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Please Note: This page will be updated soon to Silvergarde S5 (new October 2023, now in stock)
If placing an order here for Silvergarde S4 it will be upgraded to the S5 model.
Dark Bronze Spliotter with flush silver inlay shown below. Metallic silver+brown herring bone sleeve + solid silver sleeve.
New splitter option now in stock (above): Copper flush cutout logo inlay
Silvergarde S4
Now updated to 19awg silver occ litz per polarity, some new exclusive sleeve options.
This site listing is for the 4-wire model (as shown in below images), for matching adapters please email us for quote via contact form.
4-wire model:
4 x 19awg Silver OCC Litz - 11-core (44 total cores) - Cotton multi-core - infused polymer center core - pure textile - layered design (tri-layer)
Shown above is the 4-wire model with bloodwood engraved splitter, merlot/black (Sleeve 1), merlot/dark grey (sleeve2), Eidolic HD800, Eidolic 4-pin XLR
Quick Termination Notes:
If you have selected a Titanium barrel for your Eidolic 2.5mm TRRS, 3.5mm TRS or 4.4mm TRRRS you can choose between the below rings. Simply let us know in the checkout notes or in email which ring you desire.
1) Silver Carbon fiber - 2) Black Carbon Fiber - 3) Silver AL & Brass Polished ring - 4) Silver AL Ring - 5) Polished Brass ring
If there is a particular amplifier or headphone end termination you do not see, odds are we can make it without a problem. Please just email us via contact form to confirm.
What is a multi-core, layered and pure textile design?
The new Silvergarde S4 design is peerless, designed from the ground up and developed over years (with S2 and S3 iterations before hand). After taking the purest silver occ litz available it is first formed into many occ litz strand bundles which are precisely positioned around enlarged flexible center core. Each of these many strand bundles have their own 100% pure cotton center core, for a total of 10 cotton cores per 19awg conductor. The center core is an infused soft polymer providing stability and negating of triboelectric issues. Each individual 19awg silver occ litz conductor has a grand total of 11 cores. Each 4-wire cable has 44 cores and each 8-wire cable has 88 cores.
There are multiple layers around the overall structure for triboelectric matching, damping and durability. The first layer is 100% cotton overbraid, providing ultimate in triboelectric series matching against the strand bundles as well as the best structure and stability. The second layer is an ultra-thin teflon based wrap further supporting the overall structure, and also helping to compact and streamline the design. Finally we have our third layer as a custom blend textile sleeve specifically produced for us by a 60+ year old factory in the USA.
The result of this design is not only a cable able to squeeze truly everything out of occ litz silver but also provides a cable that brings top level comfort as a great side bonus.
Physical Comfort
One of the great benefits of a "pure textile" layered design is of course an addictive comfort factor that cannot be replicated with cables that utilize polymer dielectrics (such as PE, Teflon, etc.). Not only that but utilizing pure cotton as the primary layer is the absolute best possible material to have compressed against the occ litz stranding given that cotton has effectively the top neutral value in triboelectric series. So we remove the polymer in this series and bring a new experience for a high end aftermarket headphone cable in comfort. Not only are you getting the ultimate benefit from large gauge silver occ litz but you get ultimate ergonomics as well. The Silvergarde S4 is able to provide topmost flexibility, lightest weight for the given large 19awg silver, as well as an extremely low level of mechanical noise (microphonics).
Assembly process
The Silvergarde S4 has a more painstaking assembly process compared to other cables. The primary reason for this is due to the fact that each 4-wire S4 has 44 total cores and 8-wire has 88 cores. With a 4-wire configured S4 each of these cores on every end must be carefully trimmed before submerging into our molten solder pots (note: using silver based solder). This results in having to carefully trim a total of 88 cores (both ends) for every single Sivlergarde S4 silver occ litz headphone cable produced. In regards to the 8-wire model it equates to having to manually and precisely trim double that amount, or a staggering 176 cores trimmed by hand. This represents just one aspect of the build. Each pure textile conductor must also be sleeved manually. Finally should you choose you can add one of our 100% made in house triangle exotic wood splitters. Note that wood splitters will add more time to a build compared to metal splitters. Our wood splitters are extremely labor intensive and produced per order. Overall the Silvergarde S4 has a large amount of precision hand labor and craftsmanship involved in the production of every single cable, we pride ourselves on this time consuming nature in the build to make sure it is 100% perfect.
New exclusive splitter inlays:
For those that purchase any of our large gauge silver occ litz full-size headphcable, the exclusive "flush" inlay option becomes available for your selection. This inlay is precisely formed via CNC process and merged with any desired deep recess splitter currently available. Currently available is the silver anodized flush inlay with cutout logo (shown below), as well as the copper flush inlay. Note that the drop down selection does not list all of the splitters below, for example if you want the Orange with flush silver inlay, simply tell us in the checkout notes. We would then confirm with you in email after your order has been placed, no additional costs. All splitters apart from exotic wood splitters are free to add on the Silvergarde S4. Latest triangle color releases are Red and Dark Bronze.
Dark Copper Beadblast premium splitter, available with CNC raised or flush inlay.
Custom Sleeves
We do offer a very large number of options for sleeving (countless options in stock), including many with metallic tracers (reflects under lighting).
Another exclusive option available for this series is the ability to combine two different patterned sleeves together into one headphone cable. For example if a customer desires to have black/grey herring bone on two conductors combined with black/red herring bone on the other two conductors it can be selected. This is something only offered on the Silvergarde S3 currently.
We are proud to say that our sleeves are 100% made in the USA to the highest quality and standard. Our sleeves are not simply something you can find off the shelf, it has its own extremly nice quality and feel.
Please note you can choose any two of the above sleeve colors and specify in the checkout notes if you do not see them in the options drop down menu.
Is this cable right for you?
The Silvergarde S4 is designed as really the last cable upgrade one would need. There is no better metal to be used in our view than the largest gauges of silver occ litz.
If you have any questions on the cable and how it might be for your headphone and system please just send us an email (via contact form).
We are happy to let you know what might be the best fit for you whether it is this cable or a lower priced copper occ litz cable. Our goal is to find the exact right fit for every customer.
Please note: Page description under construction, check back soon for more details. See bottom for specs.
Customer feedback
as seen in Currawong's Empyrean review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRpElKxalfk
October 2018 - Nick - Canada
cable ordered: Silvergarde S3 - 4-wire
Why OCC?
Used throughout the high end audio industry in most flagship cable products, occ provides the superior quality copper and silver possible today.OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) is the name given to the casting process developed to help defeat annealing issues and virtually eliminate all grain boundaries in copper or silver with a unique patented process. The OCC casting method uses specialized heated moulds in order to draw a single crystal up to 125 meters in length. With only a single crystal in very long lengths, there is an unimpeded free path for the best possible signal transfer. Along with this superior single long crystal structure, OCC provides copper and silver with the least possible oxides and other impurities.
Why Litz?
With each strand utilizing a razor thin enamel coating, Litz based wire provides a cable that will last a lifetime (will not oxidize). Further with each strand acting independently until joining at the termination point, the design negates any bad effects typically associated with normal stranded wire (skin effect, proximity effect, etc.). As another side benefit durability and flexibility are both increased.
Combining OCC (purest metal) with Litz design you really have an end result that is the ultimate cable possible today.
Why Pure OCC Copper, OCC Silver and True Fusion OCC Silver + OCC Copper
We go by the numbers using science as the guideline. All metals have a conductivity rating as describe by the International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS). All metals are compared against Copper at the 100% IACS rating mark. OCC Copper is rated at 103% IACS and Silver 106% IACS. Gold is rated at 73% IACS or 27% lower conductivity as compared to standard OFC/ETP copper (given the exact same amount of each metal). Therefore it would take a significant amount more Gold to achievethe higher conductivity rating of copper.
We will never release anything less than OCC copper and will never release any alloys. So what is an alloy? An alloy is defined as a mixture of two or more different metals, making the original metal less pure with worsened electrical performance than the original pure metal. An alloy of 1% gold with 99% silver would yield around 89% IACS rating or 11% less conductivity than standard OFC/ETP copper. While cables made of metals/alloys that are inferior to copper may alter the sound in a specific way, that is not our goal. Norne Audio will always seek to utilize the absolute best materials (going by the numbers) in our pursuit of the absolute best cables possible today. We believe that the cables with the best specifications yield the best possible sound of ones system.
Please watch the above animation if you prefer a quick visual overview.
IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)
The IACS rating is the metric used to describe a metals conductivity as compared to the standard of copper.
First take a look below at pure metals conductivity ratings.
(1) OCC Pure Silver - 107%
(2) OCC Copper - 103%
(3) Copper (common grade) - 100%
(4) Gold - 73%
Silver is the best there is, in pure form, period.
example:
If you take a 1"x 1"x 1" cube of pure silver and compare its conductivity to an identical 1"x 1"x 1" cube of gold, the gold is considered 32-35% less conductive than the pure silver.
Alloys
An alloy, by definition, is less pure than the original pure metals it is comprised of. Alloys are in existence largely for strength / hardness properties and are not meant for high end audio cables. When you alloy a metal, say gold with silver, you quickly decrease its purity and IACS rating. Even at just 1% gold alloyed with silver the IACS rating drops down well below plumbing grade copper. Alloys in the audio world came about purely as competition increased and there was desperation for new ways to try and market a cable to the uneducated masses.
Norne Audio will always utilize the purest form of a metal and will always use pure silver occ litz, pure copper occ litz, spc occ litz or mixes thereof. Our goal is the design that possesses the absolute top specifications of the highest possible quality.
