[vr8]

What do you think of VSA standard and signature  cables and interconnects?

[ceedee]

Hi VR 8,

I don't have to think, I know for sure,... they are very good.

Ritch, harmonic, full of detail, holographic, silent and over all very musical.

Just try and enjoy the music.

Regards,

Cor

p.s. do you realy have a set of VR 8?

[JackD201]

The Standards are good and hold their own. The Signature are the star of the show though at least to folks like me that want as much information to be passed through with the least possible sonic emphasis of their own. I've also found that the signatures work well with all the speakers and amps I have on hand. As Cor says they are rich in harmonics and timbre but still manage to have a neutral tonal balance.

For phono to preamp however I recommend that you request the specially shielded version. There is no extra cost for this option. If you live in a high RF area like I do, being surrounded by 2 AM Radio stations and 1 FM station, it is a godsend. Otherwise, source to pre or pre to amp ICs already have excellent RFI/EMI rejection.

[Delacroix]

I have a pair of the VSA standards which I've used with both a  low powered tube amp and massive Class D monos to good effect. The Sigs might be better, I don't know but I can say the fit and finish of the standards are top class and the sound with my VR5s is very very good. The fact that I have a pair of dedicated cables designed to take advantage of the peculiarities of my mono set up means the VSA cables don't get an uninterrupted run in my system but frankly, I'd be in no rush to get the Sigs if I was using the Standards routinely. They just don't seem as if they need upgrading.

[stong]

Thanks guys for your feedbacks on VSA cables.

Please advise ,any links,write-up or photos on this VSA cables ?

Regards.

[ceedee]

Hi Stong,

see the link:

www.musicalreality.nl

Scroll down and see a picture of the masterbuilt biwire.

Regards,

Cor

[Delacroix]

Thanks guys for your feedbacks on VSA cables.

Please advise ,any links,write-up or photos on this VSA cables ?

Regards.

Stong -- there are still some pics and comments on the cables on an earlier thread here from last year:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=61031.0

Best

APD

[stong]

Thanks Cor and Delacroix for the information and the AC's user personal reviews. It is an interesting read.
Appreciated that !!

Hope VSA will put forward more info on their cables product especially for the Signature Speaker's cable.

Thanks again.

Regards.

[Delacroix]

Agree, the cables are not exactly easy to find but you might have better luck contacting VSA directly for info and availability. Or perhaps one of the dealers here can give you some info on pricing and options?

[es347]

Here's an excerpt from an email that Albert sent me.  I'm sure he won't mind my sharing:

The metal that Delphi Aerospace engineers use is Single Crystal Copper, laboratory-grade 99.99999% pure with Foamed-Teflon insulation.  This is similar to the metal being used by a few other companies, but the Delphi stranding technology is patented, using a helix wind/counter-wind on the positive and negative conductors.....the 16 strand is the “standard” version, but there is also a 32 strand “Signature” version for $5,000.  That is the cable that Martin Colloms, Greg Weaver, Gary Lea, and now Jonathan Valin all used in their reviews of our Uni 3 and VR-5A speaker systems.  In his VR-5A review, Martin Colloms said the VR-5 A sounded better biwired with our Master-Built VSA cables than the single wire Transparent Audio cables ($15,000/pr.!!!).

[es347]

Some of you may know that I own a pair of Verbatim biwires that I bought last year and am very impressed with their sound as are many other folks who have heard them.  Well I just finished fabricating a pair of 8 ft. biwires based on the Verbatim design.  I used 2" .012 copper ribbon that I insulated with clear heat shrink tubing and terminated with Viablue connectors.  The ends of the cables are made up of laminated .032 OFC copper that I cut on a bandsaw and secured with copper rivets.  I did this to maintain the ampacity of the ribbon (approximately the same as #8 copper wire) as shown in the attached picture.  I just hooked it up in my 2ch system so it will have to break in but out of the gate it sounds very very good.  I firmly believe what sets the Verbatims apart is their huge surface area that reduces skin effect.  According to the "experts" skin effect somehow increases the apparent resistance of the cable...don't quote me on that since I have only scanned some of the papers on line.  At any rate, the Verbatims do seem to let a lot of high freq and bass information through that many cables simply do not.

I have a golden eared friend coming over this next week to help me compare these cables to the venerable Verbatims.  I'll post the results.  I can tell you that these things are a booger to build, both tin snipping the .012 ribbon ends and cutting out the .032 laminates on my band saw; drilling and riveting, etc.  I have about $400 in parts alone so I have gained a whole new appreciation for cable pricing although let's face it...some of that exotic stuff out there sports a ludicrous price tag.  Stay tuned.

[Delacroix]

Gavin -- love the whole DIY approach (been building some small integrated tube amps this year and even running my VR5s with them for kicks . Am definitely not keen on building my own cables but those copper ribbons just look really intriguing -- do keep us posted on the sonics. Where did you purchase the ribbon and how hard is it to work with for folks without power tools?

[es347]

Hey Delacroix,

Building these is a real pain trust me.  I had to buy a bandsaw to cut the .032 plate and it was tedious x24 (the number I had to cut out).  Also a pop rivet tool that I have never owned.  Even though it took forever, it was pretty satisfying.  The sound so far is great but haven't A/B'd with the Verbatims, not something I'm looking forward to...swapping out is no easy task.  My audio buddy is coming over in the near future to hear them and I will report back.

[blownrx7]

VR8, sorry for derailing this thread but I really feel the prices asked for some cables are beyond ludicrous (that includes the VS cables - sorry).
Yes, you'll  hear differences (real and imagined) but you'll be far better off putting so much of your money elsewhere - like electronics and room acoustics.

Kudos to es347 for going the DIY route - VERY NICE! You just built $2000 cables (probably a lot more if you sell your soul;-)  Ditto on the request for material sources and exactly how you terminated the end in the connector and any more details on the sound quality/characteristic.

VR8: Read some reviews, determine which way you like your sound in a very general contextual sense - i.e detailed vs rich, solid state vs tube etc, and shop for the cables that would put you nearer that sound BUT DON'T pay the price of some very nice complete systems to do it - certainly NOT four figure prices!