My next Coax / SPDIF after Green Hornet


Posting this in the digital section as I think I’ll have better luck here.

I’m in search for a new digital coax cable to go between my Bluesound Vault and my Luxman DA-06 DAC. I own two digital cables to date: a DH Labs Glass Master TOSlink which is too analytical and brittle for this particular application, and a Creative Cable Green Hornet which is magical on the bass and midrange but is not as revealing on the top end.

I’ve been trying to figure out where I can step up with a new cable and decided to try a Tara Labs ISM Onboard Digital, which is amazingly open, revealing and refined, but it just does not have the bass and midbass magic that the Green Hornet has. I’m wondering if there is another digital cable that may be somewhere inbetween the two. Upon my research, I’m thinking that the following cables might work for me:

Harmonic Technology Magic Two Digital
Acoustic Zen MC2

Has anyone played with the Green Hornet and compared to the two above? Or know of a more open/revealing cable that still had a similar bass extension / warmth as the Green Hornet?

blisshifi

Showing 4 responses by blisshifi

Thanks for the advice guys. 

@jond  - does the Jorma still have the bass extension and warmth that the Green Hornet did? The way you describe it, sounds a lot like my Tara Labs, but the Tara is just lean below 100hz. 

@uberwaltz - I’ll look into the Nordost. That’s the first time I’ve heard that particular model mentioned. 

@soix - thanks for the vote of confidence. I also read about the apogee as well on other threads, so I’ll look into that. 
Well, I came across a decent deal for a 1.5M run of Acoustic Zen MC2 for $314, so I am waiting for that to ship and will report back on the tests. The best part of it is that it is returnable, so not a big loss on me if it doesn’t work out. 
@wig thanks for the recommendation. I have read good things about the Black Cat cable as well, and in other places, there have been folks who have tried it and have preferred the AZ line of cables. I think it will all depend on system matching. If the AZ doesn’t work out, I’ll consider it. I have two ends of the spectrum right now between the Green Hornet and the Tara Labs ISM Onboard, so as long as I find the happy medium, all will be well. 
@baaach I didn’t, but I can now almost three years later. :)

Simply, I found the AZ to be incredibly boring compared to the Green Hornet. At the time I was looking for more resolution on the top end, as the Green Hornet had a magical midrange and incredible bass. Well, with the AZ the sound just fell more flat across the spectrum. It was comfortable to listen to, but I felt that dynamics were just non-existent. 
I instead tried a Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 3 coax cable a few months later, and it was very good. It had the openness of the Tara Labs with more authority in the lower frequency range I was looking for. From there, I upgraded to a Galileo SX AES cable, and I doubt I will ever need another cable after that. 
That said, I also upgraded my digital source through that journey. After getting the Atmosphere digital cable, I replaced the Bluesound Vault with a NAD M50.2 and replaced the Luxman DA-06 for a PS Audio DirectStream. The Luxman, too, I realized, was very rich in the mid bass and midrange, with very refined higher frequencies that made for a euphoric, but in revealing sound. 
Knowing this now, I’m curious to hear what a Green Hornet would sound like in my system today. I’m sure it wouldn’t best my current cable but I bet it wouldn’t be too much a slouch on the top end as I thought before.