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Selling my *excellent* Belden Iconoclast UPOCC XLRs as I have purchased new components which require a new location/orientation, and longer ICs. Model: Iconoclast OCC 4x4 XLR Cables (pair), 42 inches. Purchased from Blue Jeans Cables/Iconoclast in February 2021 for $2,100. Looking for $975.00 per pair (I have two pair for sale/see other ad). I will pay shipping within the CONTUS. Condition is "as new." Includes factory spec/test sheet. I do not recall any "factory" packaging, just plastic bag in UPS small-box. PayPal Friends & Family or bank transfer please. NB: These cables are stiff and will be sensitive to the fixture orientation and distance between components. If you need more info, please ask. Thanks for looking.

Selling my beloved StraightWire Level4 (Reference) Crescendo3 speaker cables. Length is 6' (actually 81" end-to-end). Spade to Spade. These things are fat and stiff, and they sound great. However, I have new gear coming and these cables will not fit in the new component locations. I purchased these cables in January, 2019. I have changed many things in my system, but never these cables, as they sound great. I bought them from a local dealer, but I have NO factory packaging. Price will reflect that, as well as their age. I will carefully package to protect them during shipping. These cables currently sell for $2,576.00 at The Cable Company. I am looking for $899.00 and I will pay shipping within the CONTUS. PayPal Friends & Family or bank transfer please. Thanks for looking. From the manufacturer: "Crescendo 3 speaker cable offers technical and sonic advances the over the highly acclaimed original version. The inner core has seven equal diameter TPR hollow tubes vs. one large PE tube. This allows for greater flexibility and lower mechanical resonances. The (12) large conductive groups have modified Dual insulation of soft" Foam PTFE and "hard" Foam Polypropylene. Conductor group resistance remained the same while compression was modified. Crescendo speaker cable was the first Compressed Conductor Technology (CCT) design produced by Straight Wire. This design combines the best attributes of solid-core and stranded conductor technology. Extreme care was given to the degree of conductor compression and pressure of the Foam Polypropylene insulation. Crescendo 3 provides mechanical and electrical advancements beyond original Crescendo speaker cable. Lifelike preservation of low level details coupled with unmatched dynamics and detail are easy to discern with this cable. It synergizes reference caliber components to provide captivating performances. IBW (internally bi-wireable cable) Clear Jacket over Black/Gray Fiber Braid. 27 mm (1.07") diameter."

Selling my *excellent* Belden Iconoclast UPOCC XLRs as I have purchased new components which require a new location/orientation, and longer ICs. Model: Iconoclast OCC 4x4 XLR Cables (pair), 36 inches. Purchased from Blue Jeans Cables/Iconoclast in November 2021 for $2,100. Looking for $975.00 per pair (I have two pair for sale/see other ad). I will pay shipping within the CONTUS. Condition is "as new." Includes factory spec/test sheet. I do not recall any "factory" packaging, just plastic bag in UPS small-box. PayPal Friends & Family or bank transfer please. NB: These cables are stiff and will be sensitive to the fixture orientation and distance between components. If you need more info, please ask. Thanks for looking.

Anyone aware of any audiophile-grade cables that have 90-degree plugs? Looking for XLR and Toslink. My new ELAC DD2 DAC is too deep from my shelving. I am playing for centimeters.

Looking for some advice. Here is the situation: I am building out a new system (dCS Bartok > Parasound JC 2 BP > Parasound JC 5 > Floorstanding Speakers) Equipment is on-hand. I am in the process of re-wiring the A/C circuit with two matching, 10awg home-runs (one for power Amp, one for sources) I have the opportunity to try some high-end power cables and interconnects I will invest in the cables if there is a discernible difference. I am somewhat skeptical. I am trying to come up with a test protocol to determine what these higher end cables do. Everyone advises that I do A/B testing will listening to music. Of course I will do this. My question: Is there some more objective way to A/B test power cords and interconnects? I prefer to do this by listening,...not using lab equipment. How can I A/B measure system "blackness" or noise level? Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance.

can anyone give me a definitive heads up on great performing USB Cable and a Spdif coax cable please i currently use a Supra 2 USB and a home-brew Spdif. I have a very nice DAC and Spdif/USB Converter and want to maximise their SQ.. Do i now go Custom made Silver cable etc. or are there Giant killers out there off the shelf?? Any thoughts welcome. Many Thanks

WHAT IS THE TRUE EXPERIMENTAL TWEAK THREAD ALL ABOUT? I have always wanted a thread where any subject is possible. No experiment is too crazy to add here. No idea is too bold to reveal. Take it away! Enlight your thoughts and share your ideas how to improve SQ and how not to. Anyone can encurage and educate you but no one should let you down, deminage you or simply move you to another thread. Everyone is welcome as long as they accepts a different way of thinking! TOPIC DIGEST With a little help of @austinpop I have realised that this thread is all over the place. Even if this is one of the fundamental ideas behind this thread, it could be a good idea to sum-up the things that have proven to be beneficial to SQ in this thread. I will keep it plain & simple. Remember that these are essentially my own findings in my own setup with Tidal FLAC and Tidal MQA as source. As always YMMV! LAN 1. Cat 6a U/UTP 500Mhz ethernet cables sounds better than Cat5, Cat5E, Cat6 & Cat7+ in my setup. Ghent Audio Cat 6a ET02 with JSSG shielding and Metz plugs rules them all. 2. Network switch improve SQ with input on port 1 and output on the last port. Possible explanation is QoS and also that the ports are in different magnetic boxes inside the switch. 3. Using a AQVOX switch with better clock improves SQ compared to a D-Link DSG-105 network switch. 4. A wireless adapter/wireless bridge/router in client mode into a network switch sounds better than battery powered FMCs and hardwired LAN. 5. Router vastly improves SQ with a floating LPS and even more if the floating PSU is connected to a DC blocker trap filter. IME a router upgrade could be beneficial to SQ. 6. Galvanic isolation/DC blocker in the signal path pre the router improves SQ. 7. Wireless adapter vastly improves connected to a floating IT. 8. RJ45 socket enhancers seems to be more efficient on port 4 & 5. Don't ask me why! GND 1. Grounding a metal chassi network switch to a tourmaline grounding box greatly improves SQ. 2. Different tourmaline grounding boxes improves the sound signature in different ways. 3. Grounding the DC negative terminal of the floating SMPS works great. In my setup it sounds best connected to a grounding box instead of to the power strip safety ground receptacle. Just be aware of possible leakage loops between various network devices. A big thanks @JohnSwenson for this tip. USB 1. Covering the outer USB barrels with electrical tape improves SQ slightly with unshielded USB cables. Capasitive coupling between metal barrel and pins? 2. Uptone Audio´s USPCB improves SQ. 3. ATL Hi-Fi´s 8 conductor USB cable with dual unconnected shields (5v+GND & Data- & Data+) with JSSG loop improved SQ compared to other longer (<50cm) USB cables that I´ve tried. DC 1. Network switch sounds best with dual floating PSUs or battery power (but very important to disconnect the battery charger while listening to music). Dual floating PSU is slightly better than battery power, but battery power is slightly better than single floating PSU. 2. Powering several devices with a single floating SMPS sounds better than powering the very same devices with several battery supplies. Also, powering several devices with a single battery supply sounds better than using multiple identical battery supplies. Self-inflicted noise? 3. Canare 4S6 starquad does improve SQ where ever applied. Canare 4S6 with JSSG seems to be even more effective. Thanks to@JohnSwenson! 4. Grounding the DC negative output of a floating SMPS improves SQ. Grounding the chassi/case decrease SQ. Be aware of shared ground paths since this could potensially decrease SQ. 5. Dual LT3045 ultra-low noise voltage regulators in series with 1v drop-down close to the powered device improves SQ quite dramaticly. 6. Kemet aluminium Polymer caps A750 series (25v 560uF) vastly improves LT3045 when added at the DC output. On single LT3045 the Kemet improves on both in- and output. 7. Panasonic FC series type A aluminium electrolytic caps improves on the PSU output terminals. AC 1. A DC blocker trap filter pre a safety isolation transformer improves SQ even though it is dead silent (no hum). DC blockers trap filter pre a floating PSU into a router vastly improves SQ. DC stress reliever? 2. SQ improves when battery chargers is connected to a separate powerstrip connected directly to the AC wall outlet, bypassing the isolation transformer completely. 3. A safety isolation transformer with floating secondary improves SQ more than a Ultra Isolation transformer. A balanced isolation transformer with floating center-tap rules them all! 4. Daisy chained floating grounds (dual floating grounds) sounds better than a single floating ground. In my setup floating SMPS's improve SQ connected to a floating IT, even surpassing battery supplies. Thanks for the suggestion @lmitche! 5. AC mains starquad power cables greatly improves SQ. 6. AC mains voltage regulators improves SQ on the signal chain. Even cheaper versions are effective. Not as effective on high power devices such as active speakers and amp due to a still unknown reason.

Let's assume cables can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to sound different. Even in the unlikely event that we all would agree on that, what is the justification for using expensive cables, rather than digital signal processing (room correction, parametric equalization, etc.), whose properties can be readily controlled and whose results are easily measurable, to alter what the music sounds like?

Greetings. I'll soon be needing XLR cables to connect an Emotiva DC-1 dac/preamp to a pair of powered monitors. 20' ought'a do. Any advise?

Hi everyone.. I found this forum as I was interested in the Brooklyn DAC and have just bought one.. I was considering what USB cable to use with this DAC and have never had the chance to experiment much.. Being an engineer at heart and working in Pro video, then I was interested to see what Cat7 ethernet would be like as a USB cable for audiophile use.. Basically its 4 twisted pairs, each screened individually.. So duly bought and connectors cut off and new USB connectors soldered on, I had a listen... Hmm... now - many of the people that will say cables make no difference... please do not reply to this post.. I wanted to see if there was a difference.. The Cat7 was audibly quieter and less impact and much less bass (partially im sure to lower volume).. Now this was a quick experiment against a factory bought USB cable of no HiFi merit.. but the real USB cable sounded much much better.. So for something with a pure digital transfer function it was very very different.. So that experiment is over and the Simon cable isn't much use!.. I am interested to know what USB cables (3M length or so) anyone would suggest for the DAC.. I really do not want to spend hundreds on a USB cable.. I am using Belden power and SPDIF interconnects.. The DAC is burning in with some tracks currently and looking forward to a listen.. Best wishes Simon

ISOTEK - Beware I recently opened 2 AC Cables from ISOTEC EVO3 Optimum and EVO3 Syncro. Inside I noticed the 3 screws clamping the 3 stranded conductors in place were all different style screws, different colour and different material. Also be very careful with Power Conditioners from this company as they have been know to work fine when you get them home and before no time unbeknown the sound quality drops bass goes thin and the music lost its core while the unit appears to function as intended, no warning lights its up to you. If under warranty have them checked and exchanged before its too late. Over all this company presents itself rather well but they need to work on the quality and longevity of performance to get my solid recommendations

I ordered some power and speaker cables, to go with a new Grandinote amp and DAC, from Keith Eichman at KLE Innovations. He said no problem, I will bring some over and you can see how they go. Also, he mentioned, I have been thinking about a USB cable for a while, do you mind if I borrow your Mac-book as a source to develop it. I said sure. When finished, and bring the Mac-book back, can I bring it over, as well as the other cables, and see what you think. I said sure - should be interesting. Before going on I need to disclose I know Keith, having been with him at many GTG's, he is a fellow member of the Queesnslnd Audio Club, and have been with him during many listening sessions tweaking the Lenehan Audio ML5' speakers, and hearing what his cables do. OK - power cables easily better than the standard ones I had in my system. Very analogue like and more revealing - sort of like a layer of grunge removed. But its hardly a fair comparison, as I said the cables I had were simply standard HW store stuff. The speaker cables were more interesting. They were replacing 10 year old Lenehan Audio Ribbonflex. Sound stage widened, much more harmonically rich and analogue like, more depth. Spoke to Mike - the maker of the Lenehan cables, and it didn't surprise him, things have moved on a lot in his cables - his new ones are a lot better. Trouble is at the moment his cables have trouble with the Grandinote amp that he needs to sort out. But now to the USB. In the future when I have the Grandinote I will not be using USB - with that DAC you either stream or direct connect a USB Drive. At the moment I am using a small Curious from an ISO Regen into a Direct Stream. Generally the Curious has the edge on other cables. Well I was stonkered - Keith's Cable was up there. Again more analogue like, the sound stage widened with greater depth. It was more organic. Was it better - maybe the Curious had some better detail - I don't know. An audiophile I know calls better texture and a organic type sound harmonic resolution so maybe that's what it had. What I can say for sure is its one fine USB Cable.  Like all things in Audio best to listen to it first to make up your mind - and do it blind if you are into that sort of thing. And please if you think cables make no difference watch the following where Rob Watts explains things that you can barely measure the difference between even with the best state of the art equipment are clearly audible, things other engineers say obviously would make no difference: If you are in Australia and if want to hear it for yourself all the cables will be at the GTG on the 4th of August at Lenehan Audio. Thanks Bill Edited just now by bhobba

So this image was posted earlier in another thread. I believe it was from AXPONA 2018. Regardless, can someone please comment on what in the hell the purpose of these "cables" could possibly be. I'm no E.E, but I have plenty of ideas of what one could use them for, other than electrical signals. These damned things just make me sad for our entire hobby.

Hi fellow sound quality seekers I want to make a couple of super SATA cables, just to see what everyone is talking about. My problem is that i am unable to find the connectors. Anybody knows where? I will post pictures and resuls if i succed with something that is worth the time and efford.

Hey everyone, my built in DAC on my excellent Stello AI 500 only does 24/192 with the coax input. So since the Stello U3 USB to Coax converter is well reviewed and the same manufacture I figured I'd pick one of these up to see if it made a difference to me. I need a very short USB maybe a foot if that, to run to the Stello U3 from my IMAC. Then a longer digital coax cable, 12 feet or so to make it to my DAC. I have about 200 bucks to spend on cables, just looking for something quality. Used or new. Thanks for the input! Currently I am running a medical grade glass toslink cable out from my Imac, using Jriver Mac as my player. I like this set just wanting to experiment with a different configuration for my 24/192 files.

Hey folks Recently got a RME HDSPE AIO PCI-E card to play with. Trying to output digital AES/EBU to an external DAC. My question is related to AES/EBU digital cables. Does it really matter - the digital cable? I mean just a decent cable will do? Or should I start to look at MIT reference or Valhalla or Cardas or other boutique cable? Reason I ask is that the card has a rather average looking breakout cable to output digital AES and if a high-end cable is used between this and the external DAC, I don't see how the high end cable can extract more details because of this limiting breakout cable. That is assuming the more expensive digital AES/EBU cable is in fact much better overall than the breakout cable section that came with the PCI-E card if you know what I mean... Or does digital only care about signal going from A to B (B being the DAC) in a timely manner. Should I upgrade the breakout cable? Figured this sub forum would get more attention than the others. But let me know if this is the wrong place to start this thread. Cheers Nk7

Looking for a USB cable in the $150 range. The Audioquest Carbon looks promising, as does the Black Cat Silverstar. Any experience with either - or - and recommendations on other brands?

In this forum there are some hardcore mapleshade users (me among them). Has any of them listened to the new mapleshade Toslink cable? Mapleshade Clearlink Optical Toslink Cable (standard)-shop.mapleshadestore.com They seem to follow the same path they have been using in electrical cables: thinner, longer, high resistance - but in optical! from my Mac mini to my Devialet, optical is a very desirable option since it isolates electrically the DAC from the computer (provided it sounds better than usb, as Pierre states)

Hi everyone, first and foremost i want to greet everyone. I've been following this website for some time and i find it very inspiring. My question: I'm thinking to replace my Firewire Apogee Duet with an Audioquest Dragonfly... My setup is now MacBookPro -> Firewire Duet -> Musical Fidelity A5 -> Totem Forest loudspeakers. Now... what about the expensive RCA to RCA cables i already own? I use them to connect the Duet outs with the A5 inputs via 2 Jack-to-RCA adapters... Should I buy some new 3.5mm to RCA cables? In this case, do you have any recommendations? Or... would a 3.5mm to RCA splitter adaptor do the trick so i can keep my existing high quality rca-to-rca cables? If this is the case, which adapter would you recommend? Thanks a lot. Leonardo

View Classified Network Acoustics USB III For sale, Network Acoustics USB III cables in pristine condition. They were purchased new in March 2021& June 2021 respectively. Both cables has Type A to Type B connectors. A recent change in my system prompted the sale of these amazing cable. The NA USB III takes a bespoke approach, each of the Data, Ground and Power lines dielectrics are physically separated and isolated from each other, hence the acronym III. I have two cables available in 1.0M and 2.0M lengths. 1.0M - $659.00 - SOLD 2.0M - $995.00 If you think USB and Ethernet cables won’t make a difference, think again. The ENO USB Cable III delivers exceptional levels of detail and realism, in a natural, effortless presentation, completely devoid from digital artefacts and harshness. This USB cable capable of bringing the best out of any high quality Streaming device and DAC it connects and will transform the musical experience. Lots of glowing praises for USB and Network Acoustics ENO Filter / LAN cable, https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/streaming-sound-quality-want-the-very-best-sound-quality-network-aco PayPal, add 3% fee. I will pay for shipping within 48 states. No lowball offers please. Description: With ENO USB Cable III we have taken the USB protocol originally designed for computing and extensively optimised every element of its design and construction exclusively for the reproduction of audio. We rigorously researched and tested the best materials and construction techniques for the conductors and developed bespoke dielectrics and shielding structures for each of the Data, Ground and Power lines, which we then physically separated and isolated from each other. The resulting ENO USB Cable III represents the very best sounding USB audio cable currently available. Key Features ■ Unique 3-Core segregated cable architecture. ■ Each core has a specifically designed dielectric and shielding structure. ■ High purity UPOCC conductors ■ Gold plated pure copper connectors. ■ 2 Years warranty. Seller zebo67 Date 07/06/21 Price 995.00 USD Category Cables  

View Classified Townshend Audio DCT 300 XLR Interconnect cables, 0.8 m For sale a pair of Isolda DCT 300 XLR Interconnect cable in excellent condition. The length of these cables is 0.8m. Bought this pair of cables directly from Townshend Audio in UK. PayPal invoice upon request. Buying a new pair will set you back at least £590.00. Check here: https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/townshend-audio-dct-300-xlr-interconnects Reviews Woohoo! When the music poured through these British cables, I blurted an involuntary hoot of approval. The Townshend Isolda cables have much of the midrange openness, clarity and easy flow of the Skywire 1400s but with the addition of greater treble sparkle and deep, take-no-prisoners bass. The lowest plucked acoustic bass notes in "The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers" on Brian Bromberg's virtuosic Wood [A440 Records/ART7009] became more articulate, with clearer pitch definition and harmonic overtones than I had previously heard. I was also surprised by the Isoldas' seemingly higher efficiency. http://sixmoons.com/audioreviews/5cables/1.html DCT 300 INTERCONNECT CABLES RECEIVE HI-FI NEWS OUTSTANDING PRODUCT “The DCT 300′s resolution and lack of obvious coloration was praised highly by the listeners…sound was open and vivid-but with, subjectively, a more extended and detailed bass. Forensic inspection of fine detail…Bantock’s symphony sounded evenly balanced throughout, the DCT 300 allowing the stirring flow of the music to breath“. –Hi Fi News December 2012, twelve pairs of interconnects were auditioned by John Bamford and his listening panel. The Townshend DCT 300 came out on top. Price: 280.00 Euro includes free registered shipping within EU Accepting PayPal or TransferWise. You can check my feedback on Audiogon: Demetris and on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/dem_ant?filter=period:TWELVE_MONTHS,overall_rating:POSITIVE Seller Dem Date 09/20/22 Price 280.00 USD Category Cables  

I have 3 2 0 left. Will ship for free if my asking price is met. Sole owner. Purchased less than a year ago and have been used in my system. No cosmetic issues. All functionally perfect. Original Boxes included. 1.0m - $65 (original retail price was $100) SOLD 0.5m - $60 $50(original retail price was $90) SOLD 0.3m - $55 $45 (original retail price was $85) SOLD

Mint, as new, AQ Vodka Ethernet cable. 2.5 feet. Original box and end clips. $185 I did comparisons with Supra, Blue Jean, and stock cable and this far exceeded all of them regarding clarity, PRAT, and richness. Selling because I bought an Antipodes DX3 to replace an SOTM sms-200 and SonicTransporter, and now only require 1 Ethernet cable.