|
I’ve been making pure silver interconnect cables, as well as special order headphone and shielded phono interconnects, and speaker cables, and for about twenty nine year.
For the past twenty-eight years I’ve been selling them on line.
They were first reviewed by Doug Schneider at "Soundstage!" in July, 1997. That and many more reviews are linked on the menu at this website.
I also run Stager Sound Systems, providing audiophile quality
sound reinforcement for concerts and special events in New York City.
Let me bring a simple bit of logic to this discussion,
something that seems to make the expensive cable makers uncomfortable. An interconnect cable - any cable, actually, is a passive device. It does not amplify the signal passing through it. It is simply a messenger, delivering an electrical signal from point A to point B. The optimal cable is one which does this job with an absolute minimum of coloration, with the greatest possible transparency, like light
passing through a perfectly clear, clean, flat pane of glass.
It seems the more expensive the cables, the more they are hyped with pseudo-science
and gushing adjectives describing how great they make the music sound in the hopes of separating gullible audiophiles from their money. I'll let my customers comment on those
attributes, but, simply put, it is not how a cable makes music sound great.
It's about how it allows music to sound great by not hindering its transmission
in any way.
This is the clear and simple objective of Stager Silver Solids. Every
facet of the design and construction of Stager Silver Solids is focused on achieving this
goal, and many reviews and customers' reports seem to indicate that they have achieved it.
I invite you to peruse the reviews and user comments on another page.
Why prefer silver over copper?
The sound: Audio Note points
out, “...as a digital or analogue interconnect, silver brings with it an almost magical quality, especially at very low signal levels”.
Please visit the Blog for more on silver wire, shielding, break in, and other topics.
Construction:
A symmetrical, unshielded, unbalanced pair is the best configuration for maximum bandwidth
and musical transparency. Teflon insulation is second only to air in its dielectric properties and,
in addition to using Teflon as their insulator, Stager Silver Solids interconnect cables are housed in Teflon tubing with
a larger inside diameter to provide a cushion of air, improving on Teflon's exceptional dielectric properties.
Tight solder joints solidly bonding silver to gold, not sandwiching the solder, are essential. The gold plated Canare F-10 RCA connectors
are beautifully made and built to last. They have a nice, tight fit, and provide exceptional connectivity. Their 1 pF capacitance makes any
audible difference from overpriced “high end” connectors entirely imaginary.
This combination of attributes makes Stager Silver Solids a true state-of-the-art interconnect cable - at a price which is sane and reasonable.
There are many more expensive cables on the market and some may have a
more impressive outward appearance (and website. Really, some of those websites are gorgeous),
but the ability of those cables to pass electrons from one component to the next will not
be superior, and will likely be inferior. I have not set out to make audio jewelry, just
the very finest performing audio interconnect you can buy, regardless of price.
Reviewers seem to agree. Over the years there have been several laudatory
reviews and in five instances, the
reviewers decided to buy, at full price, Stager Silver Solids for themselves. Positive Feedback
reviewed six silver interconnects in their December 2011 issue. The reviewer was Andre
Marc, the same writer who gave Stager Silver Solids an unqualified rave in AudioVideo
Revolution a month earlier (and bought two stereo pairs for himself). Not surprisingly,
Stager Silver Solids came out on top. The review is at "Positive feedback 2" on the left.
Andre Marc informed me that "I am still using your cables in the context of a $30,000 system!".
Steve Reeve, a customer from Canada, photographer by profession and an avid audiophile, bought a pair of Silver Solids and liked them so much he wrote a
nice review in his blog. I wasn't expecting that! Thanks, Steve.
There is another unsolicited and independent discussion of Stager Silver Solids pure silver interconnect cables at the
Audiogon
cables forum.
So, have all the reviews of my silver interconnects been gushing praise?
Well, actually... no. There was one instance where a reviewer for the Italian on-line
audio site TNT-audio.com
wasn't too happy with them - but it turns out the problem was not so much with the cable
but his system, and the Silver Solids were a bit too
too accurate for his taste. I added a few comments which follow the review.
So with no frills or fancy packaging, no expensive ads in audiophile
magazines, and no distributor and dealer markups, you do not have to spend a ridiculous
amount of money for a truly superb pair of interconnect cables.
You get pure performance.
Guaranteed or your money back.
Marc Stager
Stager Silver solids
New York City
Updated June 20, 2024
Email: SilverSolids@gmail.com
Tel: 212-595-4065
|