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Original Message

REVIEW: DIY by Chris VenHaus DIY Silver Interconnects Cable

Posted by Mantaray on August 9, 2001 at 18:05:55:

Model: DIY Silver Interconnects
Category: Cable
Suggested Retail Price: materials cost about $80
Description: 32 ga. .9999 Silver Teflon insulated wire spiraled around Teflon core
Manufacturer URL: DIY by Chris VenHaus
Manufacturer URL: DIY by Chris VenHaus

Review by Mantaray on August 09, 2001 at 18:05:55
IP Address: 24.129.7.33
Add Your Review
for the DIY Silver Interconnects


I constructed my interconnects using un-insulated .008 gauge wire, white Teflon plumbers tape (I hate yellow) and the Dayton RCAs. I am extremely happy with the performance vs. both monster cable and rat shack gold ICs. (Of the last two, I found the RS superior)
The ICs improved the sound in high-end detail without adding brightness. They improved the lower midrange definition, which I believe facilitated the most noticeable improvement of all, which was in imaging. The instruments and vocals are now well defined and stay in place despite any change in the frequency of an individual component. The images are now staged at eye level as opposed to a much lower sound stage with my old ICs. Vocalists now are standing in front of you and there is a much better stage depth. The RS seemed to image well in the upper frequencies but would smear in the lower mid-range and below. I have also noticed an improvement in bass. The stand-up bass on my jazz discs sound much more natural and on the alternative and rock discs I have awesome attack with my subwoofer. So far I haven’t found any bad tendencies. I also didn’t have the excessive brightness other people seem to suffer until the cables break in. I believe this could be because I used bare wire and didn’t have the insulation on the wire to deal with. I am seeing an improved sound as the cable continue to mature but it seems to be more in the form of better definition and imaging. Using the un-insulated wire was very difficult to manage while wrapping the wire but I believe it was worth the effort in the results. They sounded great right out of the “box”.
The Dayton connectors seem to be of high quality for a reasonable price but you will need to drill a hole in them to loop the negative wire through to solder it. There are no provisions for a negative solder terminal.
With the un-insulated wire I drilled an angled hole in the Teflon tubing at each end, just above the plug, and ran the positive wire through it, and the center of the tubing, to prevent it from coming in contact with the body of the RCA plug. The Teflon tubing is very stiff so you need to wrestle with the length and routing some with the plain tubing before you decide on a length.
These ICs are not a no-brainer to construct but they are very high on the price-effort vs. results scale for me and come highly recommended from this party. Thanks Chris!!


Product Weakness: hard to route due to stiffness of 1/4" tefon tubing.
Product Strengths: Price to performance ratio


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: B&K AVR307
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Sony 9000ES
Speakers: B&W 804, Velodyne V-1012 sub
Cables/Interconnects: Chris VH 9 pair cat 5 speaker cbl
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, Alternative, Rock, Classical
Room Size (LxWxH): 30 x 20 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments: none
Time Period/Length of Audition: three weeks
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): none
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition): N/A