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Telephone 01623 844478
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Customer Reviews for the Link Cryo Reference Loudspeaker cable
John Smith. Mark asked me to mention my system and I have listed it at the end for those who are interested. I am sure that you have read lots of gushing reviews about mediocre products, so please bear the following reservations in mind when reading my opinions: 1) The construction of the cable may help to dampen my ‘speakers and, therefore, work particularly well in my system. 2) I use Mark’s Cryo-Reference interconnects which may complement the speaker cable better than other products. 3) There is no substitute for auditioning a product in your own system. This cable is very neutral; it has no character and it is like the midfield player who never seems to make a mistake and is never noticed until he leaves. As I listened to the first few CDs I noticed the sound stage seemed fuller and more focussed, crescendos had more impact and the bass was tuneful and dry. When I turned to the (hitherto) problem CDs, I realized that the high frequencies were also accurate sweet and clean. This is not a cable that demands attention; it has a balanced organic sound that, although very detailed, is not fatiguing. It excels at reproducing acoustics, decay and timbre (particularly piano). If you have to choose between the interconnect and the speaker cables, I suggest buying the interconnect first as it offers the biggest improvement and any loss of information at this stage cannot be recovered downstream. System. Sony SCD 777ES – Battleship SACD/CD player Audion Golden Nights - 300B SET mono blocks Quad ESL 57s - venerable electrostatics Missing Link Cryo-Reference interconnect Missing Link Opus power cable on the SACD player
Douglas McCabe Evaluation
of The Missing Link Cryo. Ref. Speaker Cable Date: 1st - 7th April, 2004 Evaluated by:
Douglas McCabe
Equipment
Used -
Jadis Orchestra Reference amplifier -
Marantz SA-1 sacd player
-
Yamaha NS-1000 speakers -
Missing Link Cryo. Ref. Silver Interconnect -
Aural Symphony isolation platforms -
Advance Constant Voltage Transformer -
I set of 3 Aurios MIBs -
6 pairs Vibropads Music
Used
Helen
Huang piano, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Kurt Masur, Teldec
Arnie Domnerus et al, Track 10 on FIM Audiophile Reference SACD 29
All
Star Percussion Ensemble, Track 16 on FIM Audiophile Reference
SACD 29
Carol Kidd vocals, Track 13 on Carol Kidd Gold, Linn Records
Evelyn Glennie persussion, Track 1 on Light in Darkness, BMG Classics
Rodney Kettlewell piano, Pictures At An Exhibition, NBS Listen
Artists not named, Ultimate Reference CD, Wilson Audio This
evaluation was to compare a pair of the pre release Prototype Missing Link Cryo Silver speaker cables
with
my existing Voodoo silver speaker cables purchased about three years ago from
Dope
Sounds in Germany, and which were cryogenically treated three months ago.
These
are 3 metres bi-wires (with two-in-one banana connectors for single wire use)
that
cost about 450 US$ for the pair, including the cryogenic treatment.
I
realised that comparing two brands of cryogenically treated silver cables would
not be straightforward
and would depend on the music programme selected.
Silver cable, because of its inherent qualities as a conductor transmits more information than would be expected from similarly priced copper cable. However, this increase in detail comes at a price and silver conductors have a reputation for inducing a degree of hardness to the sound. This must be caused by some loss of information that determines the timbre of the sounds being reproduced. With my existing Voodoo cables I was only able to cure this when I recently replaced my Diapason Adamantes II LE speakers with a pair of vintage Yamaha NS-1000s purchased on E-Bay. This raises a very important question of speaker-cable interaction, a matter that is hardly discussed in the hifi press. The sound quality of the Yamahas combined with silver speaker cables is extremely smooth and neutral and they have an ability to resolve very fine detail and also produce all the base I want or need together with outstanding stereo imaging and an impressive sound stage.I doubt I’ll ever need to consider buying another pair of speakers. Because
I expected the two silver cables brands would sound very similar and that any differences
would be slight, it seemed that the music would have to be such as to allow
minor variations
to be clearly heard. That suggested pieces where solo instruments and small
groups of
instruments were the highlight, so items 2, 3, 5, in the list were selected.
A
solo piano piece, Rodney Kettlewell’s Pictures At An Exhibition was
included because of the combination
of delicacy and richness of the playing. Since
I enjoy listening to the female voice I
included a number by one of the all-time jazz greats, Carol Kidd, item 4 above.
Her voice has a
delicate misty quality that is unique and on this track the occasional sound of
her lip movements
and breathing should be heard. Finally, two orchestral tracks were selected,
items 1
and 7 above. Item 1 is a live
performance where slight noises from the audience can be heard
and these are very useful reference points for comparing the cables – the more
of these extraneous
micro sounds that can be detected, the more information is being transmitted.
Track 7
was selected to test for differences in the quality of the bass frequencies
reproduced. With
the exception of the Helen Huang recording, all the discs used were of
audiophile quality where
great attention had been paid to the sound engineering. I
played the Missing Link Cryo Silver cables for long periods each day for about
five days to acclimatise
myself to the sound, using a very wide range of music.
For the final part of the evaluation,
I played the selection listed above repeatedly during the penultimate day to fix
the details
of both micro sounds and overall sonic qualities in memory.
The final period involved changing
back to my own silver cables and noting differences in the sounds heard between
the two
cable models. Results
Micro sounds The
Voodoo cables produced slightly more information in that more of the micro
sounds were detected
on these compared to the Missing Link cables.
This was most evident on the live performances,
and performances where extraneous sounds could be heard, for example, on track
3, Pachabel’s Canon, where at several points the performer can just be
heard changing the
position of his or her feet. Similarly, at the beginning of High Life,
when the group is
getting ready to play, the sound of one of the players inhaling can just be
heard if one concentrates
closely. It should be stressed that the difference between the cables on this criterion
were very slight. Sound
Quality The
Missing Link cables produced a smoother and more rounded sound.
When they were replaced
with the Voodoo cables at the end, there was a slight but noticeable roughness
to the sound
compared to The Missing Link cables. The
richness of Rodney Kettlewell’s performance of Pictures At An Exhibition
was mouth
watering played through The Missing Link cables, and the fire in Helen Huang’s performance
of Mendelsohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 shone brightly and
in the second and third movements the sound of the whole orchestra showed a
significant improvement
compared to the Voodoo cables, where the wall of ensemble orchestral sound didn’t
have quite the same polish or sharpness. On
Fanfare For The Common Man, the timpani has a shimmer such that the
length and quality of
the sonic decay adds greatly to the impact of the deep base and here also The
Missing Link cables
had the edge over the Voodoos The
first track of Evelyn Glennie’s disc of avant guard pieces Light in
Darkness, where she plays
vibraphone, cymbal and cowbell, is a great test for the musicality of the sounds
being reproduced. Here also the Missing Link cables were better. Cable Build On
first sight The Missing Link cables looked insubstantial, and this impression is
the result of the
two separate cables for each channel being wrapped within a single braided
sheath. The
bayonet connectors though are very solidly built and colour coded for easy
connection. The
cables are directional and require the right pair of connectors to be connected
to the amplifier
and speaker, and although there was a red label on the pair to be attached to the
speaker, the conventional use of arrows to indicate the correct cable direction
would be an
improvement. The connection on all plugs was very
solid and tight, and the tough plastic body of the connectors looked and felt indestructible. Value
for Money The
Voodoo cables cost US$450 for a cryogenically treated 3 metre bi-wired pair.
The
Missing Link cables cost about US$1,000 for a cryogenically treated 2.5 metre
single wire pair,
which I estimate would translate to roughly US$1,400 for the same length for
bi-wired cables.
Although bi-wiring wasn’t needed for this evaluation, these figures allow me
to compare
like with like on a value-for-money basis. If
I was buying high quality, audiophile components to put a system together, and
was looking for
a high quality set of speaker cables, and if I had speakers that married well
with silver speaker
cables, there is no doubt that The Missing Link Cryo. Silver Speaker Cable would produce
a very satisfying sonic experience. If
for some reason I had cheaper copper cables in a
high end system and was looking to upgrade, then The Missing Link cables would
be high on my
list of candidates for an audition. They are smooth and they transmit great
detail, and these
cables have that rare quality among audiophile components of being so good that
you know
you can relax, forget about other cables and just get on with enjoying the
music. However,
if I already had silver speaker cables it might not be so easy to justify paying
the relatively
high price of The Missing Link cables for the increment in improvement that was undoubtedly
experienced in this comparison. But,
the same could be said when considering the
replacement of any component in a high end system. Final
Thoughts These cables were a real pleasure to audition, I wish I could afford to buy a pair and I’ll be very sorry to have to return them. Douglas McCabeArbroath
7th April, 2004
David Lau My system Musical Fidelity A308cr CD player Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista DAC 21 Musical Fidelity A308 Dual Mono Amplifier Audio Physics Tempo 3 loud speakers Stand unique sound tower rack Clearlight Audio RDC 2 cones ( amp) and RDC 3 cones (cd) The Missing Link Dark Art digital coaxial between CD and DAC The Missing Link Cryo Reference interconnect between DAC and Amplifier The Missing Link Orbit power cable for amplifier The Missing Link Opus F power cable for CD and DAC Other equipment
used Proceed transport and Dac Bill Beard Valve Integrated amplifier Final panel loud speakers Music used for
review Eva Cassidy – Songbird Norah Jones – Come Away With Me Alicia Keys – Song In A Minor Einaudi – The Einaudi Collection Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This XLO Reference Recording – Test & Burn-In CD Dido – Life For Rent Soul II Soul – Vol 4 The Classic Singles 88-93
The
Listening First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark and his team at The Missing Link for giving me this pleasure to review The Link Cryo Reference speaker cables. People who know what’s what in hi fi, knows that silver is the best conductor of electricity. Here is the interesting part. The Link Cryo reference is made of 5n 99.999% purity solid silver cores, so this will be a very interesting listening test. The audition of these speaker cables will be conducted over the period of four days. Mark has advised me that these cables have had only about eight hours of burn in, so I guess with more hours under its belt it would be more accurate to judge. Nothing prepared me for what I experienced after inserting Eva Cassidy (song bird) into my cd player. Fields of gold (Track 1) sounded so engaging; Eva’s voice is so pronounced to a point where if you close your eyes, she is singing in your living room. The sound stage is very wide without sacrificing image. The music just flowed with ease as if I were using electro static panel speakers with each note starting and stopping as they were recorded. The ambient noise floor is very low to a degree where I can hear the room’s acoustic echo within the studio where Eva recorded her material. One thing I did notice very easily is that, these speaker cables at the higher part of the frequency spectrum, produced notes that I’ve never come across before. In other words, it was reproducing much more of the music. On the Einaudi (track 9, two sunsets), the piano and the violin sounded so detailed and precise. I could hear the echo of each note disappearing within the body of the piano and the push and drag used on the violins bow. During the rest of the track, I just look over to my other half with eyes wide open and asked her, “Did you hear those water drops in the music????” She replied “NO, what water drops???” As they do. With delight, there it was again, faintly way back in the music. By now, I had a big grin on my face and the water drops were assured by my gal. This indicates the capability of the cable to reveal very fine details within the music. And finally, I put the cables through the pace of some room shaking stuff to see if the lower end performance matches up to the mids and highs I witnessed. Soul II Souls (Keep on movin’) is my all time best test track for good old solid bass. Wow with a capital W. Not only did the bass have more body and volume, but because we have more clearer mids and higher highs, the whole music piece sounded so natural. With bass to kill for without it being too overwhelming. Solidness of the bass could be felt with a big thud without too much of bass extension. All of these findings were acknowledged by my other half who doesn’t agree with my hi fi expenditure and has promised to buy me a set of these cables, now that’s something, hah???? JJJ I could go on and on with different pieces of music, but to conclude this write up, I would say that these cables are very revealing with dynamics and rhythm to kill for. Timing and pace are just spot on with all kinds of music you throw at it. In my mind The Link Cryo Reference speaker cables has matched any branded cables at any price. And yes, I have put my name down for a set. I’m happy to answer any questions regarding this write up and can be contacted via E-mail at davidlau@fonesolution.com. Many thanks, David Lau J
If you
are interested in reviewing any of our products please feel free to contact Janet
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