SHB Quintessence - First Listen Opinion

[bretty]

I received my two sets of 0.5m Quintessence interconnects today. Hooked them up between CDP---PRE and PRE---AMP.

Having my first listen as I type. I think Will has really cracked it, this time.

The bright, bass shy nature that previous SHB cables had, straight out-of-the-box, isn't evident here. Quite the opposite, in fact. Strong punchy bass here. What's really put a smile on my face as I listen, though, is the detail retrieval. It's superb. I'll give you an example. I'm listening to Peter Gabriel's 'Scratch my back' and when an oboe is played, not only can I hear the breath of the player, but the actual valves of the instrument opening just before the note is created. Stunning.

For any SHB fans out there that have the Avatar, you should be getting excited, because these sound better than fully run-in Avatars, straight out-of-the-box. By a mile.

These are better than any interconnects that I have heard.

 

[Anonymous]

As I'd hoped, Will has addressed the short comings of the prior cables in this one. I wanted to prefer the Coherence over the Chameleon Silver Plus, in part due to the cost savings, but it just wasn't as good. I should be getting mine imminently too so I'll share some findings.

 

[Anonymous]

WHF to do a review? Quite pricey mind at £55.00 for 0.5m plus £3 p&p.....

 

[bretty]

It would be good if WHF? did a review. These are five star cables, without question.

Yes, they are considerably more expensive than my first SHBs, Metaphor 2, which were £28 for 0.5m. However, I feel that the massive improvements that have been made in this cable justify the price hike. For starters, the conductors in these are about twice as thick as those in the Metaphor 2.

I reckon if these were put head-to-head against the big brands, they'd be a few surprises.

I'm looking forward to Iggle's thoughts on whether these better his Chameleon Silver Plus.

 

[bretty]

48 hours in, and changes are beginning to happen. The bass has gotten stronger. Still a brilliant amount of detail coming through and no harshness to the top-end. Cracking cables.

Have you got yours yet, Igg?

 

[Clare Newsome]

We'd be happy to review them - especially as the eBay listing clearly details their money-back guarantee

Could be another ThatCable, EB Acoustics or Clearer Audio direct-sell success story.

I've dropped SHB a line....

 

[bretty]

That's great news, Clare. I'll look forward to the review.

It's always nice to see the little guy(s) do well.

 

[Clare Newsome]

We're just happy to see people continue to push performance levels higher - regardless of the brand concerned

It's getting to peak Awards-judging season, and the good news for consumers is that standards in several categories have taken a real step forward this year

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, unless these cables have a built-in amplifier and graphic equaliser they simply cannot do what you claim, it's impossible. No cable without some form of electronic assistance could make the differences you say.

I don't doubt that you hear differences, by the way, just that the cables aren't the reason for them.

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't got mine yet.

Tarquinh - I used their Coherence cable before, and it sounded harsher and less bassy than the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus. Without getting into cable debates, there are electrical qualities that come into play, resistance, capacitance, inductance and RFI shielding/rejection. If nothing else, the Coherence seemed to attenuate the signal more than the CSP.

 

[bretty]

Tarquinh:
I'm sorry, unless these cables have a built-in amplifier and graphic equaliser they simply cannot do what you claim, it's impossible. No cable without some form of electronic assistance could make the differences you say.

I don't doubt that you hear differences, by the way, just that the cables aren't the reason for them.

I'm sorry, didn't I mention in my first post that, indeed, these have both internal amplification and a graphic equaliser built in, as standard? My bad.

 

[JoelSim]

On another note Bretty, why is your Avatar now a picture of Michael Bolton?

 

[bretty]

JoelSim:
On another note Bretty, why is your Avatar now a picture of Michael Bolton?

Ah, now that's a very good question, Joel. The answer is.....I AM Michael Bolton! Since my career hit the skids, I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I started trawling Hi Fi forums.

 

[ESP2009]

bretty:JoelSim:

On another note Bretty, why is your Avatar now a picture of Michael Bolton?

Ah, now that's a very good question, Joel. The answer is.....I AM Michael Bolton! Since my career hit the skids, I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I started trawling Hi Fi forums.

Oh, that's so sad!

 

[Clare Newsome]

A rather disappointing reply from SHB, i'm afraid:

Hi Clare,

Thanks for your mail.

I have been approached by other hifi mags wanting to review my cables but I'm happy about the positive forum posts about them and don't feel the need for any mag review whatsoever.

I will not allow mag review(s) on any SHB cables.

Best regards,

Will

- silverhighbreed

Of course there's nothing to stop us buying a pair as a customer and testing them - we set our editorial agenda, not manufacturers - but with so many other products readily available for us to test (especiallly now, at Awards-judging time) we may not get round to testing any SHB cables in the immediate future.

 

[ESP2009]

Disappointing, indeed. It is just possible that a small outfit such as his fears a negative review that would be seen internationally and could seriously hit sales?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Unless he posts his reasons, we may never know...

 

[ESP2009]

I seem to recall that SHB have been reviewed by WHF before and, though not a 5-star result, those cables didn't do too badly.

 

[Andrew Everard]

ESP2009:I seem to recall that SHB have been reviewed by WHF before and, though not a 5-star result, those cables didn't do too badly.

Clickety

 

[ESP2009]

Having tried them with my Marantz/Audiolab system I can only agree - but great for the price and for the right system.

 

[Anonymous]

My Quintessence arrived this morning, well packaged and presented. They seem to be of a higher build quality than my prior Coherence cables and they really look the part with their thickness and higher quality plugs. Check out the stock pic on the ebay page Clicky (apologies as this link might vanish in time).

I've put the Q in place of the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus between pre/power, leaving the other CSP from CDP/pre. This will give me the most benefit to listen as the TV/DVD, etc, will go through it too. When fitting I just kept thinking, big cable! 10/10 for vane pride of ownership (if cables float your boat).

Immediate listening results. It's brighter than the CSP. The Coherence didn't suit my system because it was more forward and had less bass than the CSP. If only the Q will address the bass element and they're onto a winner (well, with me anyway!). It's too early to go into much more detail yet. I need to toe the speakers out a little to counter the extra forwardness and listen for a lot of hours. I have no idea whether the whole running in malarchy is tosh or not but they're new so that may or may not be a factor.

They're certainly very revealing cables. No doubt about that!

EDIT Here's a quick snap of my mess of cables. You can see the Q in place with a CSP laying over it for comparison. In the mix is a blue Chord Superscreen mains cable, an SHB Accord main cable, Chord Odyssey 2 speaker cable, a Tacima CS929 block and a random yellow AV cable.

 

[Big Chris]

The size of the thing! It'd be worth the RRP in scrap value alone.

 

[mitch65]

Big Chris:The size of the thing! It'd be worth the RRP in scrap value alone.

was thinking the same thing myself!, Always think it's nice to see a bit of colour when mucking around at the rear

 

[robolowski]

I have got a 1m pair of qed signature audio s interconnects and i wonder if i can swap these for SHB Quintessence one and still get the same quality sound if not better?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, so far I'd describe them as very detailed, slightly forward in treble and with clean, articulate bass. I think the bass is cleaner than on the CSP. Funny, my mate's assessment of the CSP was that it's a bit boomy. He had floorstanders though. Ho hum.