Disclaimer: Effect Audio has been a site partner for a few years now, the Thor Silver II+ cable was sent to us free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion. The really white pictures in this article were borrowed from Munkonggadget.com.
Effect audio
Effect Audio is an aftermarket cable company located in Singapore that over the last few years has grown from a starter to one of the tone setters in the sector. We’ve reviewed a series of their cables here on HFN over the years but I use several of there other cables which I never reviewed, like their Audeze to Hifiman and Audeze adapters.
In 2009, Effect Audio was founded to meet the needs of a niche segment of the audiophile and music industry professionals market. Each cable undergoes precise fine-tuning and testing and their goal is to deliver quality value-for-money options. Effect Audio aspires to become the leading expert in the sound industry, especially where upgrade cables are concerned, bringing reliable and trustworthy information to their customers.
The cable we will be looking at today is the Thor Silver II+, another of their latest additions to their expansive line-up.
Thor Silver II
The Thor Silver II cable is for people who want more out of a silver cable. According to Effect audio the original Thor silver delivers: immersive and alluring, intimate vocals, visceral bass punch, while introducing unbelievable and 3D imaging and soundscape. Thor Silver II is designed such to be as smooth as possible, removing the treble spike and sibilance as most pure silver cables do. It is made out of 26 AWG UPOCC Pure Silver Litz with a Proprietary Multi-Size Stranded design within single encapsulation, a flexible insulation (same as Leonidas) and new EA CF connectors and Y-Split.
The new Thor Silver II+ features better ergonomics and is a huge step-up from its predecessor. Effect Audio: Offering more balance, more staging and more vocals allure together with its new cable geometry design, Thor Silver II is not your usual Pure Silver cable. Visually the new Thor Silver II also looks more silver than it did before where it was more “white” looking.
In contrast to the regular Thor Silver II, the Silver II+ uses 22 AWG UPOCC Pure Silver Litz with Proprietary Multi-Size Stranded design within single encapsulation, flexible insulation (same as Leonidas) and new EA CF connectors and Y-Split. The 8-wire braid is only available on request and Effect Audio uses certified UP-OCC materials only for both of these cables.
A multi-sized stranded design within the same encapsulations enables the Thor Silver II+ to achieve distinct highs and details due to the signal transmission speed in thinner cable strands, while the thicker size cable strands are usually employed for smooth bass and mids.
When configuring the 4-wire braid cable in their webshop, the total cost of the cable is $359USD.
Build Quality and comfort
As we are used to from Effect Audio (EA), the whole package screams quality. The new Thor Silver II+ comes delivered in a good quality white box with a special cable inlay (see picture), it’s quite the change from the plastic bag their cables used to ship in years ago. It shows that EA strives to continuously improve quality and please their customers.
The cable also has a top quality finish and the Thor Silver II+ feels light and flexible. The 2.5 mm plug used is their carbon slim one with a silver finish and I have to say I quite like those new slim plugs. The Thor Silver II+ I received is a standard 4-wire braid (8 braid is only available on request), measures around 1.0m and it is terminated in the new Effect Audio branded two-pin plugs for IEMs.
Compared to the beginning Effect audio’s build quality has improved a lot and the latest samples we received and reviewed all look great but this latest sample is even better with a tighter more coherent braid and a more symmetric finish on both ends of the cable near the connectors. I’m also a big fan of the “memory wire” EA uses. In fact it’s not a memory wire anymore like in the old days but it’s an ear shaped plastic sleeve that forces the cable to sit tightly and comfortable over your ears.
Building the cable takes between 1 to 3 days depending on the number of orders Effect audio is working on, but believe me that is fast. I’m already waiting for over a year for a balanced cable from Hivemind Cables for my HD800. I’ve lost hope by now to ever see it.
More about the Effect Audio Thor silver II+ on the next page after the jump.
gunwale
perfect companion for my oriolus v2
Clarence
It is not $359, should be $569.9.
A lot more expensive
Blackgreen15
Price is now up to 900$
D
Why is it getting more expensive by the hour?