Slinkylinks with Eichmann Silver Bullets
Eichmann Silver Bullet Option
In response to an increasing number of client enquires we are pleased to now be able to offer all Slinkylinks interconnects with the ultimate RCA connector – the Eichmann SILVER bullet plug. You’ll immediately see the logic in this – the Slinkylinks are a pure silver cable with a unique construction that is absolutely consistent with the Eichmann design ethos. To terminate with a plug with conductive parts made from anything other than silver was a compromise (but at least with the original Bullet plug this compromise was kept to an absolute minimum and the cost saving proved worthwhile – note that the Original Bullet Plug is still considered by many to be a superb sounding connecter.
If you already appreciate Slinkylinks then taking the next step up to Silver Bullets will prove well worthwhile – you’ll hear an immediate improvement in top end smoothness accompanied by more detail and precision in sound staging.
This is a good time to remind you of the concept of system transparency – the ability to hear music without either subtraction or addition by the components and connections within a system. Many people may not appreciate just how good their system actually is and it’s really just a case of unlocking that potential. Slinkylinks work in a compelling way...
... enter the Slinky Zone. The first set of Slinkylinks (often best used between CD and amp) will yield a worthwhile improvement – you’ll hear more music and less noise. Because there is now more music to work with, the benefit from Slinkylinks speaker cables will be greater than it otherwise would have been. Now the system will really be starting to sing and if a pre/power combination, the inclusion of a second set Slinkylinks interconnects will deliver a greater step up than the original set did. The effect is cumulative as a system that is more transparent makes any upgrade more obvious than it might have otherwise been.
Forget the oft-quoted ‘law of diminishing returns’. Every step you take will represent better value for money than that which preceded it.
BI-WIRING – will it work for me?
Many people also have bi-wirable speakers. But there can be some confusion as to what is the best approach for a fixed budget – either one set of very good cables or for the same price, two runs of cheaper cable. Our experience strongly suggests that the former option is best – ie one good set – and the economics of termination help this along.
BUT – both the potential of bi-wiring or the operation of a bi-wired speaker using a single cable set is affected by the design of the speaker system itself.
In some audio applications bi-wiring can make an amazing difference. Slinkylinks bi-wire cable uses a separate cable for each channel per speaker (one cable for negative signals and another for positive signals with each speaker), a method also known as ‘cannoning’. This approach guarantees abetter earthing pattern in the crossover and lowers resistance.
The gain through bi-wiring fluctuates; with a well designed crossover the benefits will be smaller – but still noticeable. With a lesser design the result will be more explicit. The improved earthing in the crossover generally creates more bass and openness in the top-end. There is also a correlation between the effectiveness for bi-wiring and the relative difference in size of the bass and treble units. In a large speaker system with one or more bass drivers, bi-wiring delivers a huge gain. In smaller systems the gain may appear less obvious, but conversely a high resolution small speaker will also make the gain more obvious than a low resolution larger speaker.
Put simply, running bi-wire leads assists in separating the tweeter and bass signals from each other. By taking two signal wires back to the amplifier,or cannoning your speaker cable, you take full advantage of the amplifiers output impedance of 0.05ohms (this figure varies between products). This means that signals on the bass driver cannot interfere with signals on the tweeter and vice versa; a problem known as cross-talk between drivers. The result: better separation, imaging and detail in your music.
Some of these improvements can be achieved when using a singular bi-wire cable (one cable for both channels per speaker) – but the gains will be much smaller than true bi-wiring. These bi-wire cables might provide a slight optimisation of the earthing pattern, but this is likely to be marginal and not enough to be truly significant.
You will also occasionally hear of people using different cables to connect the bass and treble drivers – we’ve tried this in many combinations and even with cables of similar design from the same manufacturer, the end result lacks coherence when compared to identical cables.
It is also known that a large and explicit sound gain can come from simply removing the jumpers. Jumpers are the big and ugly gold plated brass or steel strips that allow you to use conventional speaker cable with a bi-wire crossover.
Jumpers have a highly detrimental effect on sound. The metals commonly used for them are cheap and very poor conductors of audio signals when compared to even the most modest of speaker cable. They introduce capacitance, which in itself subjectively distorts and muddies bass, while reducing clarity and detail in the top-end.
A high quality jumper might make the bi-wiring sound gain less explicit. If you have bi-wire able crossovers, and can’t quite afford to get into bi-wire speaker cable, try replacing your jumpers with a small length of good cable to get a fast and cheap sound gain in your system. It won’t give you anywhere near the big gains that are to be had from true bi-wire cables, but it might still make you smile and breathe some new life into your favourite music.
Are you still with us? Here are the steps to get the most from bi-wirable speakers...
- Remove the jumpers and replace with short pieces of high quality speaker cable.
- Single wire with high quality cable.
- Bi-wire with the same cable.
Note that we are able to supply sets of different lengths for speakers in asymmetric layouts – there is nothing to be gained in having several metres of unused cable coiled behind a speaker that is close to the amplifier.