Silent Source Interconnect, Power, Digital and Speaker Cables Review

The Reality, More Noise

The truth about cables is that often, unless the cable is passing a ground loop hum, the less noise is heard in a recording, the more the cable is constricting the sound. It is one thing to have a quiet cable, but another to have a cable silence noise. The popularity of networked and filtered cables is a stark example of how audiophiles are getting less in terms of absolute sound quality while paying more. Others are free to disagree with me, but I have heard enough of such products to know that I do not want a filter or network snuffing the signal in any wire. This is a case in which when I started out reviewing I was impressed by such products, but as my systems have ramped up in quality and I have had more experience with straight wires I have left networked and filtered wires behind.

If you use Silent Source cabling be prepared to hear more noise associated with older recordings, the hiss of tape or air circulating in a recording studio. To me this is far superior, as it is much closer to the event being recorded. Without fail there is vibrancy, an “aliveness,” associated with not blocking the ambient noise. I believe audiophiles are fooled into thinking they have superior results when they hear less noise; but they also are hearing less ambience, less microdynamics, less extension to the bass and treble, less richness overall. Remember the “Squelch” function on Citizens Band (CB) radios, the purpose of which was to suppress the random noise? Cables with filters and networks are doing the same thing, and in the process also squelching a degree of the good stuff!

Silent Source cabling is so good that you will hear more of the nasty things associated with poor and older recordings. Good! That means you are hearing more of the original sound, with far superior extension of the qualities that make music lovely, qualities which are hard to come by in poorer recordings. The audiophile must be prepared for such characteristics of cables. If they expect the cable to squelch the noise associated with older and poor recordings, then they will be dismayed to find that Silent Source actually reveals more of this!

If it is your goal to have a dead silent background, then any number of filters, networks, or add on power systems can do so for you. But be prepared to have a “cooked” sound with an attendant loss of snap and bite to it. Just as cooked vegetables can taste good, they sure don’t taste anything like raw veggies. I can pound down broccoli, cauliflower and peas in the pod raw, but they lose appeal for me when cooked. I also like my sound “raw,” not in the sense of ragged and irritating, but in the sense of natural and uncooked by filtration. Silent Source cables will give the sound to you uncooked.

With Pass Labs

Pass Labs has used Silent Source as its cable of choice for show demos and I was recommended to look into them as I arranged the write up of the X600.5 Monos, currently on review. Hearing the Sony SS-AR1 driven by Pass amplification with Silent Source cables left little convincing that the cables would be a worthwhile investigation. But just to be sure I procured the Sony SS-NA5ES speaker which is based on the AR range. Imagine those little hummers powered by Pass X600.5 Monos, the kind of sound that makes a person sit up and take notice! As expected it was an inspiring experience!

Sony has a good thing going with their tri-tweeter arrangement, two 19mm units vertically flanking the 25mm main tweeter. Listening to Seal Soul 2 was sheer delight as the Silent Source cabling conveyed all the deftness of the X600.5 amp without betraying its solid state nature. I heard a very similar voicing as when I was reviewing the Pass XA160.5 Monos, sweet and discreet, no attempt to overwhelm with unbridled dynamic power.

Using the X600.5 with the SS-NA5ES it became evident why some audiophiles are enraptured by big amps with little speakers. I have tried similar setups in the past but was not too excited by the results, as the systems weren’t up to the task. However, since the entire chain was top quality I heard into the soundstage as well as with either the King Sound King III or the Legacy Audio Whisper DSW. Especially when a system is compromised in an absolute sense, such as when a bookshelf speaker gives up 15-20 dB in the low end, one wants the best quality sound possible, and the Silent Source loom provided it.

Smack in the middle of Seal’s latest effort are two tracks which enthrall, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” and “Backstabbers.” Seal has come into his own with the Soul genre and his passion which was so evident in his debut and sophomore releases is channeled into a less aggressive but still insistent crooning. I appreciated the fullness to the bass that The Music Reference line contributed to the smallish 5” bass driver of the Sony speaker. Far from being anemic, his voice was rich and with the proper heft of a power singer. Focusing in on the band, I noted that these cables neither choked the bass in an effort to emphasize the definition of the top end, nor made the bass indistinct.

This experiment with oversized amps and moderately sized speakers confirmed once again the wildly divergent systems which can be established to good effect. It can be a legitimate audiophile pursuit to build a rig which is lopsided in terms of the scale, not quality, of the amp(s) and speakers, but one had better make their connections top quality if they intend it to be a sporting effort. Those with room size considerations, or those inclined to smaller speakers will find the Silent Source line up to the task of linking such components, even ones at the extremely high end of the component spectrum.

By this point in my reviewing career I have handled dozens of sets of cables, some memorable, some not so much. The Silent Source set is unforgettable not just for its exceptional quality but for its unfailingly honest and engaging nature, never thin, never overly ripe. Over the years I have heard two names mentioned consistently with near reverence when reviewers as well as audiophiles discuss cables, namely Jorma Design and Kubala-Sosna Research. Though I have not had opportunity to place these others in my systems, I have heard them several times at shows. Based on that tangential hearing, and seeing what is put into Silent Source products I am inclined to add them also to this short list of super-fine cable makers. I suggest that those who are satisfied with nothing less than the epitome of cable expression secure them for audition for their elite systems.