TC-7520 - what kind of cable for S/PDIF via electrical coax?

[Quietschbox]

Connection:
Squeezebox s/pdif electrical out to TC-7520.
Need a proper cable for this, not too shabby, but don't know were sensible starts, ends, and when hype begins.

The 7520 should be shipped soon, so should i order
http://www.beresford.me/UK/DIGITAL_COAX_CABLE_.html
before Stan sends? It's not a cheap one, for my standards, though surely you always can spend 100.000 for some super duper 50cm, if you want to, and in that light 20 quid might be fine. I don't know.

Also, besides question 1., "which type of cable", question 2. "what length should it be"?
Stans product has 1m. While I read somewhere cables should be 1,5 metres at least, because otherwise signalreflections do occur. Your comments on length, would that be a no for Stans 1m?

[chrism]

Hi,

1.5m appears to be the recommended min length. I bought a Mark Grant Coaxial cable (1694A) and it cost about £18.00 or so delivered. It has cannare connectors which are supposed to be true 75 ohm connectors. See markgrantcables.co.uk.

It is a bit "stiff" so you need to make sure you don't need to go round tight bends or the SB will be pushed over.

Regards

Chris

[NRG]

.... It has cannare connectors which are supposed to be true 75 ohm connectors. See markgrantcables.co.uk.....

Which appears to be a bit of waste of time as the RCA socket they plug into are not 75 ohm. You'll only get an impedance match if using BNC plug and socket.

[Gazjam]

These cables do make a difference.
I went through a stage of trying a lot of different ones and found differences in presentation - Stans one being a good one..

I tried NVA, Gotham, Belden, standard interconnect and others.

Best one I found is the NVA Super Sound Pipe (by far), the best of the rest being the Belden 1649a, which I thought was a fair bit better than all the rest.

This was in my system, your milage may differ though.

I only needed a short length to connect DAC to my Squeezebox, so I could get away with a short length of NVA Sound Pipe.

I go the cable as a trade for my squeezebox linear power supply - probably would have stuck with the Belden if I hadn't.

[Ali Tait]

From what I've read,0.75m is supposed to be the ideal length for this kind of i/c.

[chrism]

From what I've read,0.75m is supposed to be the ideal length for this kind of i/c.

Hi Ali,

Can I ask where you read that recomendation as it does appear to be at odds with what has been discussed on PFM.

Regards

Chris

[kalozois100]

I can also recommend markgrant belden one as it is value for money and better than stans one in my set up . I too have read top reviews of the super sound pipe but it was out of my price budget

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/NVA-70cm-set-...mZ220357911350

[Quietschbox]

These cables do make a difference.
I went through a stage of trying a lot of different ones and found differences in presentation - Stans one being a good one..

I tried NVA, Gotham, Belden, standard interconnect and others.

Best one I found is the NVA Super Sound Pipe (by far), the best of the rest being the Belden 1649a, which I thought was a fair bit better than all the rest.

This was in my system, your milage may differ though.

I only needed a short length to connect DAC to my Squeezebox, so I could get away with a short length of NVA Sound Pipe.

I go the cable as a trade for my squeezebox linear power supply - probably would have stuck with the Belden if I hadn't.

Oh no, this question seems to be a direct hit into the Hifi-Vodoo pot?

What about "impedance"? Is that important? I never looked into that.
Also, how can a cable type have a specific impedance value, in spite of
varying length?

Should I make it easy and stick to Gazjams opinion and choose Stans, even though it's no special length?
Stan should know what he does, but how should I know how he ticks. He didn't reply when i asked him about the cables.

And while this came up, the standard question, "how can a digital signal be affected by sufficiently good cables still"?
No need to open a book for that, I just always wonder...

I have to add, i am living in germany, so while suggestions may be useful if they also have technical data,
these products aren't neccessarily on sale here.

"APOGEE WYDE EYE WE-RR-2,0 S/PDIF", 58 Euros...
Belden 1649a without plugs is available, 3,40 Euro/m. Should i solder one myself, but where to get proper plugs?

[NRG]

The reason the cables apparently sound different is due to reflections because of the none optimum termination. Terminate SPDIF correctly and these differences magically disappear.

Thorsten, when he used to post a lot on the various forums demonstrated that 1.5m was a good cable length choice with RCA connectors or use an very short cable IE ~15cm

[Ali Tait]

Chris,
Sorry been trying to find where I read it but I can't! Memory like a sieve...
Probably a load of guff anyway.