# [REVIEW]: The Silver Poison: Pure, Cyro-Treated, Silver Cable For In-Ear Monitors From Toxic Cables



## Kunlun

*Synopsis:  *Toxic Cables’ Silver Poison are top-tier, pure silver upgrade cables for custom in-ear monitors. They sound beautiful, combining smoothness and presence with the superior detail silver cables are known for.  An attractive, classy look and high-quality build complement the sound. For a very competitive price of £155 and Toxic Cables’ responsive customer service the Silver Poison is perfect for those wishing to get the most from their custom in-ear monitors.
  
  
  
*Introduction: *The first step for anyone wanting to step into high-end portable audio is to choose the right earphones for you. After that, there’s more you can do to help your earphones reach their full potential. These include having the right digital-audio player and possibly a portable amp. What lies between your earphones and your music player is the cable. I can’t answer for anyone else, but for me, the differences between cables can be clear. I don’t want to exaggerate the effect of an upgrade cable, but I can say that I certainly hear an audible difference. It won’t make one earphone sound like a different one, but it can certainly give that little extra improvement which can make all the difference to an audiophile. And they can look phenomenal.
  
  
*History: *I started looking at upgrade cables when I bought my first custom in-ear monitor. From the beginning, I was interested both in getting the best sound, but also in working with people I could trust. Frank at Toxic Cables has been making a splash in portable audio with his very nice cables and (importantly for me) very responsive customer service. He and I started talking and he offered me a pre-production sample of his flagship ciem cable, the Silver Poison, for review. I’m mentioning this because I like to talk about how I received the products I review. I think it adds to the validity of my reviews to be totally upfront. That way you know you’re getting an honest review.
  
  
*The Silver Poison:* The Silver Poison is a cyro-treated, pure  stranded AWG 26 OCC silver cable with a small percentage of gold. The gold is a bit interesting. Frank tells me that it varies in the tests he does on every batch between 0.6% and .09%. It’s just a small amount and I can’t say what difference it makes in the sound, but it is worth noting.
  
  
*Options: *There are quite a number of options for terminations on the Silver Poison. Here are a few, but if you have any questions or want something special, just email Frank personally: Info.toxic.cables at gmail.com
  
 Cables will come as standard with mini Viablue 3.5mm jacks, following option/upgrades available,
 Viablue 3.5mm (large) + FREE
 Oyaide gold plated + £8
 Oyaide gold plated R/A + £8
 Oyaide rhodium + £12
 Oyaide rhodium R/A +£12
 Neutrik R/A + FREE
 Valab Carbon Fibre 3.5mm + FREE
 RSA + FREE
 Basso + £10 (Gold plated contacts)
 TRRS + FREE
 My Silver Poison has the standard mini Viablue 3.5mm jack and it’s quite nice.
  
  
*Appearance and Usability : *

  


The new clear connector overmolds look great.

 This is a beautiful cable. Pictures don’t fully do this cable justice. It looks better than my other silver cables and it’s very classy and really draws appreciative looks. Importantly, it manages to be a bit slimmer, lighter, and more flexible than some other upgrade cables I’ve seen. This is key in making the Silver Poison a very usable cable for real portable audio, travelling, commuting, or staying in home or office. While not as flexible and with a bit more spring than a stock cable, it is quite nice and it lies comfortably over the ear. All in all, it’s a step up in usability from most high-end upgrade cables.
  
  
*Durabilty: *As I like to remind people: The cable is one of the most likely parts of a portable audio set-up to fail: Try to treat your cable well. Having said that, I subjected the Silver Poison to a no-holds-barred NYC subway commuting schedule and it has held up perfectly. Frank takes pride in his work and it really shows. This is a very well crafted cable, from top to bottom.
  
  
*Gear: *Before I mention the sound, I should describe the other parts of my portable set-up. I have the Futuresonics MG6Pro, which uses a 13mm dynamic driver with a variable vent system for low-frequency response. I ran it out of a TTVJ Slim amp and a 5.5 gen ipod classic.
  
  
*Sound: *I let my cable burn-in for about 125 hours to cover my bases before giving it a thorough listen, so keep that in mind.
  
 While further comparisons with other cables may be coming in the future, for now I wanted to compare the Silver Poison with the standard stock cable. I was recently speaking with the head of a custom iem company and he said that a single company supplies stock cables for all major custom iem manufacturers. There are some options for appearance and terminations, etc., but they are all the same basic cable. So, let’s see how the Silver Poison does against it. Let me say that the differences are most obvious when I allowed my ears to be accustomed to the stock cable for a day and then went back to the Silver Poison.
  
 Overall, the big differences are in detail, presence and balance. I’ll explain what I mean for each.
  
 For detail, I hear a step up in detail resolution across the whole frequency spectrum for the Silver Poison. It’s a nice effect and this is a big part of why someone would choose a silver cable like the Silver Poison. As a side note, the Silver Poison is a little more detailed than the original Fortis pure silver cable I've reviewed a while back as well.
  
 Presence was an unexpected improvement for me. What I mean is that when I carefully compared the stock and Silver Poison, the stock cable sounded recessed somewhere in the upper mids/lower treble vocal sweet spot range. The Silver Poison sounds more present and more alive in that range. It’s interesting and it’s very nice.
  
 The Silver Poison sounds more smooth and balanced as well. Smoothness with detail might be the nicest part of the Silver Poison’s sound. The stock cable tended to sound a bit rougher and peakier. A big part of the balance is a reduction of the slight mid-bass swell that the stock cable seems to have. This helps to give the Silver Poison a better sense of bass extension.
  
 The sum effect of these differences in detail, presence and balance is that music sounds more real—that’s the detail—and alive—that’s the balance and presence.
  
  
*Conclusion: *The Toxic Cables’ Silver Poison makes a great upgrade from a custom iem’s stock cable. With added detail and living presence to the music, plus better balance and smoothness, it’s audibly a better sounding cable. It also looks beautiful and it’s very well made. I’m very happy with this cable. The Silver Poison is going to be the audiophile’s go-to choice for top performance and a very competitive price.


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## Kunlun

Comparison between the Silver Poison and TWAg.


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## iamdacow

Great review!! Have you tried the cable on a B.A CIEM like the 8a yet??


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## blazer78

I thought silver poison came standard with clear overmold connectors to the earpieces? In anycase, great review! i'm looking forward to my silver poison cables that should be shipping out this week (my 3rd week of waiting!) and also looking forward to my 8.A's whenever they arrive lol =)


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## Cassadian

Quote: 





blazer78 said:


> I thought silver poison came standard with clear overmold connectors to the earpieces? In anycase, great review! i'm looking forward to my silver poison cables that should be shipping out this week (my 3rd week of waiting!) and also looking forward to my 8.A's whenever they arrive lol =)


 
   
  It does.  The black overmoulded connectors were for the prototypes.


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





iamdacow said:


> Great review!! Have you tried the cable on a B.A CIEM like the 8a yet??


 

 Yes. I think the Silver Poison has a very nice synergy with my 8.A. The balance and presence of the Silver Poison make for a good match.


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





blazer78 said:


> I thought silver poison came standard with clear overmold connectors to the earpieces? In anycase, great review! i'm looking forward to my silver poison cables that should be shipping out this week (my 3rd week of waiting!) and also looking forward to my 8.A's whenever they arrive lol =)


 
  Sorry, but there was a slight delay with my overmoulders, i had found out after i had given the first few who pre ordered a 3 week wait time, The cables should start shipping around the 25th, i hope.
   
  You should have received an email from me, if you did not then please accept my apologies.
   
  AllI the OM connectors will be in clear, other then the translucent black cables.
   
  Thanks for the review, Christopher, enjoyed reading it.


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## blazer78

Quote: 





toxic cables said:


> Sorry, but there was a slight delay with my overmoulders, i had found out after i had given the first few who pre ordered a 3 week wait time, The cables should start shipping around the 25th, i hope.
> 
> You should have received an email from me, if you did not then please accept my apologies.
> 
> ...


 
   
  I did not receive an email, but thanks for the update! (Still waiting for my heir audio 8.A's, so even if I received it, I wouldn't be able to use it yet haha)
   
  But I'm very intrigued about the differences as heard by Kunlun and hope that I will be able to differentiate the stock and silver poison cables as well. I will definately post my review when they arrive


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## Staal

Great read as always. Cannot wait to receive the Silver Poison IEM cable I ordered after having auditioned the "Scorpion". 
   
  I've posted a link to your review in my thread on the Scorpion. The thread can be found here if anyone should be curious about that cable: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615171/the-toxic-cables-scorpion-occ-copper-iem-cable-review


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## racoiaw

will you be comparing them with other cables? like the silver dragon or the twag cable? 
   
  was wondering how they fare against similar silver cables


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## kenman345

Thanks for your review man, Added to the Aftermarket IEM cables list in my signature.


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## jasonho

Nice review!  I am waiting for mine to arrive....


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## iamdacow

How's the microphonics of the cable??


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





staal said:


> Great read as always. Cannot wait to receive the Silver Poison IEM cable I ordered after having auditioned the "Scorpion".
> 
> I've posted a link to your review in my thread on the Scorpion. The thread can be found here if anyone should be curious about that cable: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615171/the-toxic-cables-scorpion-occ-copper-iem-cable-review


 
  Awesome.
   
  Quote: 





racoiaw said:


> will you be comparing them with other cables? like the silver dragon or the twag cable?
> 
> was wondering how they fare against similar silver cables


 
  We'll see about some comparisons. However, I have two silver cables, an earlier pure silver cable and the original Fortis pure silver cable. Where the Silver Poison beats both of them is usability and sound. The Silver Poison has very nice detail while maintaining great smoothness, that's what sets it apart for me.
   
  Quote: 





kenman345 said:


> Thanks for your review man, Added to the Aftermarket IEM cables list in my signature.


 
  Thanks!


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





jasonho said:


> Nice review!  I am waiting for mine to arrive....


 
  You'll enjoy it, I'm sure. Keep in mind that I let mine burn in 125 hours. I think you'll find that the sound comes alive fully then.
  Quote: 





iamdacow said:


> How's the microphonics of the cable??


 
  Not even on my radar. Very low.


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## Xymordos

My own DIY one needs quite some burn in to reach its full potential, keep using it!


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## Cassadian

I realize I asked you this before. But considering you've now had a chance to fully audition the cable, do you believe that the percentage of gold content adds any differentiation to the sound then what would be expected from a pure silver cable. Chances are it isn't the reason for the additional detail considering gold has a higher resistivity value in addition to other properties but seems to be quite similar to copper in its characteristics with a slightly higher resistivity value (Ag < Cu < Au). Does the gold add any analogue-like properties that copper is known for etc?


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## Xymordos

The gold likely improved the bass. The difference between this cable and other silver cables is that this one has very fast, detailed, textured, though slightly aggressive bass. The bass will always be there in the music, unlike other silver cables which often have sloppy or little bass. There is good depth but I heard better. The resolution of this cable is uncomparable to any other cable I've heard.


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





cassadian said:


> It does.  The black overmoulded connectors were for the prototypes.


 
  Yes they were. I did have some more made with black for those who would prefer it.


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## maguire

Kabelmeister, your website does not have the iem cables listed? Can you make for UM Recessed sockets?


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





maguire said:


> Kabelmeister, your website does not have the iem cables listed? Can you make for UM Recessed sockets?


 
  You can email me for details and pre ordering, they will be listed once i have the final production units in hand. Yes they will fit UM Recessed sockets.


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## maguire

Thank you Frank


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## maguire

Great review as always Kunlun, how does this cable compare with the silver Fortis in bass?
   I see you mentioned Silver Poison is better in Detail and even smoothness.
  I have just received my  Silver Fortis, and another upgraded cable also silver, from the same maker, which I  find is a little more detailed and seems to deal with the bottom end better for my Miracle.
  I have found the original Silver Fortis to be a good  match with my Merlin.


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## maguire

I sure would like to try the Silver Poison one day myself and hear how it compares......Yes Frank is sure making some top quality cables.....
  He has quite a range it seems , kinda makes you want to get all of them really.........


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## Kunlun

I've updated the review with the standard, still excellent price.


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## Kunlun

The clear connector overmolds are in!
   
  I've updated the review with a picture of them and I'll post a few extra pictures here:
   

   
   

   
  Looks very nice, I'd say.


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## blazer78

Quote: 





kunlun said:


> The clear connector overmolds are in!
> 
> I've updated the review with a picture of them and I'll post a few extra pictures here:
> 
> ...


 
   
  Thats beautiful! Still need to wait 2 weeks for mine though 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I can hardly wait. =P


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





blazer78 said:


> Thats beautiful! Still need to wait 2 weeks for mine though
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
  Thanks.


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





toxic cables said:


> Cables are now here and will start shipping this week, i hope to have all  60 or so pre orders shipped within the next 2 weeks.


 

 Very good news. When people get their Silver Poison cables, they can post their impressions in this thread.


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## cogsand gears

Those clear overmoulds really look fantastic Frank. I especialy like the trans blue SPC peering through it!


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## maguire

Quote: 





cogsand gears said:


> Those clear overmoulds really look fantastic Frank. I especialy like the trans blue SPC peering through it!


 
  X2


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





blazer78 said:


> Thats beautiful! Still need to wait 2 weeks for mine though
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
  Your cable will go out this coming week, along with the rest of the 60+ pre orders, will be making the pre order cables all weekend.


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## Craigerz

Frank...
   
  What lengths do these come in? Also, are the clear overmolds in?


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## Toxic Cables

They are sold in only 48" currently, but are actually 49-50".
   
  All cables are shipping with clear connectors, other then the translucent black wires, which ship with black connectors.


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## Craigerz

Quote: 





toxic cables said:


> They are sold in only 48" currently, but are actually 49-50".
> 
> All cables are shipping with clear connectors, other then the translucent black wires, which ship with black connectors.


 
   
  How do I go about buying one?


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## Toxic Cables

Quote: 





craigerz said:


> How do I go about buying one?


 
  Send me a PM with your email address and what you want, and i will email you the price and details of how to make payment.
   
  You can also find my email, on my profile.
   
  I accept PayPal and Google Checkout.


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## blazer78

Quote: 





toxic cables said:


> Your cable will go out this coming week, along with the rest of the 60+ pre orders, will be making the pre order cables all weekend.


 
   
  Thanks Frank, looking forward to receiving them!


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## tupac0306

Fantastic looking toxic silver cable!  Great finish! Great flexibility. Love it very much. Also very decent and responsive service too!  Screw Twag! Thanks a lot to Frank.


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## cogsand gears

Quote: 





tupac0306 said:


> Fantastic looking toxic silver cable!  Great finish! Great flexibility. Love it very much. Also very decent and responsive service too!  Screw Twag! Thanks a lot to Frank.


 
  Looks great with your super bling CIEM's!
  PITA to capture the silver cable well in photos.
  Hows the SQ?


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## tupac0306

Quote: 





cogsand gears said:


> Looks great with your super bling CIEM's!
> PITA to capture the silver cable well in photos.
> Hows the SQ?


 
  Thanks man.
   
  JH audio never send back my stock cable when I sent it back for repair. So I don't have a stock cable to compare. But by memory, I think the cable adds more depth in the soundstage of JH16 and brighten the treble a little bit.


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## Toxic Cables

Those arrived quick, i didn't expect them to be delivered till Monday. Glad you like them.


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





tupac0306 said:


> Fantastic looking toxic silver cable!  Great finish! Great flexibility. Love it very much. Also very decent and responsive service too!  Screw Twag! Thanks a lot to Frank.


 

 It really does look great, nice pictures. Post your impressions here whenever you like.


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## clone1008

Nice write up...thanks


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





clone1008 said:


> Nice write up...thanks


 

 You're welcome!


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## jasonho

Here's mine....thanks Frank..


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## elysium1230

Got my silver poison
   
  superb build quality and looks classy
  it gives smoother, fuller and balanced sound


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## Kunlun

Quote: 





elysium1230 said:


> Got my silver poison
> 
> superb build quality and looks classy
> it gives smoother, fuller and balanced sound


 

 That's it in a nutshell.


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## Kunlun

Comparison between the Silver Poison and the TWAg.


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## Chromorifhia

Im soon gonna order this cable but dont understand all the options:
   
  Viablue 3.5mm (large) + FREE
 Oyaide gold plated + £8
 Oyaide gold plated R/A + £8
 Oyaide rhodium + £12
 Oyaide rhodium R/A +£12
 Neutrik R/A + FREE
 Valab Carbon Fibre 3.5mm + FREE
 RSA + FREE
 Basso + £10 (Gold plated contacts)
 TRRS + FREE
  
  If someone could explain the different options.
   
   
  Thx


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## Toxic Cables

They are options for different terminations. The cables come as standard with a mini Viablue plug, which in my opinion is the best mini currently available, which is why i use them.


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## sensui123

Yes the viablues sure are nice, but those rhodium oyaide are just so sexy imo.....great option Frank is offering.


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## InfiniteGene

Any one pair a freqphased JH16 with silver poison?


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## ScreenKiller

just bought one on the market here with rhodium plated Oyade plug.
 will keep you guys posted.
 But they look so amazing.
 still a little steep for a cable.


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## Whazzzup

I have an hpa8 fostex and th900 and the cheapest usb cable to man kind. Music sounds great, matter of fact, better with each hour of burn in. however after much research, counter to what even fostex usa suggested, that its just packets of 1 and 0, doesnt matter. I have gone ahead and orderd from japan oyade continental 5s, will post the test when it arrives next week. Man they spend a lot from jewellery grade silver coating to silk..... I figure after much research that the effort put in does seem to effect the wave shape of the packets, or  improvement of transmission characteristics, this effects what we hear, seems to be validated by lots of folks. we shall see. for that matter i will disclose a test of Furman AC-215A Power Conditioner, another contentious debate as to whether quieting the ac signal noise actually effects what we hear. regardless where im at, surge and other protection is needed. 
 so i shall admit at this point that a will continue to pepper the economy with cash but have stopped short of lightspeed cable price of 1200$ or say quantum resonant qx2 power magnetic filters at 1700$, canada by the way. cheers.


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## shakur1996

nice review Kunlun.
  
 I see from your comparison between Silver Poison and TWag that Silver Poison has the features of the silver cable but does not sound thin (as typical silver cables do). I have a question though. Did you have a chance to compare Silver Poison to any reputable hybrid cable (where there are strands of both pure cooper and pure silver, not SPC)? I'm wondering whether hybrid cables do not give the same what Silver Poison does i.e. the best features of pure silver but without sounding thin.


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## hfflt

From what I know, silver won't sound thin if cable uses enough of it. That being said, thinnest comes from a lack of silver.
  
 Very nice review, Kunlun, those impressions of cables are always so interesting to read!


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## smaragd

It's Kunlun's review that triggered me in purchasing the Silver Poison from Toxic Cables, in order to cut down on both cost and waiting time I opted for the DIY version.
 I'm very happy with the outcome after using it with my Westone Um-Pro50 for several months. Keep in mind that  you need to burn in the cable for at least 100 hours if you choose the DIY version, I believe Frank @ Toxic Cables burns the cable in for you if you get a ready made version. Here's my first attempt at the DIY version, I have since changed the 3.5mm plug with a Furutech Iridium plated Cryo plug.


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