Pair up.

Here is how I hear PS Silver+ and Hybrid+ cables paired up with different IEMs in comparison to their stock cables (noted below). I even added Copper+ for a complete analysis. In this test I was using LPGT as a neutral reference source, volume matched, and playing the selection of my usual test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Galantis “Hunter”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Robin Schultz “Oh child”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.

Please keep in mind, I’m describing the sound of IEM paired with a specific cable, driven from LPGT source. I don’t want to imply that cable will have a drastic EQ-like night’n’day effect on the sound of IEMs. Based on what I’m hearing, cable can finetune the sound, but if you find the original signature of IEM to be not your cup of tea, no cable alone will change that.

64 Audio U12t

Stock SPC vs Copper+ – bigger soundstage, deeper sub-bass rumble, smoother more natural treble. The overall sound is tighter and has a blacker background.

Stock SPC vs Silver+ – bigger soundstage, deeper sub-bass rumble and a little less mid-bass impact which brings more focus to the mids/vocals, making the sound a little less colored and more neutral. Treble is a little smoother, more organic.

Stock SPC vs Hybrid+ – bigger soundstage, deeper-sub-bass rumble and stronger mid-bass impact, bass scales up in quantity. Mids sound a little more forward, with a fuller body in lower mids and more clarity in upper mids. Treble has a similar sparkle and level of energy. If Silver+ makes U12t a little more neutral and less colored, Hybrid+ brings more energy to the sound, making it more balanced and W-shaped.

Empire Ears Odin

Stock PWA 1960 2w vs Copper+ – wider soundstage for sure. Other changes are not as noticeable, these cables have a good match, but I do hear with Copper+ a little better balance between bass and mids, which results in a less mid-forward and more balanced signature of Odin. Also, I do hear a blacker background with Copper+ which makes the sound tighter and a little faster while stock 1960 2wire gives it a little more relaxed sound presentation.

Stock PWA 1960 2w vs Silver+ – wider soundstage, as expected. Bass is similar, but overall perception of the bass is more neutral because mids are more forward and more revealing. Treble has a little more airiness now as well. Blacker background is noticeable too.

Stock PWA 1960 2w vs Hybrid+ – wider soundstage is the first thing I noticed. The rest of the changes are not as drastic, but the overall sound is more balanced now due to improved linearity between bass and mids, similar to Copper+. Bass has a little more sub-bass rumble. Also, mids sound a little smoother and more refined. Blacker background and tighter sound are also noticeable.

UM Mest MK2

Stock PWA Copper vs Copper+ – wider soundstage is noticeable. The sound is tighter, faster, including a faster transient of notes on/off due to a blacker background. Also, I hear mids having more clarity and being slightly more forward which creates a more balanced sound sig. Overall, it’s not a drastic sound change, but a noticeable technical performance refinement.

Stock PWA Copper vs Silver+ – wider soundstage as expected here. But the biggest and the most noticeable change, besides a tighter sound with a blacker background, is mids being more forward which creates a more balanced sound signature instead of a typical mild U-shaped sound sig. And with mids being more forward, the treble now also sounds more natural.

Stock PWA Copper vs Hybrid+ – wider soundstage in this pair up. Bass has a similar sub-bass rumble, but mid-bass punch is stronger and tighter. Also, lower mids have more body now, and mids in general, while not as forward as in Silver+ pair up, sound more natural and more organic. And the same with treble which sounds more natural and more organic. But overall signature is still closer to mild U-shaped.

Comparison.

Consistent with my cable testing philosophy, I used the same IEM (U12t) and the same source (LPGT), and only changed one variable at a time to note the sound difference I hear while keeping volume matched. Keep in mind, I’m describing how U12t sound compares between different cables.

Copper+ to Silver+ – the same soundstage/imaging; silver has a similar refinement of the bass, especially mid-bass punch, but since Silver mids have a little fuller body with a more forward presentation of revealing upper mids, the perception of the bass ends up being more neutral with Silver+ wires. Treble is similar and as crisp, maybe just with a touch more sparkle.

Copper+ to Hybrid+ – the same soundstage/imaging; hybrid has stronger and more refined bass, especially a stronger mid-bass punch and slightly deeper sub-bass rumble; mids have a little fuller body with richer tonality, both in lower and upper mids; treble is similar but due to changes in mids it sounds a little smoother now.

Silver+ to Hybrid+ – the same soundstage/imaging; bass sounds stronger, especially in mid-bass impact and even a touch more sub-bass rumble with hybrid wires; lower mids are similar, while upper mids are a little smoother in hybrid which results in a smoother treble and overall, more balanced sound signature, while Silver+ tends to push mids a little more forward which results in a more neutral bass impact.

Silver+ vs EA Cleo – Silver+ soundstage is wider, and I hear the background being blacker with Silver+ as well. Mids and Treble are very similar between these two, except Silver+ is a little brighter in upper mids. Also, I hear a stronger mid-bass punch with Silver+.

Silver+ vs PS Tri-Silver – Silver+ soundstage is wider. Their bass quantity and quality are very similar, hard to even tell their bass apart. But when it comes to mids, Silver+ is a little smoother and more organic in comparison to Tri-Silver being just a bit grainy. Treble is very similar.

Hybrid+ vs PWA Monile ft 1960 – Lots of similarities in this comparison, from soundstage expansion and imaging to a blacker background. Bass has similar impact and texture; treble has similar tonality and extension. The main difference here is in mids, especially lower mids where Hybrid+ has fuller body and upper mids which are more organic, while Monile lower mids are more neutral and upper mids are a little more revealing.

Conclusion.

While the focus of this review was on Silver+ ($1,499) and Hybrid+ ($1,299) cables, I still had to include Copper+ ($999) because I know many will be trying to decide which cable is the right one for them. And as usual, I always like to remind people that in my cable sound description I’m not implying that cable will have a drastic night’n’day EQ-like effect on the sound. Based on what I’m hearing, PlusSound Copper+, Silver+, and Hybrid+ can certainly finetune the sound of your favorite IEMs, but if you find the original signature and tuning of that IEM to be not your cup of tea, no cable alone will change that.

But at the same time, I hear all 3 cables to have unique characteristics of wide and deep soundstage expansion and more 3D like imaging. Also, they yield a very low noise floor and black background which tightens the sound. Furthermore, they all seem to enhance bass with a nice textured rumble and well controlled punch, but with Silver the perception of mid-bass is not as strong in comparison to Copper and Hybrid because its mids are a little more forward, as well as less colored and more revealing.

Both Copper and Hybrid have a more elevated bass impact, including a deeper sub-bass rumble and a stronger mid-bass punch, but mids of Hybrid are even smoother and richer in tonality, especially lower mids having a fuller body. The biggest difference between Silver and Hybrid is that Hybrid bass is deeper and has more impact, while Silver bass is relatively more neutral in comparison. Silver mids are more forward and less colored and exhibit improvement in retrieval of details, while Hybrid has warmer fuller body lower mids and smoother upper mids.

And as I mentioned in the Conclusion of my Copper+ review, these cables are a bit stiff, but the improvement in sound performance and ergonomics (over Echo+) still outweighs this con. These are definitely great cables to consider if you are looking for a pure copper or pure silver or combination of both and don’t mind their premium price tag. For me personally, Hybrid+ was my favorite out of these three because I enjoyed its pair up synergy with many different IEMs.