robolowski, when doing a very subjective comparison (on my own) between the Chord Superscreen and the SHB Accord I prefer the latter. I think the CDP sounds a little more open and sparkly with it. The Chord seems to almost be too refined and would be a better choice if the CDP was too forward. Funny innit, only mains cables! The Accord has a ferrite core attenuator on each end, something the Chord doesn't have. Maybe that's an important factor. I'd buy another Accord without hesitation and intend to do so for my amp at somepoint.
For the price, buy with confidence.
EDIT, when I compared these two mains cables I did so after having them in place for months. I simply swapped the SHB onto the CDP and the Chord onto the pre and found there were differences! I wasn't expecting any difference whatsoever.
For the price, buy with confidence.
EDIT, when I compared these two mains cables I did so after having them in place for months. I simply swapped the SHB onto the CDP and the Chord onto the pre and found there were differences! I wasn't expecting any difference whatsoever.
Sound!I am gonna buy one 2day as i haven't had any experience with power cables so far , but i thought this one is well made and cheap as well for a silver cable.
Cool. Please come back and let us know how you get on. I'd quite like to know if I'm going insane, etc, etc.
OK, last thought on this for a while as I need to live with the Q for some weeks before swapping back to the CSP to compare.
I really like this cable. Whereas the Coherence left me with a niggling doubt after a couple of hours, this cable doesn't. The bass seems to be an improvement as it maintains the clean and articulate nature of the Coherence but with more power/quantity.
One caveat is that I've got new stands since using the Coherence and they make enough of a difference to warrant a retest. I'll do that at another date.
Unless you have a bright/forward/harsh sounding system you won't be disappointed with the Quintessence, I think Will has a superb product for £65.
I really like this cable. Whereas the Coherence left me with a niggling doubt after a couple of hours, this cable doesn't. The bass seems to be an improvement as it maintains the clean and articulate nature of the Coherence but with more power/quantity.
One caveat is that I've got new stands since using the Coherence and they make enough of a difference to warrant a retest. I'll do that at another date.
Unless you have a bright/forward/harsh sounding system you won't be disappointed with the Quintessence, I think Will has a superb product for £65.
igglebert:OK, last thought on this for a while as I need to live with the Q for some weeks before swapping back to the CSP to compare. I really like this cable. Whereas the Coherence left me with a niggling doubt after a couple of hours, this cable doesn't. The bass seems to be an improvement as it maintains the clean and articulate nature of the Coherence but with more power/quantity. One caveat is that I've got new stands since using the Coherence and they make enough of a difference to warrant a retest. I'll do that at another date. Unless you have a bright/forward/harsh sounding system you won't be disappointed with the Quintessence, I think Will has a superb product for £65.
Hi igglebert,
Which did you find better the chord or the Quintessence overall? I found the chord shines in the mids which has both warmth/naturalness and detail - with a nice shimmer at the top end. Have you compared it to nordost BH interconnect?
I heard the chord have now bought out a new model of the chord chamelon silver plus too.
Cheers
Steve.
Hi igglebert,
Which did you find better the chord or the Quintessence overall? I found the chord shines in the mids which has both warmth/naturalness and detail - with a nice shimmer at the top end. Have you compared it to nordost BH interconnect?
I heard the chord have now bought out a new model of the chord chamelon silver plus too.
Cheers
Steve.
Not tried a BH, but the Heimdall makes the Original Chord Silver Plus seem slow, overbassy and unsubtle.
Seems consistent with my more limited experience too. Even putting a Nordost Black Knight IC into my old system gave me the same impression about other ICs I'd tried. Funnily enough, the super flatline gold speaker cable, although lean and detailed, didn't give me the same impression of speed, but maybe moving up to BH speaker cable or higher would've.
If you like the Nordost cables then you might like the Quintessence. It has a similar revealing and open sound and has excellent bass. The biggest difference is that it costs £65 and looks better. Contact Will at Silver High Breed and see if you and do a trial and return if not convinced.
stephennic:
igglebert:OK, last thought on this for a while as I need to live with the Q for some weeks before swapping back to the CSP to compare. I really like this cable. Whereas the Coherence left me with a niggling doubt after a couple of hours, this cable doesn't. The bass seems to be an improvement as it maintains the clean and articulate nature of the Coherence but with more power/quantity. One caveat is that I've got new stands since using the Coherence and they make enough of a difference to warrant a retest. I'll do that at another date. Unless you have a bright/forward/harsh sounding system you won't be disappointed with the Quintessence, I think Will has a superb product for £65.
Hi igglebert,
Which did you find better the chord or the Quintessence overall? I found the chord shines in the mids which has both warmth/naturalness and detail - with a nice shimmer at the top end. Have you compared it to nordost BH interconnect?
I heard the chord have now bought out a new model of the chord chamelon silver plus too.
Cheers
Steve.
Hey Steve,
I'm still deciding which cable I prefer. I'm going to forget about them for a month or so before swapping back to the CSP. Currently I have a CSP on the CDP and Q on the pre/power so there's a blend of qualities. If I decide to keep this Q in place I'll get another to take the next step.
I haven't tried the new CSP but my dealer is an hour away so I'm not sure I can (be bothered) justify a trial.
igglebert:OK, last thought on this for a while as I need to live with the Q for some weeks before swapping back to the CSP to compare. I really like this cable. Whereas the Coherence left me with a niggling doubt after a couple of hours, this cable doesn't. The bass seems to be an improvement as it maintains the clean and articulate nature of the Coherence but with more power/quantity. One caveat is that I've got new stands since using the Coherence and they make enough of a difference to warrant a retest. I'll do that at another date. Unless you have a bright/forward/harsh sounding system you won't be disappointed with the Quintessence, I think Will has a superb product for £65.
Hi igglebert,
Which did you find better the chord or the Quintessence overall? I found the chord shines in the mids which has both warmth/naturalness and detail - with a nice shimmer at the top end. Have you compared it to nordost BH interconnect?
I heard the chord have now bought out a new model of the chord chamelon silver plus too.
Cheers
Steve.
Hey Steve,
I'm still deciding which cable I prefer. I'm going to forget about them for a month or so before swapping back to the CSP. Currently I have a CSP on the CDP and Q on the pre/power so there's a blend of qualities. If I decide to keep this Q in place I'll get another to take the next step.
I haven't tried the new CSP but my dealer is an hour away so I'm not sure I can (be bothered) justify a trial.
After 6 days and probably 20 hours of burn-in (so still another 30 or so hours before they are at their optimum) i'm completely happy with these cables. These have shown me that my previous cables all had deficiencies, as good as they were. The Quintessence has a bass that isn't just louder, but more detailed and full. Bass notes now are closer in fullness to the ones coming from the Rel sub.
Add on to this the fact that that the balance is so much better with these than on previous SHB cables. The treble isn't shouting at you from the forefront anymore, it integrates with the other frequencies nicely.
The level of detail that these cables are letting through is still making me smile as I go through my refence discs. As some may recall, Damien Rice's 'O' is one them, and I know the album in, out and backwards. I thought i'd heard all the music that was contained on the disc, but, when I played it last night, while Damien was singing, Lisa Hannigan could be heard humming a melody in the background. I know some will say that it was always there, I was just paying more attention because of the new cables. However, this album in particular, along with others, I always listen to very closely and analytically, and her humming wasn't audible before.
With the purchase of the Quintessence, my hi fi journey is nearly complete.
Add on to this the fact that that the balance is so much better with these than on previous SHB cables. The treble isn't shouting at you from the forefront anymore, it integrates with the other frequencies nicely.
The level of detail that these cables are letting through is still making me smile as I go through my refence discs. As some may recall, Damien Rice's 'O' is one them, and I know the album in, out and backwards. I thought i'd heard all the music that was contained on the disc, but, when I played it last night, while Damien was singing, Lisa Hannigan could be heard humming a melody in the background. I know some will say that it was always there, I was just paying more attention because of the new cables. However, this album in particular, along with others, I always listen to very closely and analytically, and her humming wasn't audible before.
With the purchase of the Quintessence, my hi fi journey is nearly complete.
JoelSim:
Not tried a BH, but the Heimdall makes the Original Chord Silver Plus seem slow, overbassy and unsubtle.
On the flip side, all the nordosts in that range are classed as 'bass light'. So maybe your just used to hearing less bass now
Not tried a BH, but the Heimdall makes the Original Chord Silver Plus seem slow, overbassy and unsubtle.
On the flip side, all the nordosts in that range are classed as 'bass light'. So maybe your just used to hearing less bass now
Hi Bretty
I posted a question yesterday regarding my qed signature audio s ic's and no one has replied so far.Maybe u can?Is it worth swapping these ones with the quintessence one?Which "expensive " ic's did you use previously?
I posted a question yesterday regarding my qed signature audio s ic's and no one has replied so far.Maybe u can?Is it worth swapping these ones with the quintessence one?Which "expensive " ic's did you use previously?
robolowski:
Hi Bretty
I posted a question yesterday regarding my qed signature audio s ic's and no one has replied so far.Maybe u can?Is it worth swapping these ones with the quintessence one?Which "expensive " ic's did you use previously?
Hi, Rob, i'm guessing?
When I first got into hi fi, 2 or three years ago, I believed that price was indicative of quality, and spent pretty big money on Van Den Hul interconnects. They were rubbish. I mean REALLY bad. Not that i'm tarring all VDH with the same brush. Apparently some of their newer stuff is good. Anyway, the point being, It taught me that just because a product has a high price and is made by a big brand, doesn't automatically make it a good product.
Should you replace the QED's with the Quintessence? Absolutely, yes. I feel it will be a change for the better, and if you don't agree, send it back to SHB for a refund. You've nothing to lose, really.
Hopefully more people will try these Quintessence and post their findings, which will give more confidence in buying from a little-known company. As Will isn't willing to let the cables be reviewed in magazines, these forums are the lifeblood of the company and are key to it's success.
Hi Bretty
I posted a question yesterday regarding my qed signature audio s ic's and no one has replied so far.Maybe u can?Is it worth swapping these ones with the quintessence one?Which "expensive " ic's did you use previously?
Hi, Rob, i'm guessing?
When I first got into hi fi, 2 or three years ago, I believed that price was indicative of quality, and spent pretty big money on Van Den Hul interconnects. They were rubbish. I mean REALLY bad. Not that i'm tarring all VDH with the same brush. Apparently some of their newer stuff is good. Anyway, the point being, It taught me that just because a product has a high price and is made by a big brand, doesn't automatically make it a good product.
Should you replace the QED's with the Quintessence? Absolutely, yes. I feel it will be a change for the better, and if you don't agree, send it back to SHB for a refund. You've nothing to lose, really.
Hopefully more people will try these Quintessence and post their findings, which will give more confidence in buying from a little-known company. As Will isn't willing to let the cables be reviewed in magazines, these forums are the lifeblood of the company and are key to it's success.
6th.replicant
Well-known member
- Oct 26, 2007
- 294
- 0
- 18,890
bretty:... just because a product has a high price and is made by a big brand, doesn't automatically make it a good product...
Methinks Stanley Beresford would raise a glass to that notion.
Methinks Stanley Beresford would raise a glass to that notion.
yeah Rob...
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
robolowski:
yeah Rob...
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
Great. Well, let us know how you get on, Rob.
yeah Rob...
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
Great. Well, let us know how you get on, Rob.
robolowski:
yeah Rob...
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
I've tried a few incarnations of the SHB and been well pleased each time. Eagerly awaiting my new Q's and thinking about experimenting with CDP to Amp (acting as Pre) and then Amp to Power to try to gauge any difference/improvements.
Currently listening to: Doobie Brothers 1st album
yeah Rob...
Thanks Bretty for your feedback , you've just confirmed what i was going to do.I made my mind up and hopefully , these will replace my qed's cable and save money for future cables upgrades.
I've tried a few incarnations of the SHB and been well pleased each time. Eagerly awaiting my new Q's and thinking about experimenting with CDP to Amp (acting as Pre) and then Amp to Power to try to gauge any difference/improvements.
Currently listening to: Doobie Brothers 1st album
Thought I would post a review of my experience thus far (2 days) with my Cyrus set-up as detailed below. As a baseline reference, I ditched the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus when the SHB Synergy 2 came out, so I'm coming from an angle whereby I feel I've had two improvements from that point. I'm running the SHB Quintessence from CD to Pre with SHB Avatar from Pre to Power (going to swap after a few weeks to see what happens).
Jethro Tull - 'Pied Piper'
A mainly acoustic track and improvements were immediately apparent; parts of snare drum that I had not picked up before and mid-range far more detailed.
White Denim - 'ieiei'
This is one of my all-time favourite tracks and is a curious mixture of furious indie and acoustic splendour. The bass just poured out in a way that I hadn't heard before but it still retained the high end attack and gave much more forward vocals. The acoustic passage was amazingly detailed without being harsh (for you Cyrus haters out there!)
Army of Anyone - 'A Better Place'
Stone Temple Pilots with different singer - a laid back rock track and improvements as above all round but here I felt that although the bass was clearly more defined it lost a little of its prominence.
Miles Davis - 'Right Off' from Tribute to Jack Johnson
Heaven! Michael Henderson's bass, John Mc's guitar and Billy Cobham's drums have a level of detail here that has me in raptures; a pumping driving rhythm that makes Miles's trumpet flow in a way that I hadn't considered before. Astonishing. Twelve minutes in to this amazing tune, which I've played hundreds of times before, and Steve Grossman's sax coupled with Henderson's bass reveal a level of detail and musicality that makes me love it even more. And it goes on....
(Even if you don't acquire a pair of Quintessences, I urge you to get this album)
King's X - 'Ear Candy' album
This is one of my standard demo CDs; partly because I love it and partly because I've always found it can challenge many systems. I was surprised at the improvement here; again more detail including the bass which retained its prominence. The mid-range has often disappointed on this album but there are definite improvements.
King's X - 'Please Come Mr Bulbous'
A far more rich production than the above album but the Quintessences bring everything to the fore in a more balanced way. Jerry Gaskill's bass drum work sounds amazing!
Sufjan Stevens - 'Jacksonville' from Illinoise
An acoustic track with violins; it blew me away with the level of detail and I found myself thinking that it surely can't get better than this (until the next upgrade of course).
In summary, if you're a cyrus freak, I thoroughly recommend checking out these interconnects; amazing quality for comparitively little money in my opinion.
Jethro Tull - 'Pied Piper'
A mainly acoustic track and improvements were immediately apparent; parts of snare drum that I had not picked up before and mid-range far more detailed.
White Denim - 'ieiei'
This is one of my all-time favourite tracks and is a curious mixture of furious indie and acoustic splendour. The bass just poured out in a way that I hadn't heard before but it still retained the high end attack and gave much more forward vocals. The acoustic passage was amazingly detailed without being harsh (for you Cyrus haters out there!)
Army of Anyone - 'A Better Place'
Stone Temple Pilots with different singer - a laid back rock track and improvements as above all round but here I felt that although the bass was clearly more defined it lost a little of its prominence.
Miles Davis - 'Right Off' from Tribute to Jack Johnson
Heaven! Michael Henderson's bass, John Mc's guitar and Billy Cobham's drums have a level of detail here that has me in raptures; a pumping driving rhythm that makes Miles's trumpet flow in a way that I hadn't considered before. Astonishing. Twelve minutes in to this amazing tune, which I've played hundreds of times before, and Steve Grossman's sax coupled with Henderson's bass reveal a level of detail and musicality that makes me love it even more. And it goes on....
(Even if you don't acquire a pair of Quintessences, I urge you to get this album)
King's X - 'Ear Candy' album
This is one of my standard demo CDs; partly because I love it and partly because I've always found it can challenge many systems. I was surprised at the improvement here; again more detail including the bass which retained its prominence. The mid-range has often disappointed on this album but there are definite improvements.
King's X - 'Please Come Mr Bulbous'
A far more rich production than the above album but the Quintessences bring everything to the fore in a more balanced way. Jerry Gaskill's bass drum work sounds amazing!
Sufjan Stevens - 'Jacksonville' from Illinoise
An acoustic track with violins; it blew me away with the level of detail and I found myself thinking that it surely can't get better than this (until the next upgrade of course).
In summary, if you're a cyrus freak, I thoroughly recommend checking out these interconnects; amazing quality for comparitively little money in my opinion.
idc
Well-known member
- Jan 2, 2008
- 1,142
- 117
- 19,370
SHBs prices have risen, I believe because they can, not because of any alleged sound quality improvement. I am confident any blind tests of SHB with any other IC would back that up. Certainly the SHB Synergy2i, Choseal and my own DIY Van Damme/Neutrik ICs sound the same.
I also suspect that if the first SHB to be reviewed by WHF had been given more stars, another cable could well have been in the post already.
But I don't believe in cables anymore.
I also suspect that if the first SHB to be reviewed by WHF had been given more stars, another cable could well have been in the post already.
But I don't believe in cables anymore.
I've been using the SHB Avatar from CD to pre and from pre to monoblocs for 4 months and really like the sound. Gusboll's review is interesting, the only bit I'm confused about is that the Avatar being the lesser cable may strangle some of the detail from the Quin, so would an all Quin set up be better again as the Avatar is technically a possible weak link?
gwynne61:I've been using the SHB Avatar from CD to pre and from pre to monoblocs for 4 months and really like the sound. Gusboll's review is interesting, the only bit I'm confused about is that the Avatar being the lesser cable may strangle some of the detail from the Quin, so would an all Quin set up be better again as the Avatar is technically a possible weak link?
That will be the next experiment! From where did you arrive at the Avatars?
That will be the next experiment! From where did you arrive at the Avatars?
Was using Chord Cobra 2, always felt they cut off deep bass and over smoothed treble. Borrowed Chameleon Silver + and did a comparison against Avatars, initially felt there was little in it, but after a week the SHB suited my system better and I'm still loving the sound.
gwynne61:I've been using the SHB Avatar from CD to pre and from pre to monoblocs for 4 months and really like the sound. Gusboll's review is interesting, the only bit I'm confused about is that the Avatar being the lesser cable may strangle some of the detail from the Quin, so would an all Quin set up be better again as the Avatar is technically a possible weak link?
Absoloutely. I've tried it (Avatar Pre---Power, Quintessence CDP---Pre and vice versa), and, as you say, less detail gets through.
If your buying multiple sets, contact Will and see what he can do for you. I got a really good deal on mine.
Absoloutely. I've tried it (Avatar Pre---Power, Quintessence CDP---Pre and vice versa), and, as you say, less detail gets through.
If your buying multiple sets, contact Will and see what he can do for you. I got a really good deal on mine.
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