Stager Interconnects

[Joseph R.]

Has anyone tried the solid core silver Stager Interconnects ? I ordered a one meter pair to be used between my DAC and preamp and are currently breaking them in. Marc Stager claims a minimum amount of break-in is required. I have 75 hours on them so far. Any opinions ?

 

[Joseph R.]

Well looks like I got about 50 views and no responses. I will rephrase. Has anyone even heard of Stager cables ? He has been making them for 21 years. A “no” response is also helpful.

 

[Jack]

Joe

I have never heard or used Stager products but I did own several sets of IC's years ago that were almost identical, Homegrown Audio Silver Lace, and they were a little forward in the wrong setting but overall pretty good and a bargain at the time. If you want to try silver based IC's the long time standard has been Audio Majic though a whole lot higher priced. There is another ID dealer that is popular on AudioCircle whose name escapes me at the moment. According to owners his cables don't have a forward character. Bottom line at his prices may be worth a try.

 

[Joseph R.]

Thanks for the response Jack. This Audio Magic, are they a high end line of Audioquest ? Or of Straight Wire ? Don’t remember which. I have owned Music Metre silvers for many years, which are pure silver. I also own Clearday cables, which are also pure silver. But must admit never hearing of Homegrown audio silver lace. I started out looking for Kimber Silvers, which I owned at one time and returned to Kimber as they were not a good match. Not being able to find them any longer, I purchased the Stagers. I was hoping they would be a good Kimber substitute. Since the Stagers are less expensive than any of them, I had the least to lose.


So far the Stager cables do not approach the sound quality of the Kimber Silvers, albeit they are considerably less hot. After 80 hours of break-in they don’t seem to be changing any longer. I am reserving my final analysis of the Stagers until I feel they are fully broken in. I was hoping to get some feedback from other audiophiles, hoping to share a similar experience (or not).

 

[audio.bill]

Joe - I recall hearing about Stager ICs many years ago and haven't read anything since, so I checked out their site and it looks like their initial review was in 1997. There have been many similar designs in the market over the years and I used to own some from Don Blair which were recommended back in the day by the Bound for Sound newsletter. They were a good value for the money but nothing really revolutionary as far as their performance. Regarding the Audio Magic cables mentioned above, they're not related to Audioquest or Straight Wire and are an independent company. They use a much more complex design compared to the simple twisted conductors of the Stagers, and their highest end models (can be expensive) even use some ribbon conductors. Hope this helps!

 

[Joseph R.]

Thanks Jack and Bill for your comments. It seems these cables have limited exposure. In the final analysis, I have removed them from my system. They were lacking in micro dynamics and just did not inspire. At first It sounded like everything was coming through. After hours of break-in I realized the texture and layering of music was missing. Small delicate nuances had no finesse and sublety. Frequency extension was superb and bass control was supprising good for a silver cable. They just did not bring life, interest and ooohs and aaahs to my system.