[kyrill]

i own Pat's rather long digital cable for my SB3 modded by him and Wayne from BoulderCable
i had a digital cable before a famous brand which sounded good between my TEAC transport and DEQX (as a dac)

As it is now with the cable from Pat, i never had such transparency before and musicality ( with Red Wine 30.2 )
I will still tweak my setup but Pat's cable will be my last resource to investigate changing

[tdangelo]

I've tried many and have settled on the Marigo Apparition V5.8 - almost as stiff as Rebar but oh so smooth

[lonewolfny42]

I've never used an outboard DAC in a system, so I have no experience with digital cables. I just bought a Red Wine Isabellina to use with my Squeezebox Duet so I am now in the market. Can anyone suggest a good cable that won't break the bank?

Mike....
Check with Vinnie (RWA)...he now has a cable line...Red Wine Audio cables..
see what he's got or what he would recommend.....

[Mariusz]

Chris, I am not sure Vinnie came up with his own digital cable yet.
Maybe in the future.
However, it doesn't hurt to ask. He might have one the he prefers over the others.

Cheers

[lonewolfny42]

However, it doesn't hurt to ask. He might have one the he prefers over the others.

Cheers

Right....he did a lot of testing with his new cables...check with Vinnie.

[mca]

I was looking through my box O' cables last night and pulled out this short, ugly pink cable with a big lump in the middle. It's a Bolder cable I bought long ago (don't even remember what for) and I believe that lump in the middle is a Bybee.

[jimdgoulding]

Got a Sterovox XV2 in the mail the other day.  Smooth, detailed, analog like.  It replaced a Signal cable that, by comparison, is a little raucous in the high end.  Very nice to me.  $150.00 plus shipping from Galen Carol Audio.

[mca]

Turns out the cable I have is a Bolder Napalm. Hope to get my DAC soon and give it a try.

[topround]

I used a Stealth Varidigg, very open and smooth, tons of detail and naturaleness, best digi cable I ever heard, try to get one used, but they sell very quickly.

[DSK]

Got a Sterovox XV2 in the mail the other day.  Smooth, detailed, analog like.  It replaced a Signal cable that, by comparison, is a little raucous in the high end.  Very nice to me.  $150.00 plus shipping from Galen Carol Audio.

I haven't heard this cable but it seems to garner a lot of praise and be significantly better than the HDXV that was praised and used as reference by a number of reviewers. I'd be interested to hear more of your impressions as this cable breaks in.

Years ago, I used a Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Platinum digital cable that was the first digital cable to prove to me that digital cables can indeed make an audible difference. It was clearly superior to the Transparent Audio and Audioquest cables I had used before, the margin really surprised me. One thing that I never really understood is that this cable is rated at 110 ohms rather than the standard 75 ohms ... I don't know what, if any, impact that should have (HT don't explain it) and I suspect that it scared off many potential purchasers who also didn't understand. Luckily, I heard it in my system before I'd ever even heard of the cable and ordered it immediately. Anyone know?

[jimdgoulding]

DSK-  It didn't have RCA plugs on it did it?  I listened to a sitar recital tonite recorded live in what the liner notes say is a small stone abbey.  I've listened to this many times (and, hell yeah, I recommend it!).  Tonite, the portrayal of sitar and tabla just seemed more acceptable, more comfortable as true.  Something in me trusts it better.  Then I listened to Bill Evans' Live at The Village Vanguard and the three instruments were differentiated better dimensionally to my recollection.  What it retired, Signal Cable, is exciting and clean, for sure, dimensional, also.  More exciting it could be said.  But the Stereovox is a keeper for this listener.     

The question might be . . who has replaced the Stereovox and why?  Don't forget to include the cost.  It's nearer perfect, IMO, from what I've experienced (only three digital cables) and to my senses.

[RichardS]

I've used over a dozen digital cables IMS. I had a Stereovox XV2 for a while. Bought it when I got my RWA Musica transport because it only has BNC out. Thought it was pretty good -- nice detail and a clean, clear sound. I brought it to a local meet, where it was compared against a JPS Aluminata into an Oracle DAC, and even the guys sitting in the kitchen talking immediately shouted, 'take it out. It's awful.' Well, I was in the sweet spot and it wasn't really awful, but it was noticeably thinner and without body or bass foundation in comparison to the JPS.

Someone had a Analysis Plus Digital Oval ($300) with BNC and we replaced the XV2 with that and it was much better -- warmer and more body with similar detail. So I bought one. In my system the differences weren't as dramatic (though I need two digital cables in my Tact system -- the second one at the time being a Stealth Sextet). So I sold the XV2.

Was happy with the AP until I tried a Tara 'The One' ($1K) and it furthered the benefits I was hearing from the AP with noticeably more weight (which I liked). For my second digital cable I just bought a HT Cyberlight w/ battery pack. I had owned this before and sold it in favor of the Stealth (just because I'd temporarily came to my senses and realized it was crazy to have THAT expensive a digital cable). The HT is the second best cable I've heard and brings its own set of strengths, notably ease and naturalness, and may even be better with the Battery pack (we'll see).

Moral of story: 1) You've got to try the cable in your system -- the differences and synergies are individual to components. And 2) if you want to extract a better sound some of the more expensive cables can be really good.

[DSK]

DSK-  It didn't have RCA plugs on it did it? ...

The HT Platinum? Yes, it did. They still sell this model ....  http://www.harmonictech.com/products/digital_platinum.html