Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.
That doesn't look cheap, what is it?
Know the 2m cable I'm using isn't ideal, will be swapping it out for a 30cm one eventually.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
It’s the back of a DAC, with separate BNC cables for clock and signal components. However, in your case, you have HDMI, so would recommend an officially certified 4K HDMI cable rather than audiophile fluff. With 18 Gbps cable bandwidth, it far exceeds any I2S requirements, which operates in the MHz range. 30cm length is a good idea as you’ve said, can pick one up for £20 easily.
Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.
Yeah knew it was a Dac Neil, just wondering which one it was?
That's the cool thing about i2s, it separates the clock from the signal and reduces digital jitter.
HDMI is a handy transport for it, with the separate cable runs in the wire.
I think at that point it's down to "normal" digital cable construction concerns, as not all digital cables sound the same and that has to be down to materials used, dialectric and probably a hundred things not measure yet.
See what happens, I'll try a few different ones as the ones I have sound quite different - so proof of concept at least proved.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
Really interesting question Clive. For me it has always been the interconnects that have produced the biggest change in sound quality but a week or so back I also changed from coax digital interconnect to optical digital interconnect and the result was just about a transformation. The speaker cables for me have always produced the most ignorable change.
I have to say that goes completely against the grain. Coax has been the go to for me as optical has to be converted at each end so that the 1 & 0’s can be seen by the electronic circuitry. This would then give a good opportunity for jitter and noise to enter the system.
SOURCE:OPPO UDP-205 BluRay, SkyQ, Technics SL1210M5G/HexMat Eclipse/MN Bearing/Origin Live Gravity One puck/Isonoes with Boots/Jelco TK-850S Tonearm/Hana Umami Blue, PS Audio Stellar Phonostage. I also have an AT-OC9XSH as a spare cartridge.
AMPLIFIER: Bryston BR-20 Pre/DAC/Streamer & Bryston 4B3 Power Amplifier
SPEAKERS: Spendor D7 on Iso-Acoustics Gaia III’s
HEADPHONES: OPPO PM-1 with Atlas Zeno cable, B&W Pi7 S2 and B&W C5 v2.
CABLES: Analogue: Speaker Atlas Mavros Grun. Interconnect - Atlas Mavros XLR x3, MCRU Silver Tonearm cable
Digital:Audioquest Carbon Ethernet x 4, Audioquest Carbon digital, English Electric 8Switch, Chord Optichord, Atlas Optical.
Mains: PS Audio Perfectwave AC-05 x 5, Isol-8 Powerline Extreme with Quantum Science yellow fuse on input cable, Sounds Fantastic 6way Mains Blocks.
STORAGE: Synology DS216J NAS with 2 x 3Tb WD Red hard-drives. Samsung 500Gb SSD.
TV LG55B7 OLED
Location: cardiff
Posts: 266
I'm Tristan.
For me mains cables have the biggest effect. I've seen others say the same.
Nary a mention of two crucial words "cognitive bias"
We're supposed to be listening to music, not cables; which is where all this "comparison" inevitably leads.
I am currently listening to Maurizio Pollini, one of the greatest pianists to have drawn breath. I am not wondering what make of cable was used during recording
"The hi-fi fraternity is bizarre, full of dangerous amateurs" Tim de Paravicini Audio Magazine 1995
"Objective measurements in audio are primary, but they are useless unless they have been subjectively validated as predictors of musical accuracy Edgar Villchur Stereophile 2005
" What we cannot measure, we do not know" Lord Rayleigh
It would be easier to answer the question who is the prettiest girl in the world then to answer which piece of cabling in all stereo systems would make the most difference.
The answer is going to be dependent on the needs of each individual component in the chain. For example if you have a tube amp with little to no Global feedback speaker cables are going to have to be very large and in short runs making them very important. If you have noisy Mains power a good power cable might help to reduce that before it gets to the Transformers making that very important.
With a digital component like a CD player or a DAC power cables make a much smaller difference the coax or the optical cable will be far more noticeable. As you have a lot more filtering in place.
And analog system, for example a turntable tonearm cables are going to be the most important, followed by interconnects to the Step up Transformer or phono stage.
In a large solid state system mostly digital, speaker wires will be of much less importance, and Mains cables will also be far less important than interconnects.
For personal listening I find headphone cable is to be the most important, especially any long extension cables.
The entire audio chain is never the same in any two systems so for me the cable that makes the most important is the one that reduces the largest deficiency. For example in a system where large speaker cable isn't an issue in your Mains power is well filtered and quiet it would always be best to start from the source with the best cable possible and correct or upgrade as you go down the chain., ending at your speakers.
Given you have done all that have a good whisky and just listen to music.
Jeff :UBERTHREADKILLER
Location: London/Durham
Posts: 6,883
I'm Lawrence.