GramsAudio Cadence Silver Plus is a 22AWG 4-wire silver-plated 7N OCC Litz pure copper aftermarket monitor cable. It is priced around $320 or ฿9,990.00
Disclaimer: The GramsAudio Cadence Silver Plus was sent to us in exchange for our honest opinion in this review. Many thanks to GramsAudio for giving us this opportunity.
You can read about previous cable products reviewed on Headfonics here.
Note, this 2-page review follows our new scoring guidelines for 2021 which you can read up on here.
This is a new brand for us here at Headfonics called GramsAudio, formerly known as GuysAudio, and are located in Bangkok, Thailand. Now I know from some casual research that GramsAudio is fairly well known on the local scene.
However, for those of you less familiar with the brand this an aftermarket IEM and headphone cable specialist founded by “Guy” Satit Patapeejamratwong, Anyapas Asvasirayothin, and Chandhip Uampornvanich. I am fairly sure they sell to both the domestic and international market, hence their request to have one of their recently released cables reviewed with us.
They have several cables in their portfolio with the Cadence Series their TOTL line-up. This series compromised of 3 cables, a copper, the Silver Plus we are reviewing today, and the flagship Pure Silver which I believe is a 5N Pure Silver wire.
The prices are not unreasonable with the Pure Silver the most expensive at ฿13,990.00 or roughly $440 down to $190 for the Cadence Copper Plus. The Silver Plus is the ‘middle child’ retailing for ฿9,990.00 or roughly $320. All have international shipping options and you can contact them via the website or their FB page.
Tech Highlights
The Cadence Silver Plus is a fairly beefy 22AWG silver-plated OCC copper, (SPC), wire with a 4-core 133 strand Litz geometry. I believe the copper component is the same wire used inside their Cadence Copper Plus cable but adapted with an additional silver plating.
GramsAudio does not provide the specific Litz type but I do know some companies such as Effect Audio work with proprietary Litz builds rather than the standard Types, (1 through to 6).
I would presume then we are working on the same basis hence the lack of Type number and simply a reference to a lacquer Litz. The term lacquer is a nod to the low-temperature lacquer coating on the individual wire strands.
Gauge
The wire gauge at 22AWG will excite cable fans, however. No need to go to 8-wire when you can produce a pliable cable at this sizeable AWG rating. As an FYI the cross-section diameter is 1.25mm which is quite normal for this AWG rating.
The norm in the industry for aftermarket IEM cables as a whole is 26-24AWG and in general, they are a lot thinner. However, being able to produce a malleable wire at 22AWG is impressive.
7N Purity Level
The purity level of the core wire is rated at 7N which is pretty high. The rating basically stands for the purity level of the OCC copper wire used. This is how purity is defined when acquiring alloying materials.
It is not a wholly accurate measure as there are absolute purity and the common metals basis of purity debates. It is generally taken as an approximation but the N stands for numbers on either side of the decimal point.
In this case, 7 numbers or 99.99999%, which is as high as it gets on the purity scale in its raw form. You will see lower purity standards in competing cables such as 6N and 5N and it works in the same manner at 99.9999% and lower. The numbers above give you a broader understanding of the entire range used.
Design
The Cadence Silver Plus has a fairly bright silvery aesthetic which is no surprise given the wire is sheathed in a transparent PE, (Polyethylene), jacket. The silver-tone is complemented by a matching chrome finished splitter barrel and connectors with some welcome red and blue ring work for easy channel identification.
The Cadence Silver Plus strain relief and memory coating are low-profile and unobtrusive with only a tiny bit sticking out of the jack barrel and a transparent soft springy type uses from the connectors.
Of course, that 22AWG wire is what is of primary interest, and to ensure the cable had a nice degree of flexibility GramsAudio has used an elongated or looser braiding style compared to the tight short-throw work favored by the likes of PLUSSOUND and Effect Audio.
Those tight and tidy braiding styles might not work here given the additional density and diameter of the larger wire inside the Cadence Silver Plus. And it is a good move as I find the design of the cable to be quite, well, normal for a good quality aftermarket IEM cable and normal is a good thing here considering the norm is 26AWG.
Handling
You might find the larger wire of the Silver Plus a shade heavier than some of the 4-wire 26AWG competing cables but overall, this is still a surprisingly light and pliant cable in terms of handling.
The majority of the weight is still coming from the robust aluminum chrome-finished splitter and the slightly lighter Eidolic jack barrel rather than the PE jacketed wiring. Compared to any 8-wire 26AWG cable out there, this is a lighter proposition.
The PE jacket is quite soft also but the longer braiding and larger OD of the internal wire do mean a subtle increase in stiffness compared to a 26AWG PVC equivalent but the gap is not huge. You will only notice it in the way it bends creating a much wider loop than small lighter alternatives.
Microphonics and memory retention, (kinks in the wire), in the Silver Plus is pleasingly low. A few taps below the splitter bringing nothing in the way of annoying echo. Above the splitter and around the ear you get a little more in terms of noise but nothing out of the normal.
Terminations
GramsAudio has a number of termination options for the Cadence Silver Plus with its particular sample using a 0.78mm 2-pin and 2.5mm TRSS build. For their Single-ended terminations, they use a 3.5mm TRS ‘GramsAudio’ barrel and pin. This is a proprietary design using a chrome-finished aluminum barrel with a carbon fiber print.
For the balanced terminations on the Silver Plus, both 4.4mm Pentaconn and 2.5mm TRRS, GramsAudio will fit the cable with Eidolic jack and barrel modules so you get that familiar distinctive gunmetal finish with a triple silver banding on the top and the GramsAudio branding to the base.
The Eidolic connector is solid but also a bit lighter than the central chrome aluminum splitter. It does create a little bit of a design clash though with the splitter and connector barrels so perhaps a suggestion is to try and match all three in terms of aesthetics for any future iterations.
Comfort On-Ear
The Cadence Silver Plus comes with a set of low-profile chrome-finished aluminum 2-pin barrels though you can also opt for an MMCX termination if you want some increased articulation for fitting purposes. These barrels are relatively lightweight and used by a few cable companies as they rarely press on your ears uncomfortably.
Behind the barrels, GramsAudio has elected to load the wire with some springy type memory tubing which is relatively long but quite soft to the touch so it doesn’t really make its presence felt on your ear.
This is not an adjustable memory wire but rather a springy type one that adjusts naturally to the shape of your ear when you wear it. Once you take the cables off your ear they spring back into shape.
Overall, the Silver Plus comfort levels are very good for a 22AWG wire but not as light as a 26AWG equivalent. However, the memory wire arch is not so tall that it disturbs my super-light titanium glasses frame so the cable does have a degree of flexibility for people who wear glasses.
Accessories & Packaging
The package I received was relatively basic and looking at the branding photos I suspect this might be what you get as a customer also. I say basic in terms of grandiose packaging and accessories rather than the quality of what you get.
The supplied case is similar to the older 64 Audio black plastic flip-lid hard cases but without the internal organizer tray and the GramsAudio branding on the front. I quite like this case. It’s tough, relatively shockproof with a soft internal lining, and though not weather-sealed it will provide a bit of protection against the elements.
Not all cables come with any form of case that you can easily carry. Some come with silk pouches but it is not really until you get to the $500+ cables do you get any form of carrying case with most of the well-known brands.
Inside you get the cable and a business card with the Model and the serial number of the supplied cable as well as the date of manufacture which acts as your warranty also.
Click on page 2 below for performance impressions and comparisons
