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| Letters -- October 2003 RS speaker cables October 29, 2003 To Mike Silverton, I bought a pair of balanced RS Solid Silver interconnects after reading your review, and I have not been disappointed so far. Anyway, I wanted to ask about the speaker cables. How would you categorize the midrange and bass of them? Lean? Rich? I know you called them clear, natural and transparent, but I was wondering about richness and that kind of thing. You compared them to Nordost Valhalla, and although I have no experience with Nordost cables whatsoever, many people have described some other Nordost cables as lean-sounding. Felix Fontan Glad you're getting a good result from RS Cables Silver interconnects. "I have not been disappointed so far." It's that "so far" that marks you as an audiophile. Someday, sometime, something will come along that blows your interconnects away. I'd bet the farm.RS's Silver interconnects and speaker cables are, one, gratifyingly inexpensive, and, two, gratifyingly neutral. Neutrality -- invisibility -- is what good cables provide. Richness in this context has no place. Interconnects and speaker cables should not color your system's outcome. People will take issue with this opinion. That's the nature of our hobby. There's nothing in the least lean about the Nordost cables I've lived with -- Valhalla and more recently, Valkyrja (Valkyrja review pending). As mentioned in my review, Richard Sachek's Silver cables come remarkably close to what I cherish about the Valhalla line. You can return the Silver speaker cables if they don't satisfy. Cost to you? The postage -- a chance I'd certainly be willing to take. Just remember to give them a nice long break-in....Mike Silverton Cable skeptic October 20, 2003 I just finished reading your review of the RS Audio cables. I am a non-believer in cables. Some experiments made me feel this way. However, I have upgraded my audio system and I am thinking of upgrading my 1-cent cables as well. But I am not willing to spend megabucks here. RS Audio cables seem well made and fairly priced. But, as they are made of silver, I would like to know if they are on the aggressive side in terms of their highs. I hope not. Kind regards from Portugal, Tiago You say you've been a cable skeptic. Hey, me too, once upon a time. No need to kick this about as strict objectivists are given to do. It's simple, really. We live with our sound systems. We know them as well as we know our mates. Probably better, now that I think of it. What more effective and convincing test of a cable's contribution than living with the thing? If you don't hear an improvement or at the very least a difference, your skepticism wins out. As I mention in my review, RS Cables sells direct. The refund promise is on the level. You've nothing to lose. Just remember to reserve your judgment till the wires are nicely seasoned, which ought to occur toward the end of the refund period. I loved the Silvers straight off, but I did hear them maturing somewhat. What started out good got better. (Richard Sachek charges a $75 restocking fee for his Pure Platinum IC in order to deter the merely curious, but that's another, and from where I sit, entirely understandable story.) You ask if these silver cables are aggressive in the upper reaches. No, not at all. These RS goodies are among the more natural-sounding I've used. If you experience harshness -- grain, grunge, grit -- the problem may lie elsewhere. I'd suggest looking into EMI erasers akin to the Walker Audio UHD Links I'm using (and have reviewed for Ultra Audio). Perfecting a sound system is painstaking and, regrettably, costly work. Happy economical hunting...Mike Silverton "Obligation and Integrity in the Audio Community" October 13, 2003 To Jules Coleman, Congratulations on such a well-written and insightful editorial. I hope it receives the distribution and recognition it deserves. I do, however, believe you could have "led by example" by actually naming the "...few products of dubious audio merit that not only survive, but flourish." By permitting these products to remain anonymous, one can easily infer that you are protecting them, or protecting yourself from the manufacturer's wrath. In either case, this undermines your posture as a champion of ethical reviewing. If you truly are looking to facilitate reform in the reviewing industry by restoring integrity, then why not point out every naked emperor? If you truly want to clean up the system, or at least change perceptions regarding its usefulness, you would do better by demonstrating the required courage by standing up to the "status quo." In other words, walk the talk and name names. I look forward you next piece. E. J. Smith The way to test whether I am prepared to walk the walk -- to use your phrase -- is to follow my reviews and see if I am honest and objective, sensitive to both my own limitations and my responsibilities to the community. You are obviously a serious and concerned audio enthusiast, and I therefore welcome your ongoing scrutiny. However, I am inclined to resist the suggestion that my failure to signal out dubious products in the context of an opinion piece on the cooperative nature of the audio community and the need for responsibility and integrity represents a failure of will. I saw it instead as an exercise of judgment that in the context of the opinion piece -- as opposed to a review of a particular component -- naming names would have been distracting at best, or gratuitous -- unhelpful in either case.Thanks for your note, and especially for your vigilance....Jules Coleman Get Bent October 2, 2003 To Ross Mantle, I enjoyed your editorial on passive-preamp evolution, "Quick Everyone, Sell Your Preamps." Question on VSR technology: Is this incorporated in the magnetic volume control used in a passive control unit/preamp? From my humble understanding, the use of the Stevens & Billington TX-102 attenuation transformer provides this. If this is correct, would you consider reviewing the Bent NOH, which uses the TX-102? Might be interesting to compare this inexpensive unit against the Pasiphae. Thanks again for sharing your insights with us. Michael Clark I certainly am interested in getting my ears on a Bent Audio unit. As I mentioned in my article, the Bent product uses the same transformers as the Avtac Pasiphae and costs much less. In my opinion, the cost of the Avtac can be justified based on features and build quality -- it's a full-featured unit with cost-no-object parts, extensive remote functions, and a very funky Nixie tube display that looks and feels as good or better than the top preamps out there (many of which cost much more than the Pasiphae). The Bent unit comes assembled or as a kit and is aimed toward the hobbyist market, with limited manual controls and a do-it-yourself look. Nevertheless, my information is that the Bent product uses good-quality parts and wire. If it can compete with the Pasiphae sonically, the consumer can make his choice without compromising on sound. I've been promised a production Pasiphae within the month, and I'll do my darnedest to get hold of a Bent unit as well....Ross Mantle
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