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Another recording from the CD which showcased the Kimber's qualities was "Across the Universe" sung by Mr. Noel Bridgeman and recorded direct to DAT with presumably minimal processing.  As Mary Black puts it in the liner notes, "... I remembered that night in the Olympia clearly – he stepped out from behind his drums and belted it out". And belt it out he did with a vocal performance full of character and confidence, every intonation perfectly reproduced in a believable acoustic.



Increasing your system's resolution gives a clearer window on the performance. In my experience, adding silver wiring wherever possible is a virtually fail-safe way to increase resolution- provided materials and design are of sufficient quality. It's important to note that increasing resolution should not result in a more analytical sound. When resolution increases across the board, bass becomes more defined and gains more character to add a more musical foundation. The quality of bass also impacts ambience and acoustics, which in turn impact soundstaging which affects depth and ultimately realism. It goes without saying that the better your components, the more you will benefit from good cables. You won’t know what influences your copper cables are having until you substitute them with silver. As you can tell, I like silver and love the Kimber KS-1030. And now, back to the Artisan Silver Dream.    


Despite owning most of the usual suspects when it comes to 'reference' recordings, one of the finest I have for evaluating vocal quality, fine detail retrieval and the ability to reproduce piano is the live recording For All We Know [Black Box BBJ2013]. Jacqueline Dankworth—daughter of Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth and perhaps not as well known as her talent suggests she should be—is here accompanied by James Pearson on piano. The venue was The Stables, Wavendon in Milton Keynes, an auditorium selected for its compact size to showcase the intimacy of voice and piano. There isn’t as much sense of audible acoustics but every single shift James Pearson madeon his stool and every press of a pedal were captured on the recording. Perhaps the microphones were placed too close to nullify the influence of any real hall sound?

It is a fine recording nonetheless and the sort which benefits from a better lens to put the performers in the room. I enjoyed an excellent representation of piano and extremely natural vocals when I placed the Artisan between the Music First Passive Magnetic preamp and EAR 509 monos. Swapping in the Kimbers resulted in very little change to demonstrate how very little the Artisan misses when compared to the very best. Vocals were as damn near silkily smooth and detailed and the piano was all but identical from the highest to the lowest registers.  The Kimber had the merest edge in smoothness on Jacqueline's voice but I am talking of a barely perceptible degree not immediately noticeable. The Artisan was beautifully smooth, the Kimber every so slightly smoother. 



After switching back and forth numerous times, the Artisan cable proved to be slightly fuller and bolder while the Kimber had an edge in delicacy. This looks to be a clear distinction when written out yet these were very subtle differences indeed.  I was being extremely critical comparing the Artisan to my all-time reference which has astounded friends and colleagues whenever I've placed them in their systems.  There is one argument that equipment should be compared only within its own class to maintain a level playing field. I'm assuming reader intelligence instead and every component to pass through my hands will be compared against the best I have. Then it's up to you to apply any price differentials and determine relative value.    


With products like the Artisan Silver Dream, any slight tinge of guilt I might have felt had they suffered compared to the best was absent. This cable could confidently be placed in my system regardless of price and not be found wanting. If replacing copper cables, a purchaser could be in for a real ear opener. I could certainly live with these and if my Kimbers were stolen tonight, I’d not hesitate to order a few pairs of replacement Silver Dreams in the morning, with change left in my pocket for that long overdue vacation because I left the best for last. 



The observant will already have noticed the price at the top of the page before beginning the review. Yet they may have begun to believe a typo when I proceeded to compare the Artisan with the Kimber Select at over £1,300 UK retail. Well, I can confirm that the stated price of a half meter pair of Silver Dream ICs is £139 indeed. The decimal point does happen to be in the right place. Even for those who must export them outside the UK then, they're an absolute steal. Thoroughly recommended.


Reusability of packing: Many times.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Quality of owner's manual: Simple and straightforward.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Website comments: Very informative.
Human interactions: Professional and friendly.
Warranty: 30-day money back guarantee (does not include custom orders).
Pricing: At these prices, why DIY? Free worldwide delivery. 
Final comments & suggestions: Diminishing returns kick in heavily if you want better sound than this.
Artisan Silver Cables website