Wadia ITransport

i agree Rpg. the 170i is very cable sensitive. had been running an audioquest vdm-5 co-ax for a while and enjoying it. hooked up a wireworld silver starlight co-ax last week and could tell an immediate difference. can't say it sounded "better" but the difference was obvious. richer/fuller bass and smoother midrange jumped out at me. so did slightly less detail up high and a somewhat shallower soundstage.

if you're gonna hook it up to a decent DAC, it's worth trying some different cables. depending on your gear, you could be one cable away from outstanding sound from an ipod.

still not sure which cable i'll be using. after hearing such a dramatic difference between the 3 i've tried, my search may slowly/leisurely continue. no hurry really. when hooked up to a decent DAC with a decent cable.....the 170i sounds fantastic.

i do believe "the right cable" could trigger great synergy with ones system and the 170i. this of course will depend on "ones system" and what "one" likes their music to sound like

cheers
Lev

Though somewhere out there is a better combination of cables than what I have finally settled with, you could spend a lifetime and crazy amounts of $$ in your quest. I have finally settled on the Audioquest NRG 1 power cable (you MUST upgrade the stock power cable) and the lesser known Harmonic Technology Digital Platinum. I am now quite satisfied and just take pleasure in the music.

Rpg

i did get the nrg-1 on your recommendation. thank you for the good advise.

would still like to hear a pure copper co-ax connection before i settle on one. cables i've used have been silver core and silver clad. if a nice used 100% copper line pops up for sale cheap....i''ll give it a listen. have flipped many cables in the past so selling a couple more won't be a big deal.

i too refuse to hunt endlessly, looking for the perfect line. spent many month working on the primary ic's and won't go there again. just want a feel for a few major types of digital lines and how the interact with my gear.

cheers
Lev

Lev,

Found a Digital IC that goes against the grain of everything I know about Digital IC's. The cable is made by Harmonic Technology. From the spec's and configuration it should sound terrible, however, this cable blew me away, I have never heard better, and I've had some pretty good cables in the past. The cable uses 7 nine's silver and 7 nine's copper in the same run and is double shielded. This cable is not a coax, is not impedance matched, and is 110 Ohm. You would think it to sound terrible. Check out their website, I purchased their Digital Platinum for around $230, you can't beat the price for the sound quality.
Cheers,
Rpg

Levy03,
All digital connections in my Home Theater system are Canare. The Canare cables these days are about $48.00 per meter and are all copper, 75Ohm coax configuration with excellent true 75Ohm connections. The cable I'm using now only slightly edged out the Canare. A well engineered and realistically priced cable. You can return the cable within 30 days if not satisfied. For just $48 I would suggest you give it a try. :)
Rpg