BTW, do you think that the AZ can still improve anything? Is it worth the effort/cost?As I’m totally unfamiliar with the Sommer interconnect I really have no idea if the AZ would yield any improvements. I would say that if you haven’t had the opportunity to hear many interconnects in your system it’s always worthwhile to hear some others for perspective if nothing else. I’ve heard several interconnects in my system and the AZ Silver Refs are very good all-rounders, which you probably already know having read some reviews. So if you do try them and don’t notice any meaningful improvements you’ll have some peace of mind that you’re in very good shape and can put interconnects out of your mind for a long time. Since wires are relatively easy to try used with little risk I think it’s well worth the effort, again at least for perspective if nothing else, but that’s me. In any event, have fun listening to and enjoying your new improvements.
Seeking recommendations for DAC to amplifier balanced XLR cable
The amplifier is Musical Fidelity M6si and the new DAC is RME ADI-2 DAC FS, both great devices. At first I connected them with AQ Colorado 1m RCA. I happen to believe, however, that balanced cabling, which is possible between these two devices, has theoretical advantages over single-ended. I ordered Sommer Epilogue XLR cable from Germany, plugged it in yesterday and compared... Unfortunately AQ Colorado beats the newcomer. I have 2 choices: stay with AQ Colorado RCA (since it already plays great) or look for a better XLR cable. Any advice here is welcome!
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This is Sommer Epilogue: https://shop.sommercable.com/en/Cable/HiFi-Home/NF-Phonokabel-Stereo-Paar-Epilogue-QuadCore-HighEnd-EPB1.html Matthias Carstens, the designer of the RME ADI-2 DAC said on his forum: XLR cabling has several benefits - no ground loops, better SNR, lower noise sensitivity. The quality of these cables does not matter much and they are not expensive, so go for them. Balanced cables are designed to cancel out noise. This relatively inexpensive Sommer Epilogue in the XLR configuration sounds no worse than AQ Colorado in RCA. At this point I have doubts if messing up with cables is going to make any further improvement -- but, if I could try-before-buy, I am open to experimentation. |
After 4 more weeks with Sommer Epilogue XLR we compared it to Audioquest Colorado RCA which I had been using previously. Please not that we are not comparing apples to apples because Sommer is balanced. Finding number 1: the two cables are pretty much exchangeable, it is very hard to tell the difference. But Sommer is around $100, while the AQ Colorado was $450, 50% off list $900. A total waste of money. Finding number 2: if really hard pressed, I'd prefer the Sommer XLR to the Colorado. This can mean, however, that XLR is preferable between RME ADI-2 DAC and MF M6si. |
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