I’ve been making pure silver interconnect cables for about twenty six years, and for
the last twenty four years I’ve been selling them on line. 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
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
ogoal, 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.
I originally set out to find the best cables available for something less
than $500 per meter-pair and found that I could make my own for far less which were the
equal of Kimber and MIT selling for even more than my $500 upset price. I found .999
purity (which means 99.9%, not 99.999%) soft temper fine silver to be the best wire -
solid core, not stranded. Silver, while only slightly more conductive than copper, will
never lose conductivity as it tarnishes with age as is the case when copper oxidizes. As
Audio Note points
out, “...as a digital or analogue interconnect, silver brings with it an almost
magical quality, especially at very low signal levels”. 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. Good, 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 four 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
Issue 58. Mr. Marc informed me that "I am still using your cables in the
context of a $30.000 system!".
The British publication, Hi-Fi Choice, reviewed Stager Silver Solids in the July 2013 issue
page 119, and found that they deliver excellent image placement, a clear and open top end
and a well-controlled bass, and concluded that they are a "fantastic value for the
money". Stager Silver Solids received a five star (out of five) rating and the
"Hi-Fi Choice Recommended" seal. They do not have the review on line. You have
to buy the magazine to see it.
Recently, 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 November 25, 2022
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