody, I did not hear the fine detail from the Anti cable.


The Transparent cables are much warmer than the AQ cables. My ears think of them as neutral yet detailed.

[Mr Peabody]

Jack are you using both Acoustic Zen XLR's currently? If so, did you notice any difference in sound with both in?

BR, I'll be interested to see how you like the Cardas.

Keep in mind JM, Transparent has a trade up policy so any time you want to move up they will give a nice price for your current cables. I haven't tried the current Transparent but I get the impression from others comments they must have gone warmer.

I'm currently trying some Clarus Crimson which to my ears are a huge step up from the AC but even with a discount they are serious coin. I get a more realistic image due to more detail coming through in micro/macro dynamics, more energy in the frequency extremes and more like being at the performance with more overall dynamics.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Jack are you using both Acoustic Zen XLR's currently? If so, did you notice any difference in sound with both in?

BR, I'll be interested to see how you like the Cardas.

Keep in mind JM, Transparent has a trade up policy so any time you want to move up they will give a nice price for your current cables. I haven't tried the current Transparent but I get the impression from others comments they must have gone warmer.

I'm currently trying some Clarus Crimson which to my ears are a huge step up from the AC but even with a discount they are serious coin. I get a more realistic image due to more detail coming through in micro/macro dynamics, more energy in the frequency extremes and more like being at the performance with more overall dynamics.

I am using both AZ XLR's in my system now. It might not be fair to judge the cables as I introduced the second set of cables at the same time I added the Cary preamp. I'm looking at an Acoustic Zen AES/EBU cable to run from the USB converter (that I'm contemplating purchasing) to my DAC, for listening to HiRez recordings.