Just built my first pair of interconnects and they are working great. The RCA plugs are gold plated OFC and the wire cryogenically treated OFC 25.5 AWG magnet wire.
Dipped in snake oil by the light of a full moon and prayed over by the devout Brotherhood of McKensie, I now hear things that were never there.:lmao:
No seroiusly for the fire bottle guys these are very nice interconnects that are a great mix of new and old technology and while simple are not easy to make.
I do have them color coded so that I will always have them plugged in the same way.
And I did hear something for the 1st time today on a recording I have listened to over 100 times. At first I thought it was not on the recording but a cat farting around under the speaker, but it was a hard wack of a brush on a cymbal that was then grabbed and I had just never noticed it before.
I am now going to start making cheaper versions of these with the better made RCA plugs on the interconnects I have been using and some magnet wire from Rat Shack or the old celonese covered WE wire I have.

Hey Thatch

Could you post a picture of two??


"cryogenically treated OFC 25.5 AWG magnet wire."

What is that??? The magnet wire I understand. Cold soaked??

Rob2:)

And I wanted a pair to try! Alot of guys have used similiar materials with positive results. I've only made some 24awg solid silver "speaker cables" myself - with very good results. I just can't decide on plugs or geometry for the interconnects.

MikE

Well when I get a camera I can take a descent photo with I have a lot of stuff I would like to post, but as for the interconnects you can't see the wire because of a mesh tube covering but it looks just like regular clear coated magnet wire. 4 strands in a litz. Mike you have listened to these, the Chimera Labs.
As for the cryo treatment I would have to build a pair exactly the same using wire that was not treated to be able to tell the difference.
The interconnects I had in there were a single OFC strand inside teflon (pos) with a copper sheild mesh (neg) inside clear plastic like Zip has.
I plan on using some RS magnet wire and some plugs off some AR ICs to hook up the turn table. Wlii see how that turns out.
Mike, I would look for some silver RCA plugs and a copper free solder for your silver wires.

""cryogenically treated OFC 25.5 AWG magnet wire."

Silly me I didn't even know wire was made in fractional gauges.

I could store my cables, when not in use, into the home freezer but I probably would hear a lot of sh*t from the wife.

:D

Lefty

AR Post dated 03-02-2002:

"First off, My XLO Signature's were - at worst - equaled by every cable I put them up against last year, and in many cases trounced. They (AA audiophiles) were right, "ditch the XLO's". I'm happy someone finally bought them (for more than the retail cost of the WINNER of my Interconnect trials last year!). While I acknowledged the sonic beauty of the pictures some of the more costly cables afforded My system, I respected the cables that provided more than a glimpse of that at a much lower cost: cost-effectiveness of performance. So the only cables "purchased" from the trials were a used 1/2 metre pair of my buddies HGA SuperSilver's. He tossed them in when he bought my old GTA se-40 amp. Seeing I had borrowed them for about 2 1/2 months I was happy he didn't charge me rent!

The actual winner of My cable trials were the Dennis Boyle Advantage I interconnects, that my buddie purchased after listening to them IMS. I never bought them, instead I just recruited the Silverline Audio cables from my stable of interconnects to replace the Magnan Type Vi's that I had sold (also for more than the retail cost of the Advantage I's). The reason I didn't order the Advantage I's (actually I'll order the II's which use a OFC copper RCA rather than the brass RCA found on the I's) was due to the fact I was considering a change in amplification - VAC 35/35>Moth s45 - which I eventually decided on this past November. This was a MAJOR shift IMS, what with the change from a push-pull-triode to a directly-heated-triode / SET topology, and the possible move from dynamic to a horn-loaded speaker. So why buy new cables, when in a few months I'll have to re-consider them again? Maybe the Advantage cables will come out the winners again... yet echoing the sentiments of my initial post... that's way down the road."

MikE

The ones being offered now use OFC Vampire RCAs and the solder is silver free.
I plan on buying some of this wire to replace the silver in my amp. Anyone interested in pure silver wire for building let me know. I figure one conductor for the system should be better than 2 so that everything runs on an even keel.
I have no idea if it is true, but everytime I dig into the amp I plan on replacing more of the silver as a matter of course.
By the way after heavy use for 4 days the sound has picked up across the board. Not bragging, just stating. I have been listening to some cuts as test material and I can say the interconnects have made the same difference as finding the best suited driver tubes did. Only the change has been gradual and so harder to point out.
The first real noticable thing was the clarity and crispness of the highs. Tonight I played something I hadn't listened to in a while and it seemed as though the bass was quicker. I definatly can say I enjoyed the recording more than the last time I listened to it.

Cable talk has krept into the santums of AK! Alert the media (just don't tell Thor and "the boys"). Seriously, I'm not given to doing cable comparisons these days but from my experience in the past know benefits are possible. Sounds like your experiencing a "break-in" or "burn-in" situation with the new wire. I'm a believer also. I never listened to the Advantage II cable (with OFC RCAs) but the one I did audition IMS was remarkable, and in the most delicate fashion. There was something unmistakable about vocal presentation where there was this cushion of air (reminescent of Mullard tubes) that was more noticable with vocals but evident elsewhere. The decay heard in a voice or instrument was also more telling as a string plucked from a guitar did not just aburptly stop but faded much more slowing, naturally into the soundscape. This cable, in this respect literally breathed life (embellished or presented that falsehood in such a way it seemed real) into a plastic, numeric format.

To qualify this event (for those non-believers who may have stumbled onto this thread) this was not a dramatic or night-n-day difference. Rather it was discrete and in the context of comparing some 20 different interconnects over the course of three months. Yet for me it was the very nature of the change (subtle not large-gestured) that was part of the attracation. Let me say that the change was small but that small change was important or in this case not just a change but an improvement (in this one area) over the other cables sampled. Some of the other cables did other things better but overall I prefered Dennis' cable because it was the most sympathetic to my replay pursuits. End of "cable chat" we can now return to our regularally scheduled programming.

MikE

I use straightened out clothes hangers with RCA's duct taped to the ends for interconnex and kite string wrapped in tin foil for speaker wires, all worx great! :D

You know what's funny my buddie (how is cable crazy) had or has some interconnects that look just like coat hangers (don't recall the brand) - I mean EXACTLY like coat hangers with RCAs on them. They are a bitch to use and they sounded ok. I don't know the particulars about them, if I did I'm sure you'd get a good laugh!

MikE