# Mini "review".  DH Labs Silver Sonic BL1 interconnects.



## fredpb

This is about the DH Labs Silversonic BL-1 Series II interconnect.


Click hear for DH Labs website for product information 

 These are not cheesy interconnects. They are only $100 for a 1 meter pair, and many reviewers on the web say they sound like cables 3x or 6x their price. I can see ("hear") that. 

 They are very well built, and nothing really fancy to look at.
 But they certainly have a nice sound. They do have silver plated conductors. TFE insulation, shielding, the works.

 Sound? NOT cheap! With most equipment, you will hear a vast difference over standard Radio Shack interconnects. My main comparison cable was the Straightwire Encore II interconnects, which I really like (also about $100 for a 1 meter pair).

 The Silversonics are bright. No doubt about it. They emphasize high-mids to high's. Good detail. Hard to really place detail, as the highs are emphasized that much.

 The Silversonics are like Grado headphones...brighter is better? That being your taste. The Encore II's are more like Sennheiser 600's.....delicate sound, smooth detail. Good comparison. DH Labs like the Grado's sound, the Encore II's like a 580/600.
 Both good, both different.

 If you have good equipment, the BL-1's may improve things. If you have cheaper equipment, you may hear things you don't want to hear
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 .

 I tried the BL-1's in three places:

 1) Between Acurus preamp and amp. Did not like the sound. A bit of high end glare. Too much for my taste.

 2) Between Rega Planet CD player (which already has a mild, laid back sound) and Acurus preamp. Again, just a bit much with bright CD's. Too much for my taste there.

 3) Between Acurus preamp and Pioneer CD recorder deck. Now there it has it's uses. The Pioneer, when it records, loses just a touch of bass and highs. The BL-1 there in the record line brings the highs up just about right. Not enough to have the "glare" of previous installations. I will keep the BL-1's there for a few recordings. One bright Vivaldi "Four Seasons" recording (LP) came out ok!

 I use some "laid back" speakers too, Vandersteen IICE Signatures. I think the mild "glare" of the BL-1's might be a bit much for brighter speakers.

 So the Silversonics are good interconnects, with a definite sound characteristic. Slight brightness. Of course, this may be good. I am no equipment expert. I, UGH, "just like what I like"
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 .

 It's strickly a matter of taste, not quality. The BL-1's are good interconnects, and may be fabulous for your system. They are far and away better than most other interconnects in their price range, and more. But a bit bright for me. I may still return them.
 I personally prefer my Straightwire Encore II's (no, I don't work for Straightwire). 

 You can get the BL-1 cable in bulk, very cheap (for good cable). For DIY or long cable runs, this may be an excellent option.

 Good stuff. But not for me.


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## chych

Hm so they are bright, no surprise, they use a silver plated copper conductor... I think if they removed the silver, it would be an extremely good cable.

 [shameless plug]If you want something on the opposite end of the spectrum at the $100 (new) price range, buy my Cardas 300Bs 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 [/shameless plug]


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## Audio-Me

They certainly didn't sound bright on metal/ceramic speakers, rather quite smooth and mellow. =)

 Simply put, these interconnects are the best! IMO of course.


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## dngl

For that much, you could build Silver Shark cables with WBT plugs.


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## Vertigo-1

So these things are bright then?






 *starts typing in www.audiogon.com...*


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## RickG

I'm running 1m BL-1's from my SCD-C555ES and Rega Planet to a NAD preamp. I agree that they tilt slightly to the "bright" side, but hey....I like it that way!


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## pigmode

Hmmm, is it so obviously bright? I've seen statements that _good_ silver cables aren't supposed to be so noticibly colored. Also, silver is supposed to take an ungodly amount of time to burn in. I was just about to order a pair, but I saw fred's post...


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## Audio-Me

I knew it, my speculations weren't rolling alone. Fred probably needs to break them in a LOT more. Sennheiser HD600 sounds super bright too when not broken in, so hah.


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## fredpb

Quote:


 _Originally posted by Audio&Me _
*I knew it, my speculations weren't rolling alone. Fred probably needs to break them in a LOT more. Sennheiser HD600 sounds super bright too when not broken in, so hah. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


* 
 

Hah??? Hahhhhhhh? HHHHAAAAAHHHHH?
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Break in? Wire?
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Nah! Even with any break in, these things caused enough "glare" in my system for me not to use them in most places. 

 But it all depends on equipment, media and ears. With most of my recordings the Silversonics were great. It was just that very few that were bright (and some of these were of my favorite recordings) made the music less than enjoyable. 

 I have heard that my amps (Acurus, by Mondial Designs LTD) are a bit revealing. But even with the laid back Vandersteen speakers and Rega CD player, well, they were not exactly what I wanted. 

 Granted, the Silversonics are great cables! But they were just not for me. A matter of taste. I am sure they would really flat out benefit some systems.

 I suggest to anyone buy ANY cable, buy just ONE, not a bunch, at a time. Try them out.












 Hah Indeed!


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## Audio-Me

::
 Cables have personalities huh? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



 They were tamed to me, but I guess they showed you some attitude.


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## Hirsch

Quote:


 _Originally posted by Audio&Me _
*Cables have personalities huh? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



* 
 

I certainly think so. If a component doesn't sound right to me, one of the first things I do is to try different cables. This could be my way of doing impedence matching...could even be a crude form of hardware equalization; who knows? 

 I thought the X-Can v2 was a good amp. With the right cabling, it became very good indeed. IMO the cable is every bit as important as any other component in determining the final sound of a system.


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## Vertigo-1

Quote:


 Hmmm, is it so obviously bright? I've seen statements that good silver cables aren't supposed to be so noticibly colored. Also, silver is supposed to take an ungodly amount of time to burn in. I was just about to order a pair, but I saw fred's post... 
 

You're right...actually it's 100% pure silver that's not bright. 100% silver is actually supposed to sound smooth and even warm, and definitely not bright. As chych said, the combo of copper + silver is what creates a bright sound in the BL-1s.


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## pigmode

That's good to know. I need a fairly neutral sounding IC till I can decide what I want.


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## Ctn

Ive got pure silver interconnects. Compared to copper, its slightly warmer but only very very slightly in the midrange. The top end was less harsh and it opened up quite alot.


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## Dusty Chalk

I've got pure silver interconnects. They were bright when I first got them. They're still kind of bright, but in a veil-lifted kind of way. I don't use them because they are a little light on the bass.


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## dngl

Good pure silver interconnects (just like good pure copper interconnects) are neither bright, nor warm, nor bass-shy... they are completely neutral.


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