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VAMPIRE WIRE 800/CB RCA PLUGS
A BRIEF RECAP SO THIS ARTICLE MAKES SOME SENSE
Ever since I re-terminated my DH Labs BL-1 interconnect cables with
Eichmann copper RCA phono plugs, I have been looking for an equally high
quality gold-over-copper RCA plug that will fit the connections at my
Dahlquist LP-1 crossover. The input jacks on the crossover are inset
slightly from the rear of the unit. This inset keeps the pin on connectors like
the Eichmann, that are approximately .5 inches in diameter or greater, from
fully seating into the jack.
I did try the Eichmann plugs with the crossover and got good enough
contact for long enough to ascertain that they were an improvement over
the Canare F-10 plugs that I have been using. The problem was the
connections were unpredictably intermittent. One minute great sound, the
next a dead channel or a buzz. I ended up keeping Canare F-10 plugs on
the ends of all the cables that connect to the crossover. Knowing that my
system has this shortcoming has bothered me ever since and I have been
seeking an RCA plug that will fit properly while being of similar sonic quality
to the Eichmann plugs.
High quality gold-over-copper plugs are made by a number of
manufacturers. WBT makes them in its Next-Gen line and DH Labs also
makes a solid copper plug. Both of these, however, are about the same
diameter as the Eichmann so it seems unlikely that they will fit my crossover
any better. The WBT is also very expensive. Clearaudio makes a plug that
looks as though it might fit but the cheapest that I could find them for sale
was around $75-80 a pair. I need six to redo all the crossover connections,
so its price pretty much eliminated the Clearaudio.
Then I found the Vampire 800/CB plug.
The Vampire 800/CB is a gold-over-copper plug that appeared to be the
sonic improvement I wanted while still being affordable. A search of the
Internet for a good deal on them brought me to Take Five Audio in Canada.
Take Five sells the 800/CB plugs for $28.32 US per pair in “normal” form or
$30.21 in “cryo-treated” form. For the nominal difference, I opted for the
cryo-treated plugs. Life is short, why not? I bought a total of four plugs
for just under $60 US. (The price has gone up slightly since I purchased
mine earlier this spring.) I decided to wait on re-terminating the bass amp
interconnects until I determined how well the plugs worked on the critical
preamp/amp crossover connections. If there were little or no improvement
at those junctions, there would be no point in changing the plugs on the
bass cables. www.takefiveaudio.com
Before I did any soldering, I tried the Vampire plugs for fit on the RCA jacks
in my system. They fit beautifully on almost everything; they were tight but
not overly tight. There was a precision feel to the fit that was both pleasant
and reassuring. The exception, of course, was the Dahlquist LP-1 crossover
where they grabbed on so tightly that I was a little concerned about getting
them off. This is what happens when you are using an almost thirty year
old component.
INSTALLATION
At this point, it is worth taking a moment to look at a photo of the plugs.
Click here. Having an idea of the plug’s construction will make it easier to
visualize what I am talking about.
The Vampire 800/CB is, in some ways, the antithesis of the Eichmann plug.
They both use gold plating over a high quality copper base and there the
resemblance ends. The Eichmann plug is fairly delicate and made of plastic.
The Vampire is all metal and substantial. I was a little concerned that I
might have problems soldering the Vampire plugs due to their solid
construction. And I did. And it was all entirely my own fault.
Using a 40 Watt soldering iron with a small chisel tip, I could not get the
connections hot enough for the solder to flow properly. Even using my 100
Watt soldering gun to try to tin the body of the plug for the ground
connection did not work. I was afraid that I would damage the plugs if I
kept at it so I sent an email to Vampire wire asking for help. They
responded by requesting my telephone number and, a couple of days later, I
got a call from Stuart Marcus, the owner of Vampire Wire.
www.vampirewire.com
MR. MARCUS REFRAINS FROM CALLING ME AN IDIOT
Stuart Marcus could not have been nicer over the telephone. I explained
what I had done and then he told me how to do it right. I needed a 40-45
Watt soldering gun with a ¼-inch wide chisel tip. Using that, he assured
me, would take care of the problem. I would be hitting the solder
connections with enough intense heat that the solder would flow quickly and
properly. In the course of this discussion, I mentioned that the reason I
was undertaking this project was because of the clearance problems I have
with my Dahlquist LP-1 crossover connections. To which he responded that
he also uses a Dahlquist crossover in his system, where he listens to
Apogee speakers.
I got a brief history from Stuart of the Dahlquist LP-1crossover. It was
designed by Carl Marchisotto when he was with Dahlquist in the 1970s. Carl
now designs the Nola loudspeaker line (and previously the Alon speakers).
The LP-1 is still in use (in some form) in the Nola Grand Reference IV.1
speaker systems ($165,000). Evidently, Carl will buy any LP-1 crossovers
that he can find. I cannot verify the last statement but it is interesting
enough to be worth passing along.
From there we found that we also had a common interest in photography.
Stuart is actively taking wildlife photos. You can see some of his work at
www.stuartmarcus.com. We had a very nice chat.
BACK TO THE WORKBENCH
I was able to find a chisel-tip for my soldering iron locally that was very close
to what Stuart recommended. It is 3/16 of an inch wide and it worked fine.
It is probably as narrow a tip as you want to use, however.
I used a 96% tin/4% silver solder. The key to soldering cable like this is to
tin everything before trying to make a connection. With both the wire and
the plug tinned, I simply held the parts that I wanted to solder against each
other, touched the soldering iron to them, and the joint basically made itself.
HOW DO THEY SOUND?
There was an immediate improvement in the sound of my system. I was
listening to Jackson Browne’s Live Acoustic Vol. 1 prior to changing the
plugs so I returned to it when the cables were reinstalled. The audience
comments were now easier to understand and there was even an
improvement in the intelligibility of Jackson’s lyrics. Bass definition was
slightly improved. Something else was happening as well and it took me a
while to come up with the word I wanted to describe it. The word turned
out to be “coherence.”
It is a subtle thing to hear and harder to describe. Nothing was obviously
any different but Jackson’s performance just fit together better. What I had
mistaken for “detail” in spots was really a slight incoherence in the overall
presentation. Once this was fixed by the 800/CB plugs, the musical
organization improved. Nothing was lost in this process. The
improvements that had resulted from the PS Audio Prelude supplying AC to
the Rogue were still there. And, after some extended listening, I think the
sound stage depth was yet further improved. As I got some break-in hours
on the plugs, these improvements became more obvious.
I expected the Vampire plugs to make an improvement and I got more than
I expected.
So I got out a couple of CDs that I have not listened to in quite a while, one
of which I remembered sounding very good the last time I heard it and one
of which I have never been particularly fond.
Sinead O’Connor’s rendition of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” on
Am I Not Your Girl, Chrysalis D100139, has always sent chills up and down
my spine. Well, given the improvements to my system that have transpired
since I last heard it, the effect was extremely chilling. There is a lot of
reverb on this recording but it still has great sound staging. I ended up
listening to the whole CD and then re-listened to most of it again. It was
just wonderful.
Holly Cole’s Temptation, Metro Blue D102024, has never particularly grabbed
me. Until now. If someone asked to hear my system right at this moment,
this is the CD I would choose to show it off to its best advantage. The
sound is just fantastic. Songs that never did anything for me are now
completely absorbing. It is a perfect example of how, for me, improving the
sound improves access to the music. I have listened to this CD three or
four times in the last few days. It just sounds incredible. Here, again,
improved sound stage depth was noticeable.
Another CD that shone was Philips’ recording of Mozart’s 3 Divertimentos
and Serenata Nocturna by I Musici, Philips 412 120-2. It held my attention
better than it ever has. It also sounded better than I ever recall it
sounding. The drums in “Serenata Nocturna” had definition that I do not
remember hearing. The sound is masculine and big with a clear bass
foundation. It was extremely satisfying both musically and sonically.
Clearly, with the Vampire 800/CB plugs, there is more information getting
from the CD to the speakers.
While not all of the improvement I heard in these CDs obviously came from
the Vampire 800/CB RCA plugs, they contributed a notable amount to it.
While the Canare F-10 plugs could not be called a bottleneck, a subtle
restriction would not be inappropriate. It’s tempting to refer to the
800/CBs as a sort of sonic Plavix but I won’t do it.
IN SUMMARY
I really like these RCA plugs. They are well made, fit well, sound great, and,
despite my efforts, easy to work with. I am going to get some more of
them and re-terminate the cables to my bass amp. I highly recommend
them to anyone making DIY interconnects.
It is impossible to say with absolute certainly, but my experience with both
the Eichmann and Vampire RCA plugs inclines me to think that the quality of
the terminating plugs may be of more consequence to the sound of an
interconnect cable than the wire itself. This is pretty much the opposite of
what we generally assume to be the case. I suspect that any discontinuities
in the sound that we hear are more likely to result from the signal traveling
through layers of solder, brass, and various types of plating in both the
plug and jack than from traveling through a high quality, consistent,
insulated length of wire. Using all-copper RCA plugs seem like not just a
good idea but the only sensible one.
I may have more to report on the Vampire plugs as I get more hours on
them.
Kent Johnson
July 19, 2007
Wow, no footnotes. How often does that happen?
A BRIEF RECAP SO THIS ARTICLE MAKES SOME SENSE
Ever since I re-terminated my DH Labs BL-1 interconnect cables with
Eichmann copper RCA phono plugs, I have been looking for an equally high
quality gold-over-copper RCA plug that will fit the connections at my
Dahlquist LP-1 crossover. The input jacks on the crossover are inset
slightly from the rear of the unit. This inset keeps the pin on connectors like
the Eichmann, that are approximately .5 inches in diameter or greater, from
fully seating into the jack.
I did try the Eichmann plugs with the crossover and got good enough
contact for long enough to ascertain that they were an improvement over
the Canare F-10 plugs that I have been using. The problem was the
connections were unpredictably intermittent. One minute great sound, the
next a dead channel or a buzz. I ended up keeping Canare F-10 plugs on
the ends of all the cables that connect to the crossover. Knowing that my
system has this shortcoming has bothered me ever since and I have been
seeking an RCA plug that will fit properly while being of similar sonic quality
to the Eichmann plugs.
High quality gold-over-copper plugs are made by a number of
manufacturers. WBT makes them in its Next-Gen line and DH Labs also
makes a solid copper plug. Both of these, however, are about the same
diameter as the Eichmann so it seems unlikely that they will fit my crossover
any better. The WBT is also very expensive. Clearaudio makes a plug that
looks as though it might fit but the cheapest that I could find them for sale
was around $75-80 a pair. I need six to redo all the crossover connections,
so its price pretty much eliminated the Clearaudio.
Then I found the Vampire 800/CB plug.
The Vampire 800/CB is a gold-over-copper plug that appeared to be the
sonic improvement I wanted while still being affordable. A search of the
Internet for a good deal on them brought me to Take Five Audio in Canada.
Take Five sells the 800/CB plugs for $28.32 US per pair in “normal” form or
$30.21 in “cryo-treated” form. For the nominal difference, I opted for the
cryo-treated plugs. Life is short, why not? I bought a total of four plugs
for just under $60 US. (The price has gone up slightly since I purchased
mine earlier this spring.) I decided to wait on re-terminating the bass amp
interconnects until I determined how well the plugs worked on the critical
preamp/amp crossover connections. If there were little or no improvement
at those junctions, there would be no point in changing the plugs on the
bass cables. www.takefiveaudio.com
Before I did any soldering, I tried the Vampire plugs for fit on the RCA jacks
in my system. They fit beautifully on almost everything; they were tight but
not overly tight. There was a precision feel to the fit that was both pleasant
and reassuring. The exception, of course, was the Dahlquist LP-1 crossover
where they grabbed on so tightly that I was a little concerned about getting
them off. This is what happens when you are using an almost thirty year
old component.
INSTALLATION
At this point, it is worth taking a moment to look at a photo of the plugs.
Click here. Having an idea of the plug’s construction will make it easier to
visualize what I am talking about.
The Vampire 800/CB is, in some ways, the antithesis of the Eichmann plug.
They both use gold plating over a high quality copper base and there the
resemblance ends. The Eichmann plug is fairly delicate and made of plastic.
The Vampire is all metal and substantial. I was a little concerned that I
might have problems soldering the Vampire plugs due to their solid
construction. And I did. And it was all entirely my own fault.
Using a 40 Watt soldering iron with a small chisel tip, I could not get the
connections hot enough for the solder to flow properly. Even using my 100
Watt soldering gun to try to tin the body of the plug for the ground
connection did not work. I was afraid that I would damage the plugs if I
kept at it so I sent an email to Vampire wire asking for help. They
responded by requesting my telephone number and, a couple of days later, I
got a call from Stuart Marcus, the owner of Vampire Wire.
www.vampirewire.com
MR. MARCUS REFRAINS FROM CALLING ME AN IDIOT
Stuart Marcus could not have been nicer over the telephone. I explained
what I had done and then he told me how to do it right. I needed a 40-45
Watt soldering gun with a ¼-inch wide chisel tip. Using that, he assured
me, would take care of the problem. I would be hitting the solder
connections with enough intense heat that the solder would flow quickly and
properly. In the course of this discussion, I mentioned that the reason I
was undertaking this project was because of the clearance problems I have
with my Dahlquist LP-1 crossover connections. To which he responded that
he also uses a Dahlquist crossover in his system, where he listens to
Apogee speakers.
I got a brief history from Stuart of the Dahlquist LP-1crossover. It was
designed by Carl Marchisotto when he was with Dahlquist in the 1970s. Carl
now designs the Nola loudspeaker line (and previously the Alon speakers).
The LP-1 is still in use (in some form) in the Nola Grand Reference IV.1
speaker systems ($165,000). Evidently, Carl will buy any LP-1 crossovers
that he can find. I cannot verify the last statement but it is interesting
enough to be worth passing along.
From there we found that we also had a common interest in photography.
Stuart is actively taking wildlife photos. You can see some of his work at
www.stuartmarcus.com. We had a very nice chat.
BACK TO THE WORKBENCH
I was able to find a chisel-tip for my soldering iron locally that was very close
to what Stuart recommended. It is 3/16 of an inch wide and it worked fine.
It is probably as narrow a tip as you want to use, however.
I used a 96% tin/4% silver solder. The key to soldering cable like this is to
tin everything before trying to make a connection. With both the wire and
the plug tinned, I simply held the parts that I wanted to solder against each
other, touched the soldering iron to them, and the joint basically made itself.
HOW DO THEY SOUND?
There was an immediate improvement in the sound of my system. I was
listening to Jackson Browne’s Live Acoustic Vol. 1 prior to changing the
plugs so I returned to it when the cables were reinstalled. The audience
comments were now easier to understand and there was even an
improvement in the intelligibility of Jackson’s lyrics. Bass definition was
slightly improved. Something else was happening as well and it took me a
while to come up with the word I wanted to describe it. The word turned
out to be “coherence.”
It is a subtle thing to hear and harder to describe. Nothing was obviously
any different but Jackson’s performance just fit together better. What I had
mistaken for “detail” in spots was really a slight incoherence in the overall
presentation. Once this was fixed by the 800/CB plugs, the musical
organization improved. Nothing was lost in this process. The
improvements that had resulted from the PS Audio Prelude supplying AC to
the Rogue were still there. And, after some extended listening, I think the
sound stage depth was yet further improved. As I got some break-in hours
on the plugs, these improvements became more obvious.
I expected the Vampire plugs to make an improvement and I got more than
I expected.
So I got out a couple of CDs that I have not listened to in quite a while, one
of which I remembered sounding very good the last time I heard it and one
of which I have never been particularly fond.
Sinead O’Connor’s rendition of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” on
Am I Not Your Girl, Chrysalis D100139, has always sent chills up and down
my spine. Well, given the improvements to my system that have transpired
since I last heard it, the effect was extremely chilling. There is a lot of
reverb on this recording but it still has great sound staging. I ended up
listening to the whole CD and then re-listened to most of it again. It was
just wonderful.
Holly Cole’s Temptation, Metro Blue D102024, has never particularly grabbed
me. Until now. If someone asked to hear my system right at this moment,
this is the CD I would choose to show it off to its best advantage. The
sound is just fantastic. Songs that never did anything for me are now
completely absorbing. It is a perfect example of how, for me, improving the
sound improves access to the music. I have listened to this CD three or
four times in the last few days. It just sounds incredible. Here, again,
improved sound stage depth was noticeable.
Another CD that shone was Philips’ recording of Mozart’s 3 Divertimentos
and Serenata Nocturna by I Musici, Philips 412 120-2. It held my attention
better than it ever has. It also sounded better than I ever recall it
sounding. The drums in “Serenata Nocturna” had definition that I do not
remember hearing. The sound is masculine and big with a clear bass
foundation. It was extremely satisfying both musically and sonically.
Clearly, with the Vampire 800/CB plugs, there is more information getting
from the CD to the speakers.
While not all of the improvement I heard in these CDs obviously came from
the Vampire 800/CB RCA plugs, they contributed a notable amount to it.
While the Canare F-10 plugs could not be called a bottleneck, a subtle
restriction would not be inappropriate. It’s tempting to refer to the
800/CBs as a sort of sonic Plavix but I won’t do it.
IN SUMMARY
I really like these RCA plugs. They are well made, fit well, sound great, and,
despite my efforts, easy to work with. I am going to get some more of
them and re-terminate the cables to my bass amp. I highly recommend
them to anyone making DIY interconnects.
It is impossible to say with absolute certainly, but my experience with both
the Eichmann and Vampire RCA plugs inclines me to think that the quality of
the terminating plugs may be of more consequence to the sound of an
interconnect cable than the wire itself. This is pretty much the opposite of
what we generally assume to be the case. I suspect that any discontinuities
in the sound that we hear are more likely to result from the signal traveling
through layers of solder, brass, and various types of plating in both the
plug and jack than from traveling through a high quality, consistent,
insulated length of wire. Using all-copper RCA plugs seem like not just a
good idea but the only sensible one.
I may have more to report on the Vampire plugs as I get more hours on
them.
Kent Johnson
July 19, 2007
Wow, no footnotes. How often does that happen?