Silver Highway Interconnects for $AU60

Since my first quality CD player I have used high-end interconnects. My first pair was Transparents 200 which I was sold with my NAD C542. Then a second set of Transparents and finally Nordost Blue Heavens. The last lot cost me $AU300. I had been using silver wire as hook-up wire for some time in amplifiers and wondered if I could turn bare, pure silver (99.99%), wire into quality interconnects. What you see above is the result and the answer is a definite "YES"

"How do you make them"? It has to one of the easiest and most satisfying projects I have done.

1. Cut your silver wire into six 1 meter lengths or as long as you wish to make them.
2. Clean and polish the silver wire - I used Silvo cleaner but make sure you polish it off. From now on do not let the bare silver wire touch your skin-you will contaminate it.
3. Cut thin heat shrink tube to length about 2 cm shorter than the wire. Use the thinnest heat shrink you can. Three different colours. I used White for the drain, Blue for ground and Red for active. Shrink it with a proper heat gun working evenly from the center out. Don't over heat it. NO hair dryers it is too uneven.
4. Bring the wires together and tight twist 5 cm from the end for about 3 cm. This is just to hold the wires in place.
5. Place some protective spaghetti over the bare wire at the twisted end and lightly clamp and secure the end. After platting remove the spaghetti.
   
6. From the secured end plat or braid the three wires firmly. At about 8 cm from the free end twist the wires for 3 cm to hold it all together. See this site for design info: - Black Art
   
7. Free the clamped end and feed the platted trio into firm fitting heat shrink of either black (or blue) for left channel or red (or white) for right channel and shrink it back leave the last 3 cm at each end uncovered. Again work from the center out.
8. Slid two same colour and same thickness 5 cm lengths of heat shrink onto the trio and the connector covers so when you solder the connectors on you can screw the covers up.
9. Trim the bare ends and solder to your connectors. USE SILVER SOLDER AND USE GOLD PLATED CONNECTORS. The gold connectors are not expensive and look great. Mine have red or black rings designating right or left channel.
   
10. On the source end (you decide which that is) solder your drain but DO NOT solder the drain at the termination end. My drain was white so I only solder the white wire at the source end. Cut the drain wire at the destination end. Connect the two other wires as normal.
11. Now slide up the 5 cm of additional heat shrink you fitted earlier. Cover the internal tags of the connectors. But it up hard to the screw part of the connector but do not cover the screw part.
12. Shrink back the additional strips these should poke well out from the end to add a little strength to the cable ends and cover the internal solder tags.
13. Screw up your covers. Rap some electrical tape on the termination end about 5 cm back and clamp on a ferrite choke. Use the tape to get the choke to bite in and hold without over pressuring the platted wire. No under pressure-you will alter the cables performance. The chokes help reduce RFI into the amps. The drain leaks it back to the source.
    
14. Plug the choked end into your termination in my case the power amp. The other end should go to your source for me that is my valve preamp.
    
15. Plug and play. Do not over bend the cables and no hard kinks. Once more you will alter the cables performance with small radius bends or hard kinks. Worse you could short the cable. They bend OK but keep moves and changes to a minimum.

"So how do they sound"? The first thing I notice was a huge lift in detail and sound stage. A dramatic refinement of mids and extended clearer highs. I have made a 1 meter pair (from preamp to power amp) and a 1/2 meter pair (CD player to preamp, pictured above). I think they beat my Nordost cables hands-down and a fraction of the price. If you do not want to make your own but simply MUST HAVE a pair of SILVER HIGHWAYS I will prepare a 1 meter pair for $AU120 plus postage. Check out Gio's diyaudioprojects for more info.