[mintzar]

$1200 bucks! Are they made out of gold!? I heard that from my buddy Earl once or twice. You know, the guy with bolts in his neck, two teeth, and tin ear. The one you warn your friends about. Yeah, that guy.

Earl told me about his cables: they have fifty-nines pure solid core copper electro-cryo-servo-cooked on his time machine. Everyone says they?re the bee?s knees. Oh? you?ve heard that one before? So have I. 

So what possibly could I have to say about these KCI Silkworm Plusses? Jeez! Ladies, be patient and let me take you on a bit of a journey! Close your eyes? OK, open them because if you don?t you can?t read my review. Your speakers are in the other room, people! Let?s be visual for a second and do some reading.

Let?s just say I have been around the block with cables. No really, I?ve probably had enough 1 meter interconnects and speaker cables to go all the way around the block. Twice.

Here are a few I?ve had in my system:

Cardas (golden reference ICs, golden cross speaker cables)
Transparent (super, ultra, reference mm2 in my system ? through opus on other systems)
Tara Labs (The ONE),
Goertz (Boa MI-3, Tourmaline ICs)
Audioquest
Virtual Dynamics (Master, revelation, and Genesis),
Morrow Audio (MA3)
Speltz Anti-cables
Nordost (Valhalla)
KCI Silkworm+

The pile of green needed to pay for some of these cables is pretty mountainous. Some are more expensive than others obviously. All of them, however, are over priced. Don?t get me started about Transparent and their turtle cables.

So yes, all over priced. Except for one: The KCI Silkworm+. If I told you about the construction of any of the other cables you would understand what I mean, markup on some of those cables is ridiculous. Again, call me if you want to know more.

So finally WHAT?S THE DEAL WITH THESE EFFIN SILKWORMS?

I am not easily impressed with cables. I?ve used a lot of them. Some do things better than others.  Ultimately it?s which cable does more of what is better. My reference has been Tara labs because they were extended and neutral, I didn?t feel like I was listening to the cable. They have excellent bass control, a wide/deep soundstage that is clear, solid and easily intelligible. Details are present and natural without roll-off. They WERE basically what a cable should be, and they did what a cable should do: get out of the freakin way! The Tara Labs were $3500 cables. Let me be frank: The KCIs are my new benchmark for interconnect performance.

The KCIs are the most beautiful-sounding cables I have ever listened to. John calls them warm, but I generally correlate warm cables with rolled-off highs. Highs are present, natural and beautifully articulate. The cable is fast without being forward. The soundstage is huge and breathes with uncompressed freedom. They have ebb and flow that is both engaging, relaxing, hefty, and emotionally involving. I have never, with all of the cables that I have listened to, been so emotionally charged by listening to my system. A cable has never made me smile, cry, or laugh quite like this relatively trivial upgrade has made me do. They are extremely lively, and capture the richness and vast harmonic structure of music unlike any other component I?ve had the privilege of listening to. They are clearer than my Tara Labs, and have a sound that I can only describe as ?real?.

The Tara Labs may have a slightly deeper soundstage. But what is amazing is that I don?t feel like I am missing anything with the KCIs. Just getting more music.

I should probably make a comment about build quality. While I?m sure some of you will prefer Earl?s cables for their amazingness. I made that word up. It was needed to describe Earl?s cables. Good word. Anyways? The Silkworm+ build quality is superb. They come vacuum packed and in a nice set of overkill packaging. The cables themselves use the glorious Xhadow connectors, which in and of themselves are a work of audio art. The cables are solid and well built, not flimsy like Morrow cables. I was recommended not to move them once plugged in, as the solid 24karat gold tends to be finicky and hyper sensitive in terms of being moved.

John Prator, the genius behind the KCI curtain -- or rather lackthereof -- is a great guy, truly a good human being. He impressed me greatly with his kind heart and excellent service. When I purchased these cables he shipped them out and I got them a day later. He?s passionate and is too nice for his own good. I was offered no deals for writing this review. I was merely enamored by their performance and felt obligated to write something for him.

Any questions feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call. I will gladly describe the other cables I?ve used and give you both a technical and audible comparison of anything I mentioned.

[Rx8man]

You said it well Mintzar !!

These interconnects are smokin' good and deserve much recognition as such.

In the world of audio cables John must have known he was to face  fierce competition, but with his awesome listening and creative skills, he beat those odds  aa

I never had cables that sounded so much like real music until now 

Way to go John 

 

[KCI-JohnP]

Mintzar,
Wow, thank you for the kind words-you're too kind sir! I tried to post in your review on Audiogon, but of course they won't put up my post, so I'm thanking you here. Please let me know if I can do anything else for you.

Best,
John

[AlanB]

I can only echo the first post.  Best cable I have ever heard and mine are still burning in at 150 hours.  One of the things not noted is their ability to make one more aware of notes being played louder/softer.  Until you actually hear this phenomenon you are not aware of it on well played and (you think) familiar discs.  It's all sounds so natural and dare I say controlled.  None of those crunching bass notes and crashing treble that make you jump out of your chair - everything is there but in a beautifully rendered way.
I would also agree with the comments made about the manufacturer John Prator.  I live in the UK and John kept me up to date on the progress of my cable and the service was topped by him posting in the States on the Friday and I received in the Uk on the following Monday.  UK dealers rarely match that!!  He has also been in touch to ensure I'm happy.  Brilliant in every way.
Anyone tried his power cable?

[mintzar]

Yeah, John is a great guy. He has some of the best customer service out there. I was able to give his Current, Current+, and Merlin power cables a listen also. They also had the KCI sound. PM me for more information.

[KCI-JohnP]

Hi Alan,

Welcome to Audiocircle!  Thank you for the kind words on the Silkworm, I'm very happy to hear that you are enjoying them. I do make power cords but I have to be honest and say that they are great power cords but I specalize(sp?) in interconnects.

Again, thanks for the kind words and please let me know if you have any questions or requests.

Best,
John

[poseidonsvoice]

There is one other cool thing about John. If you are a customer, you are a customer for life. That's right, he takes care of you right away. I have a 2 meter pair of balanced KCI Mandarinas which are excellent sounding. I knew in the future that I would upgrade to at least the Silkworm, if not Silkworm+. Needless to say, John has a nice tradeup program to take care of you. And he'll test my cables, burn them in on the AudioDharma and ship them to the next fella.

You really can't ask more than that.

Anand.

[pbrstreetgang]

Agree and I love KCI cables. They have some very nice sounding and reasonable Powercords. I am using them on two of my components. I have a silkworm and Mandarina set of cables and thinking about going with all silkworms or the +

[Audioclyde]

Another thrilled customer here regarding John's Silkworm+ i/c's!!  Plus John is great to deal with.

I was one of the lucky winner's of John's 'scratch & dent' sale on the 'Gon (but my pair of cables look fabulous, so I can't see how they could look any better cosmetically).  I have been and still am a big Cardas fan, have Golden Cross and more recently the Golden Presence (which I prefer over the GC by the way), but John's cables are just even more musical and the soundstage is amazing!!!

A very public "Thanks" John   !!

Randy

[KCI-JohnP]

Hey Randy,

Just caught your post, didn't know you were a member here on AC. I need to get out more, lol. I'm glad you're enjoying them and when you get a chance give me a call about the speaker cables.

John

[jbtrio]

I to am a very happy customer. John upgraded my Silkworm SE to the SE+. They need a little more time, but are sounding wonderful.

Also, John is one of the good Guys and really cares about his customers!

Thanks John,
Joe

[AlanB]

I couldn't resist it.  I loved the standard Silkworms so much I just had to go for the Silkworm +.
Just received email from John (with pictures of them) that my cables have been made and have to go for cooking - cryo - and more cooking.  I sent my standard Silkworms back to him and my God do I miss them.  My system now sounds lifeless and unbalanced after the the Silkworm experience.  Can't wait for the new +'s to arrive and start listening to real music again.....dare I say after the l-o-n-g burn in.

Stop Press.....4 March.....they arrive today. Can't wait to get these babies plugged in.