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In Reply to: RE: DIY Wireworld Equinox 6 terminated with KLE Innovations Silver Harmony rca connectors. posted by Duster on June 01, 2014 at 15:03:43
Is that Keith Eichmann's new company? They look like an improvement over the Bullet Plug, which I really liked for DIY work.
Regards,
Geoff
Follow Ups:
Hi Metralla, yes, Keith Louis Eichmann Innovations (KLEI) is Keith Eichmann's new company.
Hi Duster, what it easy to solder all those wires to the Silver Harmony plugs pins?
It was not difficult to solder the wires, the difficulty was stripping them properly, but as I said, it was more demanding than problematic.
I followed the same advice given for the Eichmann Bullet Plug, so the task of soldering the KLE Harmony Plug was quite easy:
"Place the Harmony®Plug on a secure but unconnected RCA Socket, where the RCA Socket becomes a holder and heat sink. This will free up both hands and allow more precise soldering."
An rca jack of a junked stereo component or old VCR collecting dust in the garage can make a great "helping hands" device.
See link:
Following your lead Duster I lucked out with buying a set of KLE Innovations Silver Harmony RCA Plugs on the last day of their sell at Parts Connexion.com. The Wireworld Equinox 6 interconnect wire from your link at eBay. And the miracle wire stripper in the image stripped those itty bitty wires with ease and grace.
I built the ic’s in about 2.5 hrs. Yes I’m show and methodical. Soldering was a piece a cake. They’ve been breaking in since Sun. afternoon; four more days to go. So far the sound is clean, clear, revealing and transparent. I’m really pleased with what I’m hearing.Duster, thanks for contributing the recipe for these ic’s.
Automatic Wire Stripper with Cutter
Parts Express Part # 360-627
Edits: 06/04/14
Image: DIY VH Audio Pulsar Cu II OCC Copper interconnect cable (24 AWG UniCrystal .999997+ purity solid core OCC single crystal copper with AirLok dielectric featuring an ultra-low 1.45 dielectric constant, double shielded with foil shield and silver-plated copper braided shield), terminated with KLE Innovations Silver Harmony RCA Plugs (redesigned Eichmann Bullet Plug with pure silver ground contact, silver plated copper hollow center pin, dual set-screw strain relief).
Hi pixelphoto,
Glad to know how well the wire stripper worked for the project, and how pleased you are with the results. I'm looking forward to your final judgment of the DIY Wireworld Equinox 6 terminated with KLE Innovations Silver Harmony rca connectors project.
Catching the sale price before it ended was a good thing. If others can't afford the list price of the Silver Harmony, I reckon if one selected the lower-cost level Copper Harmony (silver plated copper for both pins), they would not be disappointed. That said, the list price of the Silver Harmony is not as high as a number of other high-end rca connectors in the marketplace, including the top-of-the-line Pure Harmony (pure silver for both pins).
A few days ago, I terminated the newly released VH Audio Pulsar Cu II OCC Copper bulk length interconnect cable with the KLE Innovations Silver Harmony rca connector, and while proper burn-in time is required to fully evaluate that DIY cable build, the Silver Harmony connector also sounds excellent, as one might expect with the more expensive cable ($79.99 per meter). I opted to terminate the new Pulsar Cu II with the new Silver Harmony connector rather than my other favorite connector, the Xhadow Precision RCA. I think that decision says a lot about my appreciation of the KLE Innovations Silver Harmony rca connector.
Cheers, Duster
Hi Duster, what did you like about the Xhadow Precision RCA...
Image: Xhadow Precision RCA (small version), Xhadow Precision RCA (large version)
What *do* I like about the Xhadow Precision RCA, rather than what *did* I like. The sonic signature is vivid and helps toss-up a large soundstage, with excellent performance at the frequency extremes. Front-to-back presence is natural sounding, not too front row (nor too laid back/middle row). Images are presented with great body without loss of subtle detail. There are particular design aspects that deserve more than casual mention.
Here's the introductory text taken from the original Xhadow website post (original Xhadow website no longer online):
-snip-
Precision RCA: Bold, elegant, pefect.
The Xhadow Precision RCA is truly the best made RCA plug in the world. Precision, purity, simplicity and elegance are the hallmarks of Xhadow products, and this RCA embodies thosae sentiments with no room for equivocation. The main barrel and rear-nut are lathed from pure aluminum rod-stock and anodized in "Xhadow Gray" for a durable and non-conductive finish. The rear nut can be vanity-printed with corporate or model names (or both) for the OEM that requires identity markings (minimum order quantities apply). Into this barrel assembly fits the contact assembly. Each one is machined from OFC pure copper (silver plated) with a machined Teflon dielectric, and an OFC pure copper machined contact that has been silver-plated. Each contact allows the termination of wire to be completed via solder, set-screw, or both. This gives the end-user a tremendous amount of flexibility while also allowing them to guarantee a fantastic contact interface with their wires. The fit of these connectors is smooth but very strong, with a tremendous amount of contact pressure to ensure perfect and consistent signal passage with a minimum of contact resistance. There's a new Reference on the block!
Two sizes: Standard and Large.
About Us: Many years ago, in the historic halls of the Las Vegas Sahara Hotel bi-level, audiophile manufacturers and distributors once luxuriated in smoke-danked molded-over demonstration rooms with the hope of generating interest in their latest doohickeys. For the High End Audio set, the Winter Consumer Electronic Show was a parliament of the world’s most ultra-serious two-channel stereo music-loving freaks and geeks. Food, beer, scotch, food, cigars, scotch, food and beer.
And music. Back then high’enders were entirely enraptured and utterly dedicated to music and the most fantastic and wonderful reproduction of music in the home. From all corners of the USA and the globe came every manner of audio manufacturer one could imagine, each of them setting up their stereo system in a hotel room emptied for the purpose … one next to the other next to the other. Mahler in one room, Mingus in the next, Motorhead further down. Music filled the hall as audiophile professionals swam upstream and down in search of the old and new.
It was there in that since-demolished hotel structure that Stuart Marcus and Chris Sommovigo met for the first time. Stuart, the long-established connector and cable veteran, had been representing his wares in one of those now legendary rooms while Chris was wandering the halls with his new product: the Illuminati Datastream Reference, the first true 75 Ohm interconnect for digital separates. Would anyone let him demo that strangely rigid cable in their system?
Eventually. For the moment he was wandering and hoping to get some of the attention that the other exhibitors were actually paying to catch.
On the end of the Datastream Reference was an interesting RCA connector. A bulbous affair made from machined brass, Teflon, and copper. The first 75 Ohm RCA connector for DACs and transports. Kinda big. Kinda clunky. Kinda cool. Stuart wanted to see.
They traded … Stuart examined the 75 Ohm bulby RCA with interest as Chris fingered through the collection of Tiffany and Vampire connectors, careful not to dribble or drool too much.
And thus began this long-standing friendship born out of mutual respect and mutual admiration. Two audiogeeks in a sea of obsessed high’enders with something rather strange in common: an unreasonable obsession with really, really great audio connectors.
Stuart Marcus
Arguably the Prime Mover of the audiophile connector world, Stuart began his audio odyssey about 28 years ago. He can lay claim to being one of the extremely few "first" audiophile cable and connector manufacturers in the world as the founder of Vampire Wire and Sound Connections International. At present his connectors and wires are being supplied to over 380 manufacturers of cables and audio/video components. Unreasonably obsessed with audio connector quality.
Chris Sommovigo
Known for introducing the fist impedance-matched digital cables to the audiophile market with the brand Illuminati, Chris was also a proponent of high-quality connections. His early contribution was the world’s first 75 Ohm RCA for his impedance matched digital cables. Later he would design the proprietary, 13-piece RCAs for Stereovox’s über-fi interconnects and the modular spade system for their loudspeaker cables. Unreasonably obsessed with audio connector quality.
-snip-
Hi Duster, ok thanks, where (or in what way) would you say that the Silver Harmony RCA is better than the Xhadow Precision RCA...
The presentation of the KLE Silver Harmony RCA is too new to my ear to say it is better than the Xhadow Precision RCA in any particular way. At this point, I can say the KLE Silver Harmony RCA sounds great with the Wireworld Equinox 6 interconnect cable, but I've not terminated the same cable with the Xhadow Precision RCA for any credible comparison. I'm currently evaluating the new VH Audio Pulsar Cu II OCC Copper interconnect cable terminated with the KLE Silver Harmony RCA, and while initial observations are very positive, the Teflon dielectric of the Pulsar Cu II cable requires epic burn-in time before final judgment can be made. It's possible I might try the Pulsar Cu II terminated with the Xhadow Precision RCA, but I don't expect doing such in the very near future.
Hi Duster, ok thanks, looking forward to the comparison of Wireworld Equinox 6 and the VH Audio Pulsar Cu II OCC interconnects with the KLE Silver Harmony RCA's :)
ok thanks
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