Anybody here terminate DH Labs BL-1 cable?

@williewonka Thanks for the detailed post and links. Those designs do look interesting although seem a bit more complicated than what I can get into currently but will reference them surely in the future.

I’m starting my first DIY IC’s now with Mogami 2534 and BL-1 as stated in this post and will be doing some comparisons between the two.
For the Mogami I used Neutrik Profi and the BL-1 will be terminated with Furutech FP-126.

I am a bit regretting not getting the KLE. I’m not convinced there should be any noticable difference (hence comparing myself) but they do seem to be recommended all over.

I am also planning on assembling a power cord with DH Labs Power Plus and standard Marinco connectors.

itsikhefez - Really? - using the BL-1 with the Furutech FP126 was one of my earlier cables also (LOL)

The first RCA I used that was not of the "normal design" was the original Eichmann Silver bullet, which I added to a pair of Stager Silver Solids IC’s

The Silver bullet was a significant step up performance wise from the RCA’s that came with the Stagers and I also found they were better than the Furutech FP-126 RCA’s.

The Silver Bullet’s only drawback - the small pins were difficult to solder without melting the housing

ONE TIP: when soldering wires to the pins of any plastic bodied RCA’s like the Harmony line...
- if you have an old component with RCA’s or an RCA socket - plug the RCA into the socket to conduct excess heat away quickly, preventing the housing from melting

So, I wrote a review on my blog about how good I found the Silver Bullet to be on the Stagers and was subsequently contacted by Keith Louie Eichmann, asking to review his new Copper Harmony compared to the Silver Bullets when mounted on the Stager’s. I found the Copper Harmony was noticeably better than the Silver Bullet. The rest is history :-)

As you step up through the Harmony Product Line, you get improvements across the board each step of the way, but the cable has to be able to resolve to the same level. I found using solid silver signal conductors to provide the best result - but the neutral only needs to be made from a high quality copper conductor. For best results I found using 28 gauge solid silver for the signal and 20 gauge copper for the neutral conductors not only provided the best sound quality, but it made the cables more affordable

I have toyed with the idea of using 32 gauge solid silver signal and 18 gauge copper neutral also, but figured it was time to focus on the music and let another DIY-er try that one ;-)

The Harmony line proved to be much better than the Silver Bullet and the new design incorporated much larger pins to solder too.

I tried using the BL/1 after a long period using the Van den Hul D102 III Hybrid cable. There was really not much difference and the BL/1 was more affordable.

The BL/1 is pretty good, but the Stagers really improved SQ performance.

I haven’t tried Mogami, because the BL/1 perfprmed so well. My move to the Stagers was promted more by their twisted pair geometry as opposed to the more standard "two conductors side by side", as in the BL-a and many other cables for that matter.

Cable geometry (or architecure) plays a huge part in improving performance of any cable, as opposed to just using better quality copper or moving up to silver. As proof of that I made up a pair of IC’s in the helix geometry using CAT 6 throughout and they performed better than the Van den Hul D102 III and the BL/1 IC’s, both of whish use silver plated conductors

It’s a slippery slope once you get bitten by the bug - but totally worth it

Cheers

I haven't used the Furutech 126 yet, so I could replace for KLE Copper Harmony (within my budget).

Based on your experience, do you think that would be worthwhile with the BL-1?

itsikhefez - re: the mains connectors - I've tried a few of those as well and the Silver plated copper connectors from Sonar Quest provided exceptional performance.

The silver plating is quite thick and I am yet to see the copper after many connections to the mains supply and to my components.

The IEC connector clamps like a vice - so much so that I've found plugging it into an old component first helps make seating in it the working component a little easier when in the rack

Most connectors use brass pins/clamps, which is not the best material for conducting electricity.

I have also tried the gold plated copper from Sonar Quest and it is an extremely good "second choice", but the silver plated copper delivered the fastest dynamic response.

Here's a link 
SILVER PLATED COPPER...
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SONAR-QUEST-CRYO-Ag-Audio-Grade-Silver-plated-IEC-plug-US-main-plug-sonarquest-/181355696313?hash=item2a39a450b9:g:J~oAAOxyhXRTKcHi

GOLD PLATED COPPER
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SONAR-QUEST-CRYO-Audio-Grade-Gold-plated-IEC-plug-US-main-plug-sonarquest-/18...

If some readers consider the spiral helix architecture is a little too adventurous, braiding is another geometry I have tried, using the conductors from a piece of DH Labs Power Plus, Encore and even Furutech.

Granted, you have to "butcher" the cable to remove the three internal conductors from the sleeve + shielding, but the results were significant.

The acid test....
- I made up two power cables, one with Furutech and one with DH Labs bulk cable
- I then removed the three conductors from a 12 gauge extension cables from Home depot and braided them.
- all were terminated with the same mains/IEC connectors

The braided home depot cables provided deeper bass, faster dynamic performance and larger image than both the stock DH labs and Furutech cables

So I then butchered the Furutech and the DH Labs and braided the internal conductors - the results were extremely good and better than the Home Depot braided version

But the best architecture of all is still the Power Helix!

With braiding or the power helix architecture, you do not need to worry about a screen/shield, since the architecture actually rejects any RF that is present in a normal home audio environment. Recording studios may present more problems though.

Sorry to go on, but this is all the stuff I've experienced over the past 4 years - so I'd like readers to get to benefit from it :-)

Cheers

Based on your experience, do you think that would be worthwhile with the BL-1?

 Re Let's put it this way - the Copper Harmony will allow the BL-1 to perform to it's fullest potential.

They are also the easiest RCA's I've ever had to connect to a piece of wire.

You can always transfer the Copper Harmony to a better cable at a later date. I've connected some of my Harmony RCA's to different cables several  times.

Regards...