2. cables
  3. 154086-137783

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! 
ghjuvanni
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
OP I mean this in the best way possible- discernment of overdrive, saturation, overload, clipping is a listening skill worth cultivating along with the incredibly more subtle differences between well constructed and engineered cables.
not sure I would rush to the later before ....

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
Did you ask Audioquest IF they could convert your cable to balanced ?
ghjuvanni OP
92 posts
 
@tomic601 It would not be easy as balanced has 2 signal wires. At this point I don't believe it would make a difference, anyway. I feel it's time to go back to music and stop upgrading for a while :-) It all sounds wonderful now. Amplifier and DAC are great and I am down to just one interconnect: the balanced (Sommer Epilogue) XLR cable from the DAC to the amp. CD and Node 2i + disk w/ FLAC all go to the single DAC.
tantejuut
125 posts
 
I have made neotech nemoi 1120 with silver aeco RCA's. They are better than siltech sq 18 and the audioquest angel i have used before. More details and better overal balance. At least 100 hours of burn in. You can make XLR cables yourself with some EIZZ screw type connectors. 

If you want them assembled, you could buy them as harmonic tech recta os at the cable company.
adurerca
38 posts
 
Canare Star Quad for around $70/pair at Blue Jean Cables.  EMI/RF rejection at reasonable price plus 30-day money back policy.

Or Van Damme 268-020 if you want silver plate OFC copper in the same price range.
More to discover