lordsummit
moderate mod
Silver Cables from Zanash
About 2 months ago I started looking to sort the cables out on my system. I'm part way there now, still got speaker cable to go, but so far I'm happy. Considered lots of stuff, mostly bargain basement, I was thinking up to about £120 a component, and doing it over a period of time. Then I saw a couple of things on ebay that looked very interesting. I was ready to order a few things and suck them as it were, when a certain gentleman of the forum offered to make a few things for me to try out.
I've currently got two different breeds of his cable in the system, and he won't be getting them back that's for sure.
So what are they?
The first one I tried is in Zanashes own words:
How does it sound? In a nutshell terrific. Compared to the £30 monster cables I was using the clarity and depth was extra-ordinary. I connected them to the Sansui TU-717 and listened to an entire morning of R3. The transformation was unbelievable. The Sansui always sounds good, but today it just sounded so right. Even Mrs Summit, an audio cloth ears commented that one piano piece sounded unbelievably lifelike. The best thing for me about this cable is it just does the job without drawing attention to itself. It sounds so right you don't think about it. I tried for ages to find fault, and really struggled. I had soundstage I had clarity, and I had detail. For what it costs it is unbelievable
He then sent me another one of these and a new cable he's developed. Zanash describes it like this:
At first I hated this cable, I didn't have the heart to say though, so I put up with it for a while, and again connected it to the Sansui. I ran it like this for a couple of weeks, on and off. Then calamity, my amp went pop. The cable trial was postponed whilst my amp went to be re-valved and fettled (Thanks Audiolabs of Leeds) and in the meantime I picked up one of Les W's modded Arcams.
I plugged it all together and did a bit of playing, and the new cable this time sounded much, much better. Compared to the first cable it isn't night and day, but there is definitely something in it. There might be just a bit more detail, a sense of greater separation between instruments, and the bass is even more present and correct. You won't be getting this one back either unless you beg for it Zanash!
Zanash asked me to make this warts and all, well I'm sorry but I couldn't find any warts to really comment on. I used to use some Van Damme wire connected with Eichmanns, but they had nothing on these wires. The monster cables I picked up for a pittance off ebay were totally outclassed, as was the rather fancy looking wire that came with my TT. From the box they are spitty, and not kind to your tweeters. I hadn't realised that the first one had been burnt in but the second two hadn't. Give them a bit of time, and they open out unbelievably.
So I've now got two different runs going. Two of the first type on the TT, and the second type on the CD. I like them both and would find it incredibly hard to choose between them. In absolute terms I think the second one is better, but only just. I've got one more component to kit out, and for the tuner I'll probably pick the second type.
So thanks Zanash, they're great. They've improved my system, and have made it better to listen to. I honestly can't see how in a relatively modest system like mine they could be bettered.
About 2 months ago I started looking to sort the cables out on my system. I'm part way there now, still got speaker cable to go, but so far I'm happy. Considered lots of stuff, mostly bargain basement, I was thinking up to about £120 a component, and doing it over a period of time. Then I saw a couple of things on ebay that looked very interesting. I was ready to order a few things and suck them as it were, when a certain gentleman of the forum offered to make a few things for me to try out.
I've currently got two different breeds of his cable in the system, and he won't be getting them back that's for sure.
So what are they?
The first one I tried is in Zanashes own words:
How does it sound? In a nutshell terrific. Compared to the £30 monster cables I was using the clarity and depth was extra-ordinary. I connected them to the Sansui TU-717 and listened to an entire morning of R3. The transformation was unbelievable. The Sansui always sounds good, but today it just sounded so right. Even Mrs Summit, an audio cloth ears commented that one piano piece sounded unbelievably lifelike. The best thing for me about this cable is it just does the job without drawing attention to itself. It sounds so right you don't think about it. I tried for ages to find fault, and really struggled. I had soundstage I had clarity, and I had detail. For what it costs it is unbelievable
He then sent me another one of these and a new cable he's developed. Zanash describes it like this:
At first I hated this cable, I didn't have the heart to say though, so I put up with it for a while, and again connected it to the Sansui. I ran it like this for a couple of weeks, on and off. Then calamity, my amp went pop. The cable trial was postponed whilst my amp went to be re-valved and fettled (Thanks Audiolabs of Leeds) and in the meantime I picked up one of Les W's modded Arcams.
I plugged it all together and did a bit of playing, and the new cable this time sounded much, much better. Compared to the first cable it isn't night and day, but there is definitely something in it. There might be just a bit more detail, a sense of greater separation between instruments, and the bass is even more present and correct. You won't be getting this one back either unless you beg for it Zanash!
Zanash asked me to make this warts and all, well I'm sorry but I couldn't find any warts to really comment on. I used to use some Van Damme wire connected with Eichmanns, but they had nothing on these wires. The monster cables I picked up for a pittance off ebay were totally outclassed, as was the rather fancy looking wire that came with my TT. From the box they are spitty, and not kind to your tweeters. I hadn't realised that the first one had been burnt in but the second two hadn't. Give them a bit of time, and they open out unbelievably.
So I've now got two different runs going. Two of the first type on the TT, and the second type on the CD. I like them both and would find it incredibly hard to choose between them. In absolute terms I think the second one is better, but only just. I've got one more component to kit out, and for the tuner I'll probably pick the second type.
So thanks Zanash, they're great. They've improved my system, and have made it better to listen to. I honestly can't see how in a relatively modest system like mine they could be bettered.
