chord odyssey speaker cable question

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jaxwired

Well-known member
Feb 7, 2009
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All,

I'm about to buy some new speaker cable. I actually really like what I have now, but I want to try something different to compare. I'm leaning towards chord odyssey 2 (single wire), but my one concern is about brightness. I don't want a cable known to make a system sound bright. I've read a couple of posts that say that silver plated wire can sound too bright.

Anybody with odyssey think it's adding brightness to the sound?
 
I was impressed with the odyssey 2 cables, if anything jax, you already have chord cables, i think you will hear a greater soundstage rather than a bright one, ive not found the odyssey to be bright. I felt the same as yourself when previously owning copper ables (QED xt300), i believed moving to silver plated cables would undermine my system, i was wrong.
 
May I ask, please - although it does digress from the original post (so please feel free to disregard this question until the original one has been answered) - why are multiple strands of wire in a cable better than a single strand, such as that used in house wiring? Related Qs - are many fine strands better than a significantly lower number of thicker strands (materials - i.e. copper content etc - being equivalent)? What science is there here, if any?
 
The Odyssey 2 cable is superb. I upgraded from the Carnival Silver Plus and it was a clear step up. I would err towards something like Kimber 4TC if I had a bright system like my last; MA & Roksan. With the Spendors and NADs I think it would be ideal. The tweeter on the A6 is capable of some soul-stirring treble and Odyssey will help reveal it.
 
Another recent speaker cables thread made me think about changing from my Chord Carnival Silver to Chord Silverscreen (My Chord Carnival Silver is silver plated and Silverscreen is pure copper confusingly).

What is the change in character of sound I would expect to hear between silver plated copper and plain copper stranded cables?

I am not aiming to 'fix' any apparent problems. Just want to try it out.
 
chebby:

What is the change in character of sound I would expect to hear between silver plated copper and plain copper stranded cables?

I'm not sure either. I'm no expert on cable, however, what I can tell you is that about a month ago I upgraded to the silver plated chord chameleon silver plus interconnect and it is the best interconnect I've ever used. Last night I was doing some A/B testing with old interconnects and the difference is astounding. The detail and clarity is fantastic. I highly recommend the chameleon. That's why I want to try the chord odyssey speaker cable. Maybe I'm really missing out with this audioquest stuff. Need to try it to see...

chebby:

I am not aiming to 'fix' any apparent problems. Just want to try it out.

Same here.
 
Ok, just ordered it. 3 meters of chord odyssey with chord bananas. £128. Now the brutal 2 week wait for shipment from the UK...

Funny thing is that if I buy it from a US retailer, it cost twice what I just paid...
 
jaxwired:

Ok, just ordered it. 3 meters of chord odyssey with chord bananas. £128. Now the brutal 2 week wait for shipment from the UK...

Funny thing is that if I buy it from a US retailer, it cost twice what I just paid...
The cable will sound very lean and clean at first and will blosom and bloom over a couple of weeks.It does sound good from the off but gets much better with some hours on it.
 
Let us know when the cables arrive jax, and your first impression 😉
 
Chebby, in my experience a move from silver plated to copper will mostly affect the treble. Some say that their bass increased when moving to the all copper but it's a bit subjective to say that without being specific about brands and models. Generally I would expect to hear a reduction in the top-end sparkle. Sometimes this is very welcome but other times it's a sore sacrifice. Some systems may sound a bit too hard in the upper midrange to cope with a silver or silver plated cable.

I believe the science behind it is that the high-frequency signal travels along the outside of the wire, thus using the highly conductive silver metal. The low frequencies travel more through the thick copper core. An economic way to get some of the benefits of a silver cable! It saddens me that my physics general knowledge stops there.

See if you can borrow some cables to do some comparisons. I did before moving to the Odyssey 2. I wanted to make sure it wasn't snake oil before sinking the cash but the improvement was very obvious!
 
jaxwired:As always, thanks for your great input igglebert...
You're welcome! I hope at least the occasional one of my postings is actually useful to someone...
 
I use Chameleon Silver Plus/Odyssey 4 with Cyrus/Spendor and love it. I have always preferred detailed and dynamic presentation of music. And I quote Chord:

"...Will silver cables make my system too bright?

No. Silver has a somewhat undeserved reputation for bringing a slightly bright tonal balance to some systems. We use silver-plated conductors extensively, and through experimentation have established that the tonal qualities of silver conductors will be affected by the type of material surrounding or insulating them. (dielectric).

By using the right insulation material silver conductors are able to carry micro dynamic information extremely well and have a remarkably wide and neutral bandwidth. Interconnects and speaker cables that use silver or silver-plated conductors in combination with Teflon insulation are particularly subject to changes during the burn-in period.... "
 
I use Odyssey cable too and it sounds great. I paired it first with the Chameleon silver plus and I thought it sounded really harsh and bright, but after 4-6 weeks of burning in, it really came into its own and now sounds great. I've since upgraded my IC to Chord anthem and that is even better. I've contacted chord in the past and they couldn't be more helpful, so you might want to give them a buzz.
 
Paul Clarke:I use Odyssey cable too and it sounds great. I paired it first with the Chameleon silver plus and I thought it sounded really harsh and bright, but after 4-6 weeks of burning in, it really came into its own and now sounds great. I've since upgraded my IC to Chord anthem and that is even better. I've contacted chord in the past and they couldn't be more helpful, so you might want to give them a buzz.

I've exchanged a few emails with them. I agree, their support is first rate.
 
Hi Jaxwired. Did you ever report back on your Chord Odyssey 2 purchase? I am wondering whether or not to buy some from Fleabay and am interested in opinions, particularly in comparison with the QEDs I already use.
 
Hi ESP,

Interesting to read this old thread. I was surprised to see I started it, lol!

Here's what I will say. As any regular on this forum will atest, I'm fickle and I love to try near gear so I've been through quite a few changes. Of all the kit I've owned, nothing compares to the sastisfaction I have with Chord Company cable products. Their products are an absolute treasure. In my opinion, there's some snake oil in the hifi cable industry. With Chord, you get high quality and high value. The Odyssey 2 cable is a bargain. It sounds very detailed yet retains nice bass weight. It's not garden hose thick (which I hate) either. I highly recommend it.
 
Thanks for the recommendation - I am sure Chord love you just as much!
emotion-2.gif


I think I will keep patrolling Fleabay and see if I can get hold of a suitably priced pair.

Anyone: Is it worth picking up a non bi-wired pair as a taster? My set-up is currently bi-wired.
 
Depends on your speakers i think. It is a v good cable but i found it to be too bright with monitor audio or epos speakers. They both have metal tweeters though. In a neutral or warm system and with speakers without metal tweeters it could be a superb choice.
 
Well, I have a couple of 3m runs on their way to me (not biwire), so let's see how they get on linked to my system.
 
chord oddy for me as well. Very solid cable with the cyrus and spendor.
 
Fraz1:Depends on your speakers i think. It is a v good cable but i found it to be too bright with monitor audio or epos speakers. They both have metal tweeters though. In a neutral or warm system and with speakers without metal tweeters it could be a superb choice.
I'm not sure where I read it (so I may be wrong), however I have read in the past that Monitor Audio use Chord cables when developing their speakers.
 
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