12-09-09: We are experimenting with interconnects with the goal of making some super cables for super cheap. This is our first effort. Big time sound. Little time dollars. EX stands for experimental. We will have many more in this lineage as we progress. Each one will have a different # so we can always keep track of what cable you have (for future reference and possible upgrades). Here is our first effort:
EVS EX-1 interconnect. (Discontinued) The hot and ground wire is bare 22 gauge 5N dead soft copper solid core. The hot conductor is inside a cotton braid. The ground wire is uninsulated and twisted around the hot along with another 24 guage magnet wire which is connected at one end only (sort of passive shield...lowers inductance, raises capacitance and further damps the cable). The male jacks are inexpensive Switchcraft jacks. We get tweak here.....since the Switchcrafts have a hollow center pin we push the hot wire all the way to the tip of the pin and solder directly there for super short signal path. On the ground we get even crazier. We solder the ground wire directly to the outside of one of the four ground blades....again super short signal path (don't think anyone has ever done this....at least I have not seen it). We use a little electrical tape and teflon pipe thread tape at the connector to keep it all together and then heatshrik the end too. What you get is a no plastic sound super pure cable. The hot conductor and the ground conductor are wired with opposite directionality (the way it comes off the spool......all wire is directional.....sounds different each way). There is a red marking at one end of each cable. Which direction will sound best depends on how I pull the wire off the spool. You can simply listen one way with say the red markings towards the load and then try it the other way. If we keep using the same spool of wire and keep everything the same right now it seems clear that the red needs to be at the source. However, you can use it any way you like. There probably is very little break in as there is no plastic insulation. Price is $65.00 for a meter or less. It takes me around an hour to make one pair. 30 day money back guarantee.
coming soon: EVS EX-2 interconnect...... the latest in the EXperimental relatively inexpensive with great sound line. My current experiment uses two bare 20 gauge PCOCC copper wires. The hot is covered by Teflon tape the the ground it twisted around it and cotton ties are on the cable at different points to kill resonances. Also the Switchcraft connectors have been changed to mucho more expensive copper Eichmanns. This cable is way better than the original EX-1 and if I were to sell it.....it would go for around $125. However, I want to try some 20 gauge PCOCC silver......maybe just for the hot.....maybe for both hot and ground. If the 20 gauge silver for the hot works better than the copper it would sell for $160.......if both the hot and ground turn into PCOCC silver then it would be $195......this is basically my cost plus $50.....for the one hour to make them. Stay tuned....the current EX-2 has taken my system to new heights, but I want to try the silver before releasing the EX-2 to the world. I know the price is going up....but I am not making a cent more on the expensive cables then on the older EX-1......just using mucho more expensive connectors and wire.
Below is a pic of the first EX1s to be sent out. Very home made looking....because they are very home made....as is most everything I do.
