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Mapleshade versus Stealth

Has anyone tried the Clearview Ultrathin interconnects sold for $85 1M by Mapleshade Records? Or their Clearview Double Helix interconnects, $240 1M? It sounds as if Mapleshade is onto the hugely important truth (IMHO) that interconnect wire should be thin. Stealth interconnects also reflect this truth, many other makers cheerfully ignore it. Would anyone who has tried either Clearview be able to compare it with the Stealth model closest in price? This would be ETS at entry level, a Stealth ribbon model for the higher price. Mapleshade says nothing about the metal used, so probably it's copper, while the Stealths are both silver. BTW, it seems to me that people who wax enthusiastic over such thick (relatively) wire designs as Homegrown Audio's should really give a couple of thin wire designs a try, at a comparable price level. Mapleshade, like Stealth, offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so the experiment would be cheap.
tom_nice

Showing 4 responses by carl_eber

carl_eber
1,425 posts
 
I tried several Stealth cables, and will offer my observations here, if Tom and Mroadster promise not to rebut them in this thread. Let me know if you want to hear my thoughts.
carl_eber
1,425 posts
 
You know who you can ask about my sense of adventure....
carl_eber
1,425 posts
 
I have no ignorance of any product that I have tried. You are implying that I am somehow ignorant of something. What is this, specifically? You are also implying that I'm a liar, and I could imply the same of you. You also offer not proof that you aren't an angry drunk...but then it's difficult to "prove a negative", I suppose.
carl_eber
1,425 posts
 
Kendall is personally attacking me, he needs to stop making a fool of himself....In a condensed version of my thoughts: I didn't like any of the 3 Stealth cables I tried this past summer, enough to KEEP them, but the UR speaker cable seemed like the best performance/value of the three (a tad awkward to use, but still a breeze when compared to stiff/heavy cables). I did my best to burn in the interconnects, but I only got around 350 hours on each of them, and I suppose it isn't impossible that their brightness and electronic-ness would have gone away to an adequate degree, had I used them for 1500 hours or more, and had they been burned in by a high current ic burn in device (i.e., a power amplifier). The UR speaker cable had about the most airy treble of any silver speaker cable I've tried (moreso than my short run of AT Dragon, and moreso than the Silversmith I tried). It wasn't on par with either in all respects, but the treble alone was interesting, in a similar way that the Magnan Signature power cord's treble was interesting, and likely as unique.............................I still want to try these "bargain" Mapleshade interconnects, and am trying Discovery Essence/Essential right now. So far I think the Essence RCA interconnect may be the best of all the ones I've tried in the past 6 months. I hardly ever see any on the used market, but then Discovery doesn't do the bulk sales that other cable companies do. The two Stealth ic's I tried, were the M7 and the Silver Ribbon (both priced around $200/meter pair). I liked the M7 slightly better; it had Cardas silver RCA's, and that might have been a big factor there (the other had WBT). I will say that build quality/finish was quite nice with the Stealth cables, and their designer is a personable and opinionated individual who deserves respect for his earnest forthrightness and total lack of bs. He seems to be a very straight shooter indeed. If I HAD to buy an affordable silver interconnect right now, it would be the Homegrown one that Dekay has let me borrow. It is very neutral, there is no doubt about that at all. And it's only $70, I believe. If it had Cardas silver RCA's, who knows how good it might be?
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