-
When should you upgrade your hi-fi? How to control ‘upgradeitis’
Chord Chameleon Silver Plus Interconnect
- Thread starter jaxwired
- Start date
basshound
Well-known member
Yes,would agree with Joel regards sound.If you`re considering getting one ,have a look on ebay,got mine for around £60 used, about half new cost
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
True Blue:Same detail levels as the crimson but with added bass weight and dynamics. Cracking cable.
I would suggest that the CSP has bags more detail than the Crimson.
I would suggest that the CSP has bags more detail than the Crimson.
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
dim_span:
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
Gerrardasnails:dim_span:
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
dim_span:Gerrardasnails:dim_span:
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
came across this interesting site, which suggests what chord speaker cables to use in conjuction with which chord interconnects (chord matching) ... may be of interest to you ...
http://www.chord.co.uk/chordweb/chord_cable_matching.htm
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
CSP is a fantastic cable. Very detailed and it's bass weight makes it very musical. As stated above it paints a much better picture of the bass and treble than the Crimson (I have both).
Me and a friend have both thought that it can sound a bit bloomy in the wrong system. Now it would be pretty logical to blame the underlying system for this but a change to the Nordost Baldur seems to sort it out.
I'm running a Silver High Breed Coherence LE from CDP to amp and a CSP from pre to power as it gives a good balance of naturalness and bass depth. Just some general observations.
EDIT If I had the budget to buy CSP cable(s) now I would probably be trying to audition the Van Den Hul The First Ultimate (OK a but more expensive but at this price, so what). I've heard very good things about this VDH cable and it might be a keeper. I still have moments of dissatisfaction with the tonal balances offered by both the CSP and SHB cables so I need to try some more!
Me and a friend have both thought that it can sound a bit bloomy in the wrong system. Now it would be pretty logical to blame the underlying system for this but a change to the Nordost Baldur seems to sort it out.
I'm running a Silver High Breed Coherence LE from CDP to amp and a CSP from pre to power as it gives a good balance of naturalness and bass depth. Just some general observations.
EDIT If I had the budget to buy CSP cable(s) now I would probably be trying to audition the Van Den Hul The First Ultimate (OK a but more expensive but at this price, so what). I've heard very good things about this VDH cable and it might be a keeper. I still have moments of dissatisfaction with the tonal balances offered by both the CSP and SHB cables so I need to try some more!
I've got one between CDP and Headphone amp. Great cable and, as someone said above, available from around £60 from Ebay (that's where I got mine)! Definitely a very good buy. I haven't compared it to price-compatible cables though. Others costing the same might be as good/better...doesn't bother me, as I'm very happy with what I've got!
Hedgehog
Hedgehog
Thanks for all the great responses! Such a great mix of people on this forum. I love it.
I'm a huge fan of Chord Company. Everything I've tried from them has been fanstastic. Also, their support is great. They exchanged emails with me and were glad to offer advice.
However.....LOL...with that said...I'm thinking about trying Merlin Mozarts since they are cheap and have received recent rave reviews. AND, they are happy to ship to the USA (unlike Chord). Just want to check it out you know.
-Jax
I'm a huge fan of Chord Company. Everything I've tried from them has been fanstastic. Also, their support is great. They exchanged emails with me and were glad to offer advice.
However.....LOL...with that said...I'm thinking about trying Merlin Mozarts since they are cheap and have received recent rave reviews. AND, they are happy to ship to the USA (unlike Chord). Just want to check it out you know.
-Jax
Gerrardasnails:dim_span:Gerrardasnails:dim_span:
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
just because my system is old (and cheap) does not mean it is rubbish ... amp compares favourably to many in the £1500 region, was Pioneer's 'flagship' model in 1980.... 120 watts at 8 ohm and is 'very detailed'
speakers are 3 way transmission speakers which have the same tweeter and supertweeter as the spendor BC1's .... bass is superb and sound is crystal clear
and cdp is not too bad ...
synergy between the components is excellent and IMHO it is better than a £3600 system which I recently auditioned ...
will most prob get a better cdp at a later stage ... am very happy with the amp and speakers and if I had to replace with better, I will have to spend a lot of money
so yes, .... I don't mind spending a bit extra for decent cables ... will look at 2nd hand speaker cable off ebay and only need a pair of 1,5m long and hoping to pay approx £200-£250 ... when I do eventually upgrade components, I will know that I don't need to bother with replacing speaker cable
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
just because my system is old (and cheap) does not mean it is rubbish ... amp compares favourably to many in the £1500 region, was Pioneer's 'flagship' model in 1980.... 120 watts at 8 ohm and is 'very detailed'
speakers are 3 way transmission speakers which have the same tweeter and supertweeter as the spendor BC1's .... bass is superb and sound is crystal clear
and cdp is not too bad ...
synergy between the components is excellent and IMHO it is better than a £3600 system which I recently auditioned ...
will most prob get a better cdp at a later stage ... am very happy with the amp and speakers and if I had to replace with better, I will have to spend a lot of money
so yes, .... I don't mind spending a bit extra for decent cables ... will look at 2nd hand speaker cable off ebay and only need a pair of 1,5m long and hoping to pay approx £200-£250 ... when I do eventually upgrade components, I will know that I don't need to bother with replacing speaker cable
I have Chord Chameleon Silver Plus feeding my tuner and surround sound processor into my pre-amp. I upgraded the Silver plus feeds between my DAC and the pre-amp and power amps to Chord Chorus, and for the life of me I can't hear any significant improvement at all. The Chameleons are also more flexible (in the bending sense) than the Chorus, making routing fairly easy in comparison.
On balance I'd say the Chameleon Silver Plus interconnects are at the level where going any higher in price isn't justified unless you have a mega-buck setup, but where you can be sure that for a "mere mortal" setup your leads aren't choking the delivery your system can provide. There are, however, equally good interconnects at slightly lower prices.
As an aside, if you dig around on Fleabay you can find half-metre long versions, longer than stock 1 m versions also, that are very useful for hooking up rack-mounted gear with the minimum of spaghetti behind the rack.
On balance I'd say the Chameleon Silver Plus interconnects are at the level where going any higher in price isn't justified unless you have a mega-buck setup, but where you can be sure that for a "mere mortal" setup your leads aren't choking the delivery your system can provide. There are, however, equally good interconnects at slightly lower prices.
As an aside, if you dig around on Fleabay you can find half-metre long versions, longer than stock 1 m versions also, that are very useful for hooking up rack-mounted gear with the minimum of spaghetti behind the rack.
dim_span i have a £2000 amp going into a pair of £2500 speakers fed by a mac mini and £1000 cd player
the interconnects i use are spellbinder which ive never heard of but cost about the £50 mark and given their 1m length its unlikely id hear any improvement unless i spent several thousand
also and its being pedantic i know but cables cant add to the sound as such they can only cause less loss so if you hear extra bass for example its not the cable adding anything its being more transparent to those frequencies ie causeing less loss from the amps output
the interconnects i use are spellbinder which ive never heard of but cost about the £50 mark and given their 1m length its unlikely id hear any improvement unless i spent several thousand
also and its being pedantic i know but cables cant add to the sound as such they can only cause less loss so if you hear extra bass for example its not the cable adding anything its being more transparent to those frequencies ie causeing less loss from the amps output
one off:
dim_span i have a £2000 amp going into a pair of £2500 speakers fed by a mac mini and £1000 cd player
the interconnects i use are spellbinder which ive never heard of but cost about the £50 mark and given their 1m length its unlikely id hear any improvement unless i spent several thousand
also and its being pedantic i know but cables cant add to the sound as such they can only cause less loss so if you hear extra bass for example its not the cable adding anything its being more transparent to those frequencies ie causeing less loss from the amps output
I know that there are cheap cables that perform very well (I have the silver high breed speaker cable and interconnect at the moment on my 2nd system .... and a silver high breed interconnect on my main system) ... sounds fine to me
Problem is that I (like many others) get 'swayed' into buying the more expensive cables 'hoping' that they sound better ... They most probably do, but I don't have 'golden ears', so differences will be subtle (to me) ...
same as the Tacima ... I bought one, and don't hear any difference ...
If I use the cheaper, I will always 'wonder' what the system would sound like with the more expensive?
so.... I would rather buy a set of cables that many people say are brilliant ... I then know that when I do eventually upgrade my components I don't have to bother with cables as I have the best (that I could afford) ...
and on the 2nd hand market, I may possibly only pay £200-£250 (hoping) ...
dim_span i have a £2000 amp going into a pair of £2500 speakers fed by a mac mini and £1000 cd player
the interconnects i use are spellbinder which ive never heard of but cost about the £50 mark and given their 1m length its unlikely id hear any improvement unless i spent several thousand
also and its being pedantic i know but cables cant add to the sound as such they can only cause less loss so if you hear extra bass for example its not the cable adding anything its being more transparent to those frequencies ie causeing less loss from the amps output
I know that there are cheap cables that perform very well (I have the silver high breed speaker cable and interconnect at the moment on my 2nd system .... and a silver high breed interconnect on my main system) ... sounds fine to me
Problem is that I (like many others) get 'swayed' into buying the more expensive cables 'hoping' that they sound better ... They most probably do, but I don't have 'golden ears', so differences will be subtle (to me) ...
same as the Tacima ... I bought one, and don't hear any difference ...
If I use the cheaper, I will always 'wonder' what the system would sound like with the more expensive?
so.... I would rather buy a set of cables that many people say are brilliant ... I then know that when I do eventually upgrade my components I don't have to bother with cables as I have the best (that I could afford) ...
and on the 2nd hand market, I may possibly only pay £200-£250 (hoping) ...
Excellent cable. Needs burn in (!). Will sound harsh until after a few weeks. Just turn of your speakers and let your source play while you are out. Preferably with some loud complex music.
I did that immediatly upon receiving the cable, so that my ears would not adjust to the sound, and after three weeks, the cable sounded smooth as butter.
Great cable!
I did that immediatly upon receiving the cable, so that my ears would not adjust to the sound, and after three weeks, the cable sounded smooth as butter.
Great cable!
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
dim_span:Gerrardasnails:dim_span:Gerrardasnails:dim_span:
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
just because my system is old (and cheap) does not mean it is rubbish ... amp compares favourably to many in the £1500 region, was Pioneer's 'flagship' model in 1980.... 120 watts at 8 ohm and is 'very detailed'
speakers are 3 way transmission speakers which have the same tweeter and supertweeter as the spendor BC1's .... bass is superb and sound is crystal clear
and cdp is not too bad ...
synergy between the components is excellent and IMHO it is better than a £3600 system which I recently auditioned ...
will most prob get a better cdp at a later stage ... am very happy with the amp and speakers and if I had to replace with better, I will have to spend a lot of money
so yes, .... I don't mind spending a bit extra for decent cables ... will look at 2nd hand speaker cable off ebay and only need a pair of 1,5m long and hoping to pay approx £200-£250 ... when I do eventually upgrade components, I will know that I don't need to bother with replacing speaker cable
Please show me where I said your system is rubbish?
am also looking at upgrading speaker cable ... most prob get chord signature ....
that is from Chord's own website. Are you serious about the Signature - surely that is overkill for your system - no offence.
whats wrong with my system? ....
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. If you bought just a 2m pair of Chord Signature speaker cable, you are looking at circa £600. I would have thought that you would spend that amount to match a highish end system - £2k plus a component.
just because my system is old (and cheap) does not mean it is rubbish ... amp compares favourably to many in the £1500 region, was Pioneer's 'flagship' model in 1980.... 120 watts at 8 ohm and is 'very detailed'
speakers are 3 way transmission speakers which have the same tweeter and supertweeter as the spendor BC1's .... bass is superb and sound is crystal clear
and cdp is not too bad ...
synergy between the components is excellent and IMHO it is better than a £3600 system which I recently auditioned ...
will most prob get a better cdp at a later stage ... am very happy with the amp and speakers and if I had to replace with better, I will have to spend a lot of money
so yes, .... I don't mind spending a bit extra for decent cables ... will look at 2nd hand speaker cable off ebay and only need a pair of 1,5m long and hoping to pay approx £200-£250 ... when I do eventually upgrade components, I will know that I don't need to bother with replacing speaker cable
Please show me where I said your system is rubbish?
Slightly better detail than the QED Silver anniversary XT and not as bright (had them both), but would urge you to also consider the Van Den Hul D102 MK3 - got a pair of these recently from E-Bay and find them rather good (strong in all areas across the spectrum, with neutral tonal characteristics) - especially for extended listening.
ValianTX:Slightly better detail than the QED Silver anniversary XT and not as bright (had them both), but would urge you to also consider the Van Den Hul D102 MK3 - got a pair of these recently from E-Bay and find them rather good (strong in all areas across the spectrum, with neutral tonal characteristics) - especially for extended listening.
I had the vdh D102 III in my system and changed to the Chord, the differences were significant. I think the vdh was more neutral, the Chord produced a much more bassy sound, in fact a little too much which is why I bought a Heimdall to replace it (speakers near walls etc).
The Heimdall is a nicer cable even though it's still burning in, but then again you would expect it to be at 3 times the price.
I sold my Chord on eBay a couple of weeks ago for £60.
I had the vdh D102 III in my system and changed to the Chord, the differences were significant. I think the vdh was more neutral, the Chord produced a much more bassy sound, in fact a little too much which is why I bought a Heimdall to replace it (speakers near walls etc).
The Heimdall is a nicer cable even though it's still burning in, but then again you would expect it to be at 3 times the price.
I sold my Chord on eBay a couple of weeks ago for £60.
JUNK
I had brought one of these cables and it hen became damaged so I had had an opportunity to see how these are wired for real befor I repaired it.
Strange,
Only 3 of the possible 5 conductors are used for signal transfer, 2 cores are used for ground and only one for signal. one Silver conductor is cut off/ not used What a waste why not uses all silver cores, we,ve paid for them
To sum up the connection method
4 Core cable + screen supplied
1 silver core is not used/cut back
Screen unused for conduction, connected one end only
2 cores used for ground
1 core used for signal
So out of 5 potential conductors only 3 are used.
From an electrical engineering point of view, more conductor area, the lower the resistance, which has got to be a good idea. one conductor for the signal and two conductors for the ground/return seem daft.
The phono plugs are poor, the outer earth/return collet makes very light pressure contact when inserted into the socket, proberly because the material used for construction is so thin.
I will never buy another expensive interconnect again. It’s a big mind game, which you pay for. At the end of the day if they do have an effect on the sound then the hifi world should return to tone controls, At least you can choose the sound depending on how you feel.
As they say 'you pay your money' and they take it.
David
I had brought one of these cables and it hen became damaged so I had had an opportunity to see how these are wired for real befor I repaired it.
Strange,
Only 3 of the possible 5 conductors are used for signal transfer, 2 cores are used for ground and only one for signal. one Silver conductor is cut off/ not used What a waste why not uses all silver cores, we,ve paid for them
To sum up the connection method
4 Core cable + screen supplied
1 silver core is not used/cut back
Screen unused for conduction, connected one end only
2 cores used for ground
1 core used for signal
So out of 5 potential conductors only 3 are used.
From an electrical engineering point of view, more conductor area, the lower the resistance, which has got to be a good idea. one conductor for the signal and two conductors for the ground/return seem daft.
The phono plugs are poor, the outer earth/return collet makes very light pressure contact when inserted into the socket, proberly because the material used for construction is so thin.
I will never buy another expensive interconnect again. It’s a big mind game, which you pay for. At the end of the day if they do have an effect on the sound then the hifi world should return to tone controls, At least you can choose the sound depending on how you feel.
As they say 'you pay your money' and they take it.
David
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