Blue Sound Vault

The stand alone transport is a nice one.  I had hoped for a better performance from the Vault. 

What transport are you using, and what digital cables are you using for both the transport and the Vault into your DAC?

Have you done a level-matched blind test between the transport and the Vault? Remember the component with higher output voltage will always sound better!

The brand of the coaxial cable from the Audio Research CD Player is Black Cat Silver Star 75 to my Hegel DAC.  From the DAC to the Preamp is Synergistic Tesla The cable from the Vault is Morrow MA3.  The idea of checking for voltage is unfamiliar to me.  Educate me as to what to do.  Thanks, Steve

A lot of Node users have experienced significant improvements by adding a separate linear power supply so that might be something to explore.

On a related note, I have a Stereovox XV2 SPDIF digital cable that, like your Black Cat, was also designed by the late Chris Sommovigo so I’d think they sound more alike than different. I recently bought a used Acoustic Zen MC2 and was pretty amazed at the all-around improvement — not even close so maybe something you might wanna give a shot as well. Good news is if you buy it and it doesn’t work out you can turn around and sell it for little/no loss. Here’s one that’s exactly the same version/length I bought in case you’re interested…

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649951192-acoustic-zen-mc2-digital-coax-cable-1m/

Hope this helps, and best of luck.