DIY COAXIAL Cable besides Belden?

[NEAR_SOTA]

This is my first post so please forgive me if I have asked in the wrong forum!

I am looking for sources for making up runs of Digital COAX Cables to try between my DAC and and CDP Transport. I am using Belden which is good,but I want to see if I can come up with a better one.

My Transport is a Phillips CD-80 and a Bolder Modified ART DAC so there might be a synergy issue there to overcome.

PENN Cable or something like that was a suggestion that can be found at Allied. Are there any others?

TIA ,NS

[Jocko Homo]

Which Belden?? Some are great, others are dreck.

Synergy, smnergy............the CD-80 output stinks. Great platform, rotten digital output.

Jocko, Il Duce di CD-80

[NEAR_SOTA]

I bought the Basic Bolder Digital Cable from Bolder.

I have made some DIY Silver Cables and have 47Labs OTA Cable for the rest of my system. I was wondering if there were any Digital Cables out there that you could make up that might compete with so called Ultra Expensive SOTA Digital Cables.

I have also tried Canare,but it did not work well in my system. To recessed for my taste and had a veiling over vocal info.

I see JPS has Digital Cable and I will look around to see if anyone elsr supplies Digital Cable that I can try. I am sure that Belden is not the last word in Digital Cables and was looking for alternatives.

It is not that I am disatisfied with it,but It might just be the weakest link in cabling in my system at the moment.

The Belden was also Cryo treated.

Thanks for reading my post!

[NEAR_SOTA]

So what do you suggest as a fix to the Digital Output in the CD-80?

[Jocko Homo]

Thought that you were making your own cables, not buying a lousy commercial product.

Most people use RCA connectors. Wrong. Use BNC.

The impedance of the cable and the connector must match each other, and also the impedance of both the TX and RX ends. If any are wrong......and most all of the above are on most sytems, it won't sound good. Yes, it will work, but if you want it to sound really good......(and who doesn't) then it has to be done right.

So.....you need a decent cable, good connectors.......which automatically rules out Canare as they are liars and/or idiots......at all 4 points.

As for the CD-80..........yuk...........lousy mystery coax of inderterminate impedance.....going from an IDC near the front to another at the rear....and then into the worst transformer that I have ever seen. All that has to go. Real 75 ohm coax, good transformer, like a Schott, and proper drive impedance. For starters.

Jocko

[NEAR_SOTA]

"So.....you need a decent cable, good connectors.......which automatically rules out Canare as they are liars and/or idiots......at all 4 points."

I have found that certain wires work better in one place in my system then another.

Not making up Digital Cable from scratch BTW. I would buy the cable and put my own connectors on.

Canare was not great in my system. Worked between amp-Passive ,but as a Digital Cable Belden was better.

Canare will admit their RCAs are really not true 75ohm connectors BTW.

I changed the BNC connectors on my ART DIO because their are alot more cables made with RCAs than BNC.

Wil write more later as I have to go!

[NEAR_SOTA]

On Canare COAX--It had severe Rolled Off Highs used between the CDP and DAC or Between the DAC to to Passive used as regular IC's.

It worked somewhat better then between the Passive to Amp ,but still had rolled-off'd Highs.

The best IC's I have used are DIY Silver IC's and 47Labs OTA Cable.

I will look to see what other Digital Cables are out there which might be better than Belden to try.

Like I stated I have nothing against Belden ,but I would like to see or hear if I can get better.

It will take a few different manfactures to try,but I will see whoo besides Belden produces Digital Cables.

Thanks for the info!

[Jocko Homo]

It is a 75 ohm coax.

You can not accurately judge how good a cable is in just one system. As most TX/RX pairs have so much reflection problems, it is possible to find a combination that sounds good together, but rotten most everywhere else.

When the reflections are done away with, you will find that cables all sound about the same.

A certain famous "modifier" type of manufacturer found that a 93 ohm coax.......with an obtuse ham radio connector worked best on his porducts.

Because he was an idiot and had the output impedance of his transport all wrong.

Jocko

[fmak]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jocko Homo
Most people use RCA connectors. Wrong. Use BNC.

So.....you need a decent cable, good connectors.......which automatically rules out Canare as they are liars and/or idiots......at all 4 points.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Jocko

I have done everthing - the 4 points and yet still find :

1. Cable sensitivity - the better set up, the more sensitive in fine but important ways - bass and treble and placement.

2. Transport sensitivity in that cheaper transpoprts with relock and impedance matching don't sound as good as high class transports without mods. ( Marantz CD23 swing arm, Sony 670 with Tent XO3 clock and relock as opposed to Sony SCD777ES with no mod). Differences are SIGNIFICANT and the 777ES fixed laser sounds best.

In all cases, we have very clean eye patterns with very little brodening, good fast square waves with little ringing when 75R loaded etc. Auditions using great variety of cables and music thru' a dCS reference.

Belden cable I have come across (1516A) just DO not sound good whatever the length or matching. They have a greyish, lack lustre sort of sound signature. One of the best is Illuminati/Kimber D60.

Why?


Fred

[Jocko Homo]

I dunno...........

I could measure one if I had one. Never used that flavour of cable.

But......if there are reflections.....and there are most likely some.....well, see my previous post.

And if you ask Phred, he will tell you that cables are directional. There is something to give you nightmares.

Jocko