Toxic Cables Budget Series

Hello everybody,

I have been enjoying for a while now a very good cable from Toxic Cables with my Audeze headphones. I am talking about the Silver Widow which I found to be an excellent match for my new Audeze LCD-X.

So this is a great cable, but some may find it a little expensive.

Well, I am pleased to say that Toxic Cables has a surprise for you guys.

What if I am going to tell you I have a brand new cable from Toxic, a cable that hasn’t yet been named, a silver cable that is both cheap and very good?

The cable price starts at just £115 for 6ft , making it the cheapest or one of the cheapest stranded silver cable on the market.

Looks and Build Quality

This cable does have Toxic’s fine finish. The cable seems to be very resistant even though it is thinner than Silver Widow.

This is a 5N 99.999% OCC Cryo treated silver cable, fully shielded with a black PVC jacket that increases the durability.

Listening impressions

The tests have been done with Decware Taboo MK3, Audeze LCD-X , Simaudio Moon 300D v2,  Burson Conductor, Audiobyte Hydra-X.

Hugh Laurie – Battle of Jericho

The immediate thing i observed was that the guitar plucks were more apparent with better attack. The bass lost a little from the weight but it was more controlled. The scene moved a little backwards and it was not in your face any more giving a more accurate feeling of space.

Hugh’s voice seemed more natural to me as with the stock cable, it was too warm and lacked some texture.

Vivaldi – Mandoline Concerto 

The sound was much clearer than with the stock cable which seemed blurry compared to the new toxic cable. Every instrument was better contoured, leaving more space between them. The bass lost some weight with Conductor, but with Taboo was just fine.

Coldplay – Sparks

With the stock cable I feel that it is too much mid-bass and with the toxic cable this problem is fixed. The voice was better extended & better textured with the silver cable. The guitars started to be more present with better extension, more apparent plucks and more detailed.

The Eagles – Try and Love Again

The decays are much  faster with the silver cable. The guitars in the back was  a lot more detailed and easier to distinguish with the toxic silver cable. The drums had a better impact and the voice was again cleaner and better textured.

Infected Mushroom – Ration Shmatio

This is a bass dominated song and on this one I liked it  better with the stock cable on Burson Conductor as the bass had more body. Taboo gave some of the bass presence back and made the new toxic more enjoyable.

The silver cable, however had a faster bass with better control and impact making the song more energetic.

Summary

Bass

The bass with the new Toxic cable is faster and punchier with better control. It losses some weight in the bass but overall I like what it does to it as the sound is more energetic and punchier.

Mids

The mids are much clearer and detailed  with cleaner, better textured & extended voices and instruments.

Treble

The treble has sometimes a little too much energy on Burson Conductor but on Taboo is just fine. Overall, I love it on both of them as it is well extended, detailed and has a good spark.

Transients

The transients are faster with the Toxic cable and the attack has more impact. This leads to a more energetic and clean sound compared to the stock cable.

Soundstage

The sound with the stock cable has a more in your face presentation, while with Toxic is a little further in the back and more opened.

Instrument Separation & Layering

The instruments are better contoured, better separated leaving more space between them.

Details

The sound is quite detailed compared to the stock cable. I picked up on a lot of instruments  which were much more enjoyable with it and went unnoticed with the default cable.

Dynamics

The quiet passages were quite more apparent and even the quietest of instruments had presence and you could feel them better.

Conclusions

I think that Frank did a wonderful job with this cable, as for the price it offers excellent performance and a very good match for Audeze LCD-X.

With the stock cable is like looking outside through a blurry window and with the new silver cable from Toxic it like cleaning the window or opening it.

The Silver Widow is still the king as it has better bass that goes deeper, better soundstage with more depth and more details. It also has a more refined and relaxed sound overall with more air between the instruments.

Pros

• Faster and punchier bass with better control
• Clean sound with very good transparency
• Very good details
• Very good dynamics
• Fast transients with very good attack and quick decays
• Very good instrument separation
• Well extended & sparkly treble
• Excellent price

Cons

• Some may find the bass a little thin on Burson Conductor (On Taboo MK3 was just fine)
• While not bright, the treble was a little tiresome on some songs with Burson Conductor but again just fine with Taboo MK3