{"id":4331,"date":"2014-11-20T00:17:19","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T00:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/?p=4331"},"modified":"2015-03-06T00:01:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T00:01:24","slug":"klei-pureharmony-phonorca-plug-review-by-neville-roberts-hifi-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/klei-pureharmony-phonorca-plug-review-by-neville-roberts-hifi-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"KLEI Pure\u00aeHarmony Phono\/RCA plugs by Neville Roberts (Hi-Fi Choice\/UK)"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S 60 YEARS<\/b> since the original phono plug was designed by RCA. Now, hot on the heels of the entry-level Copper Harmony RCA plugs from KLEInnovations (HFC 388), come the Silver Harmony and Pure Harmony RCA plugs. The Eichmann Bullet RCA plug has gained a well-deserved reputation as a high-quality phono plug. One of its features is that, along with the likes of WBT, it has a single-point earth return contact. However, since the success of the Bullet, Keith Louis Eichmann (aka KL), the man behind the Eichmann Bullet, has launched KLE Innovations in Australia to produce a brand new range of products, including the Harmony RCA Plug. The range is the result of a project aimed at developing the design of the Bullet in order to improve conductivity and signal integrity across the connection. <\/p>\n

Both the Silver and Pure Harmony build on the design philosophy of the Copper Harmony plugs, but use different materials for the contacts.<\/p>\n

All of the Harmony range has an easy snap-like connection to a standard phono socket. The high melting point thermoplastic polymer housing assembly uses two grub screws (a small Allen key is required, but not supplied) and a small rubber collar to retain and secure the cable. <\/p>\n

Internally, tag-shaped connections for the signal and earth facilitate the soldering of a wide range of cable types and configurations. <\/p>\n

Heavy metal<\/b> <\/p>\n

The entry-level Copper Harmonys employ KLEI PureCopper\u2122 for the signal and earth pins.<\/p>\n

Moving up in the range, the Silver Harmonys are identical, but use an earth connection made from KLEI PureSilver\u2122 and KLEI PureCopper\u2122 for the signal pin. <\/p>\n

Finally, in the Pure Harmonys, both the signal and the earth pins are made from KLEI PureSilver\u2122. <\/p>\n

For the purposes of the test and in the interests of consistency, I fit all the plugs in turn to a set of interconnect cables made from Neotech STDST-24 UP-OCC stranded silver wire in Teflon sleeving and solder the plugs to the wire using Mundorf 3.8 percent silver solder. <\/p>\n

Soldering is a piece of cake, thanks to the good design of the internal tags.<\/p>\n

However, I do have one or two questions still running around my head, so I consult with the man himself. Thanks to an introduction from the UK importers, Black Rhodium, I put a few questions to KL. I first ask him how the new Harmonys differ from the famous Eichmann Bullets. <\/p>\n

He explains that the main differences are in the materials and the internal layout of the pins. The Silver Bullet utilises machinable silver (<96 percent IACS), the Copper Bullet utilises machinable tellurium copper (<95 percent IACS) and the basic Bullet utilises machinable brass (<28 percent IACS). The Harmonys use a proprietary formula (and, so, secret) metals for the pins to offer enhanced conductivity and improve their physical strength. \n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the internal connections feature an anti-shorting shield and are arranged to maximise the distance from each other in order to minimise inductive, capacitive and EMF effects.<\/p>\n

I then ask why he made the earth pin from KLEI PureSilver\u2122 in the Silver Harmony plugs, rather than the signal pin. KL points out that the relationship between the signal and earth pin metals is not straightforward and this design is to achieve the best price\/performance ratio.<\/p>\n

I note that the earth pin extends up into the body and has a threaded section that engages with the plug housing, although the housing is plastic on all the models. <\/p>\n

Is he planning on having a metal sleeve version in the future? He replies that he\u2019s considering a future housing that will ensure star-point grounding to minimise the metal housing\u2019s coaxial effects.<\/p>\n

Enough talk<\/b><\/p>\n

So much for the theory, the proof of the pudding is how they sound. <\/p>\n

After running them in, I find that in comparison with the Copper Harmonys, the Silvers offer similarly excellent imaging, but seem to offer improved clarity and transparency to the sound. <\/p>\n

The Pure Harmonys appear to take this improvement a stage further by opening up the sound stage. Bass drums also have better attack. <\/p>\n

In my opinion, the Silver and Pure Harmony plugs are superb value for money, work extremely well and so come highly recommended. NR<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hi-Fi Choice Highly Recommended Award<\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b>… ★★★★★<\/span><\/b> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hi-Fi Choice(HFC391) >><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Hi-Fi Choice >><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Black Rhodium >><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S 60 YEARS since the original phono plug was designed by RCA. Now, hot on the heels of the entry-level Copper Harmony RCA plugs from KLEInnovations (HFC 388), come the Silver Harmony and Pure Harmony RCA plugs. The Eichmann Bullet RCA plug has gained a well-deserved reputation as a high-quality phono plug. One of its …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4331"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5021,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331\/revisions\/5021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kleinnovations.com\/bartime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}