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    Sablon and USA Tariffs

    Following yesterday’s announcement on charging tariffs on imports into the USA, I felt it useful to set out Sablon’s approach towards this. The cable segment is a competitively dynamic one, and I do not wish for my customers in the USA to be disadvantaged in choosing Sablon cables. I will...
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    High output MC cartridges

    I know, I know.....I should get a proper MC cartridge however my Riviera integrated is MM only and I'd rather not have yet another box on the rack. So, I'm looking for feedback on the various high output MC cartridges out there - Sumiko / Hana / Dynavector et al. Will be used with an SL1300G...
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    Sablon Prince and King power cords - Enhanced 2025 version

    Nothing stands still in this life. This observation is equally true of audiophile wires, with new models using different features surfacing regularly. Unsurprisingly, I try to keep abreast of the latest offerings, though few impress. Step changes don’t happen very often and are harder to achieve...
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    Italian tube manufacturers

    This overview of tube manufacturing in Italy is quite helpful. www.ase-museoedelpro.org/Museo_Edelpro/Catalogo/Overview/docs/An%20overview%20of%20Italian%20vacuum%20tube%20manufacturers.pdf
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    I call it home

    A great recent article from Fodor‘s on my homeland. Certainly worth a visit if you’re in this part of the world whilst the weather is agreeable...
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    Email issues

    I’m pretty ‘on it’ in responding to enquiries however there have been a spate of email issues in the past weeks. The world has become a pretty crazy place since the pandemic and it seems some email hosts are tightening their firewalls to reject replies from unknown accounts. This issue isn’t...
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    Melz 1578

    (Copied from the Baltic thread as it has a wider relevance for other tube equipment) As the background of the Melz 1578 tube is somewhat mysterious, unsurprising given its cold war soviet background which predates many of us, I thought I would share what I have learnt. The Melz 6h8c is...
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    E80cc comparison

    I have to admit a long love affair with the e80cc tube. It’s always been a fave of mine, comfortably outperforming superior 12au7 options in circuits where the extra current draw can be accommodated. One tube dealer describes it as being like a Telefunken ecc802s on steroids and I couldn’t have...
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    A useful resource

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8oqw6k6yTYTDTlu1qfTFSg/videos I just watched #15 on e80cc and, whilst long, it was insightful. Having just compared the Philips SQ and Siemens labeled Tungsrams, I had a different view to the presenter but, hey, that’s tubes for you….
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    Sablon Evo interconnects

    If I were to share that my previous interconnects were built using the same wire as the 2020 usb cable, it wouldn’t be too much of a leap of faith to imagine how things might pan out if they were rebuilt using the new wire from the Evo Usb cable. In its simplest form, a usb cable design can be...
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    Telefunken G73-R

    Has anybody here used these? Am interested in how they compare to the top nos 12au7 suspects eg tfk802s / amperex 7316 / amp & tungsram e80cc. Also does anyone have a pair to sell?
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    Sablon Evo usb cable

    I had never really considered myself as being especially competitive by nature however when I recently received reports from a reliable source of my 2020 usb cable having been usurped by another brand, it riled me. It didn’t matter that the other cable cost five times as much and came from a...
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    Achingly beautiful...

    ...but not a car. https://www.bikeexif.com/velocette-motorcycle-max-hazan
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    Sablon DC cable

    I don’t think I have ever spoken here about my Sablon DC cable but perhaps it’s time to do so as I have sold more of them in the past month than I have in the preceding five years. Here’s one I made earlier. Essentially there isn’t anything especially exciting about the design - it’s a twisted...
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    Unpowered USB cables

    I think I might have started the trend several years ago to drop the voltage / vbus line from my usb cables where the dac would happily operate without one. As such, I feel slightly responsible for some of the confusion arising from this subject..... Why would you want to use an unpowered...
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    How to order from Sablon

    I don’t feature a shopping trolley on my website as I believe that it is important that we first have a conversation by email to confirm the best value solution for your system / aspirations. This is not an up-selling exercise - sometimes a cheaper model may be better - and customers can often...
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    Bye bye PayPal, Hello Transferwise.com

    I think it’s fair to say that we all know and mostly love Paypal. It’s been around for ages and has long been the go-to choice for electronic payments. Seductively easy to use and secure however it has become expensive..... make that expensive with a capital ‘F’ when it comes to doing...
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    Sablon Ethernet - 2020 model

    My Sablon ethernet cable has been a relatively unglamorous member of the product range for several years now. Pretty much unchanged since inception, bar a tweak in Summer 2018, yet it has typically been preferred to top models from mainstream manufacturers costing twice as much. Just as I...
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    Sablon USB cable - 2020 model

    “All I want is 20-20 vision, a total portrait with no omissions” Debbie Harry once sang, and her words make a great objective for hi-fi enthusiasts striving to discover more of the artist’s message. A few months ago, I acquired an Intona Ultimate USB cable to try see what CKKeung’s excitement...
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    Amazon lossless streaming service now launched

    https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20869526/amazon-music-hd-lossless-flac-tier-spotify-apple
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    Sablon Reference system

    I thought it might be interesting to share details of my reference system to give a better understanding of my priorities. As a manufacturer, the rationale behind the choices differs somewhat from those important to consumers, even if we may end up sharing a similar sonic outcome...
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    Sablon spdif / aes

    Despite being a minority interest format in its sunset years, this particular model merits a thread of its own, partly because of its unusual construction but also its exceptional performance. Almost every spdif cable out there is a coaxial, yet this design is neither shielded nor coaxial. It...
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    Sablon speaker cables

    Speaker cables for dynamic driver speakers share similar design objectives to power cords - to deliver current unimpeded - and the Sablon Reserva speaker cables are no exception. This design uses 10awg per pole of my extremely transparent copper conductors in a twisted pair configuration...
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    Sablon Interconnects

    All Sablon interconnects share the same extremely transparent conductor with my non-invasive ‘Roswell’ shielding and low impedance grounding. Geometries are optimised according to single ended and balanced iterations, given their different design requirements. The Reserva RCA interconnect...
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    Sablon power cords

    There’s a well known audiophile saying about how good sound starts at the wall and I was always fascinated by power cords long before I started making my own. I literally went through dozens of different models using a variety of materials and topologies. Over time, it became clearer how the...
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    Connector p*rn

    “I know it when I see it” runs the quote and I’ll throw this picture out for your delectation. These have now been sent out to a couple of local WBF members and I’ll leave them chime in with their thoughts on sound quality.
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    Sablon design approach

    My strategy for Sablon is conceptually simple - to build the best cable I can at any given time and offer it at an attractive price within its performance peer group. All Sablon cables are designed around proven engineering principles and use the best sounding materials that I can find. After...
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    Sound Mechanics Performance Platform

    Has been sat in storage for most of past decade as it became superfluous following the arrival of my Sistrum rack. Cherry wood finish in used condition with the small scrapes inevitably with handling 40kg amplifiers with sharp cones etc. Comes complete with original tripod cones and grounding...
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    Battery power for router

    Bouyed by my success with the Hynes SR4, I am now looking into evaluting battery power for an Airport Express router. Will likely try a 3.3v LIFEPO4 in order to avoid noise from dc voltage converters. Has anyone here tried this or know of someone who has?
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    FS Turntable system and Metrum Adagio dac

    A longstanding friend has asked me to place this for sale listing on his behalf. Genuine reason for sale as he now listens almost exclusively to his SGM / Formula xHD. If you have any interest or specific query, then please PM me and I will put the pair of you in touch. The items can be...

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