Pure silver IEM cables are generally revered for their transparency, cleanliness and ability to extract maximum detail. The good ones also tend to be very expensive, because, well, silver.
But there’s a small, boutique cable maker in Lavtvia that’s gone against the grain, so to speak, creating silver cables of the highest purity for both headphones and IEMs that not only play on the lusher side of silver, but are also very competitively priced.
I’ve had several pleasant encounters with Lavricables over the past few years, primarily their headphone cables. To date I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing all three tiers of the company’s cable line-up: Ultimate, Master and Grand, which you can read here and here.
The latter, in particular, left a lasting impression, and so when I was looking for a high-end silver cable to review for you fine people, I knew exactly where to find one.
Lavricables Grand
For a pure silver cable, the 4-core, 20awg Lavricables Grand IEM is thicker than most 8-core IEM cables I’ve used, rivalled only by the likes of PW Audio’s hefty paracord-wrapped shielded cables. It’s more like a headphone cable in dimensions, and in fact is exactly the same wire that Lavri uses for the headphone-line of Grand cables.
Despite its size, Lavricables Grand IEM is among the softest, most subtle of cables, is virtually kink-free, and transfers very little by way of microphonics in use. Depending on the hardware you choose it also looks very solid and luxurious. I picked the new Baltic Grey-tinted sheathing, along with Lavri’s grey and carbon splitter and 2-pin connectors.
The 4.4mm balanced connector is one of the better connectors on the market, sourced from Aeco and made from gold-plated solid copper. I do wish the rest of the cable hardware matched this new polished silver plug and premium sheathing for a more consistent look, so hopefully Konstantin is working on that as an upgrade option for 2024.
For a hefty cable, the Grand IEM is not very heavy, and the clear earguides make short work of getting a perfect fit with your IEM of choice.
I’d say the only thing ‘lacking’ from this premium cable is a premium package. Grand IEM ships in a nondescript carboard box with the Lavricables logo, and nothing else but a simple velvet pouch that holds the cable itself. Zero frills, but to be fair, I use exactly none of the cases and boxes that shipped with other elaborately-packaged (and priced) cables, so if part of the savings is the presentation box, I’m good with that.
Continue to sound impressions…
