Tweakers' Asylum: REVIEW: Mapleshade Silclear Other by SoftwireEngineer

Model:	Silclear
Category:	Other
Suggested Retail Price:	$35+shipping
Description:	Silver bearing contact enhancer
Manufacturer URL:	Mapleshade
Model Picture:	View

Review by SoftwireEngineer ( A ) on March 19, 2004 at 19:48:49
IP Address: 192.138.150.249

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for the Silclear

There is a reason why this site is called an asylum. People are really crazy about their audio equipment. We spend so much time and money on it. And quite a few of us want to get maximum mileage out of the investment. One of the ways of achieving cost-effectiveness is tweaking. Many of the tweaks are non-invasive and can be done by anybody. Cleaning the contacts and applying some contact enhancer is one such tweak. So far people were using Caig DeOxit and ProGold. There is a surely an improvment with this exercise. But the MapleShade SilClear is totally in a different league.

Recently, I sold my PSAudio Ultimate Outlet to which I had connected my CD player. With the UO, went the harmonics and dynamics of the sound. The Monster HTS 2500 to which the CD player is now connected (temporarily, waiting on a balanced power conditioner to arrive) seemed to make the sound 'too quite'. It sounds as though the music has only primary frequencies. On a whim, I ordered the MapleShade Silclear.

It arrived in a week. My wife had opened the package, thinking it was the pearl bracelet I had ordered for her !!. I immediately applied the Silclear that evening to the male end of power cords, IECs, RCAs and the speaker cable spades..Wow ..what an improvement. A smile on my wife and still the disappointed look on my wife's :) :)

Silclear seems to enhance the treble extension, as well as improve the bass. The volume surely goes up as the contact resistances everywhere drop. The sound is more harmonically rich and vibrant ..yes vibrant.

Synth/sample sounds from Enya or Loreena Mckennit sound more and more real. Actually, I have not heard this much 'real timbre' with these recordings before.

Please take the time to clean your contacts with DeOxit and apply SilClear or a similar product like Walker SST. You will be amazed at the improvement.

Product Weakness: None so far
Product Strengths: Cost-effectivness

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	AudioRefinement Complete
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	963sa/MMF-5 w/ Monolithic Sound Phono
Speakers:	Silverline Sonatina
Cables/Interconnects:	Zu Wax , HomeGrown Audio
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	classical, rock, new age
Room Size (LxWxH):	10 x 20 x 14
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster Cable HTS
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	home

Product Weakness:	None so far
Product Strengths:	Cost-effectivness