Audiotechnique Magazine - August 2005                                   by David Kan

Equipment Review ( Translated from Chinese )          

 

Heavy Duty Equipment Rack.  Lower Box made of 3” thick 9 layer high density plywood, with veneer as outer layer.  Upper boards are 2’ solid wood.    Piega C10’s ribbon tweeter & midrange are fast sounding and clear, same with the Cryoclear Silver 2 cable.

Before he started using Silver-2, Richard had experience with several power cords:   Cardas Hexlink 5, Belden 83802 (DIY), and Cardas Golden Reference.   In this comparison evaluation, cables are swapped on the CD Player & Preamp only.   The power amps were fitted with Silver-2 throughout the test.

 

Richard chose 5 pieces of music:

 

Rebecca Pidgeon – Spanish Harlem (Chesky), to test female vocal and bass cello.   With Hexlink, the sound was cloudy & wooly, and a poor separation between vocal and instruments.   The Belden was open, but instruments were hard and stiff, vocal was very forward sounding.   The Golden Reference and Silver-2 were both “airy and open”, vocal was smooth, sweet and so intimate that you almost feel the singer’s breath.   Excellent instrument separation was maintained with both cables.  The Golden Reference was a little smoother, whereas the Silver-2 was able to tighten the bass a little better.

 

Benjamin Britten – Noye’s Fludde (DECCA), to test soundstage and instrument separation.   The Hexlink was very dull overall.   The Golden Reference was wide and open, the Belden and Silver-2 both excelled in very taut bass, with the drums and barrels (rolling on stage) sounding very realistic and three-dimensional.  (Richard complained that the preamp lacked bass control, which I somewhat disagreed with. His system gave one of the best performances of Noye’s Fludde I have ever heard).

 

 

Sarasate: Carmen Fantasie – Mutter/Levine/VPO (DGG), to test the liveliness and texture of violin.  Hexlink and Belden were at two extremes, the former was fat & cloudy, the latter was hard & metallic sounding.  Golden Reference and Silver-2 were both able to deliver the inner details of the violin.   Golden Reference was again a little smoother, and the Silver-2 excelled on clarity.

 

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8, OP. 13 (Manger).   This is a German demonstration CD.  Hexlink and Belden were distorting the system’s neutrality, the former was plasticky & unclear, the latter is hard and fast, lacking resonance.  Golden Reference gave a very neutral & realistic performance, while the Silver-2 delivered the same with faster transient response.

 

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring – Maazel / Cleveland Orchestra (Telarc).   According to Richard, his system excels with this type of music.  When everything is done right, instruments should be properly placed, and yet no one should stand out. The big orchestral sound should be a command performance of arresting grandeur, and yet not “in your face”. The Belden achieved what ought not to be achieved.   The Hexlink made a half-hearted attempt with little substance.   The Golden Reference and Silve-2 both did a wonderful job, and the Silver-2 brushed up the brass to a shiny gloss.

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Web Address: www.cryoclear.com

 

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