I almost hate to pose the question, but are there any owners of this combo who are happy with having upgraded their cables? I’m thinking of the Silver Dragons which represent the absolute ceiling in what I can (as a relatively new hobbyist) pay, but cannot get myself to click on the “purchase” button. Which is either my gut talking or the feeling I need to hear that others have found it worthwhile.
Not looking to relitigate the “are big dollar cables worth it” debate; more interested in anecdotal experiences.
My chain is Lumin U1 Mini —> M-Scaler —> TT2 —> (a) Parasound P6 preamp —> Parasound A21+ amp, or (b) ampsandsound Kenzie Ovation tube amp.
I have searched through this community and others but can’t quite find an answer to this particular question/option. Any help/advice/admonitions would be appreciated. Thanks!
I have the same combo U1 Mini/MScaler/TT2 (Preamp and amp are PS Audio)
I am using Chord Company Clearway Digital Cable to connect the MScaler to TT2 and happy with that, however I have not tried any other cable to compare.
I’m aware of at least one M-Scaler/Dave user who tried various BNC cables and bought an expensive Wave but after a while reverted to the stock cables provided with the M-Scaler.
I went with the Moon Audio Silver Dragon BNC cables to connect my M-Scaler to the TT2. Very nice cables and well built. These cables are good value as its very similar to the Wireworld Gold Eclipse BNC cable which cost almost 4 times more (I doubt the improvement (if any) in the Wireworld cable would be marginal at best) - I have mostly Wireworld cables (speaker, interconnect and USB).
I have used the Silver Dragon cables for about a week with over 100 hours burn in - same for the M-Scaler. The Silver Dragon cables are certainly very good and I can highly recommend them.
To be honest, I have not tried the stock BNC cables. I have only owned the M-Scaler for just under a week. The Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables arrived from the US at the same time as the M-Scaler. So I used the Silver Dragons immediately for the burn-in process. I won’t bother trying the stock BNC cables as the quality is not the same as the Silver Dragons. I am a firm believer in cables and the improvements that they bring. From the reviews of the Silver Dragons on the Moon Audio website and on Head-Fi, I am comfortable and convinced that the Silver Dragons do offer improvements over the stock BNC cables which are included to start the listening experience for the purchaser. Most users on Head-Fi seem to use aftermarket BNC cables so it seems that the stock cable is to start your musical journey. Rob Watts from Chord himself uses the Wave Storm Reference BNC cables for his M-Scaler which he says may be the best BNC cable for M-Scaler but these cables are crazy expensive! For me, the Silver Dragons are great value and based on the materials and quality of the silver used, it seems very comparable to the Wireworld Gold Starlight 8 digital cable which costs almost 4 times more.
My suggestion is to try the stock BNC cables to see if you like the sound of it. The Silver Dragons seem like a reasonable price to try better cables. I also use the ifi dc ipurifer 2 on both the M-Scaler and TT2 and found that this adds a little more detail to the sound.
Given that Chord make both the M Scaler and TT2 (and the DAVE for that matter), and that these products were designed by the same guy, it is not really very impressive that they cannot supply an optimal way to interface them.
Dark horse options for much less than one might think:
Belden 4731R RG11:
Canare L8-CUHD RG11:
Both are 12G-SDI cables. Very stiff, but literally bleeding-edge signal carrying ability for coax. Easy to find with BNC connections. B&H Photo carries them, along with Markertek others. Add some 10-11mm clamp on ferrites of the correct freq range, and you’re good to go.
Been using each on my Qutest as single BNC input cables from my GAIA DDC. They both absolutely shamed: a Wireworld Silver Starlight 8, a AQ Carbon & Coffee, and an Audience Studio One.
I understand that clock cables carry a different signal from S/PDIF, but I thought this information might be helpful.
One caveat: both the Belden and Canare required a very long break in.
I would not spend alot on the cables, but the supplied cables didn’t atleast for me offer a good connection. The supra trico bnc was much better and only ~50 for 1 m.
The wave cables gives an improvement, but not bigger than you can skip them. But if you want to spend more they are good.
Agree Belden och Canare typically make very good value, but I have not tried their BNC cables. But I would not hesitate ordering them if I needed new cables.
Not to overstate them, but these two cables are the best 75r commercially made BNC cables currently on the planet. Audio brands (potentially) aside, of course.
