Ezmeralda - The cable I replaced was fairly generic RG-59 coax with relatively inexpensive audio RCA connectors -- likely not a 75 ohm connection. The new cable uses Belden 1506a coax with 75 ohm Canare RCA and BNC connectors. Its hard to say specifically where the differences lie, but in every area the new cable is certainly higher quality than the previous one. And, aside from an hour of my time, the total cost was about $20. Not a bad value.
Sean - You're right in pointing out that the improvements I'm hearing may well be manufactured by my overly swelled pride. As yet, I'm the only one who's listen to the system since yesterday so its tough to know for sure. However, the changes I'm hearing are not subtle, and the problems I've had in the past were very specific and easily recognizable. After a night and most of a morning's listening, I'm happy to say that many of the issues I've had have either been eliminated or significantly reduced, and the system is now overall much more enjoyable to listen to. To be certain, I have a few friends with reasonable ears coming by tonight, so I'll reserve final judgment until then.
To be specific, these are the changes I'm experiencing:
1) I've always had a problem with "unstable" deep bass - that is, sustained bass notes that would waver continuously in volume, and sounded "impure" - almost as if the tones coming out of each speaker were slightly different. My example for this is Arvo Part's I am the True Vine where the vocals are accompanied by steady organ pedal tones. With the new cable, these notes are both entirely stable and beautifully pure. This is a major improvement.
2) Complex musical passages, such as the last movement of Pictures at an Exhibition or Jupiter from The Planets have always been muddied to the point of being distorted. I had attributed this to deficiencies in the DAC, but having heard both of these pieces sound very nice with this DAC in other systems, I was a bit skeptical. Both of these pieces are now very clear, with the individual instruments being well defined and easily recognizable (including the giant bell at the end of Pictures, which is now actually a bell).
3) The placement of instruments and voices within the soundstage were often difficult to pinpoint, and when found would move about quite a bit. Now, not only are the positions of the musicians solid, but there is a well defined difference between being in the correct listening position, and being outside of it. Previously, changes in listening position made very little difference in the overall sound.
I'm willing to believe that what I'm hearing is all psychological and that objectively, things really aren't any different. If all it takes is an afternoon project and an over inflated sense of pride to improve my listening experience, well, I'll be happy to keep it up ;-). However, I'm inclined to believe my ears in this case and appreciate the difference that a better digital cable can make.
Thanks for all of your comments about my epiphany. And now that I have my soldering iron out (and another successful diy project under my belt), perhaps its time to take Brulee's suggestion and try building some better quality power cords. At the very worst, it'll keep me out of trouble for a while :-).
Thanks all,
Ken
Sean - You're right in pointing out that the improvements I'm hearing may well be manufactured by my overly swelled pride. As yet, I'm the only one who's listen to the system since yesterday so its tough to know for sure. However, the changes I'm hearing are not subtle, and the problems I've had in the past were very specific and easily recognizable. After a night and most of a morning's listening, I'm happy to say that many of the issues I've had have either been eliminated or significantly reduced, and the system is now overall much more enjoyable to listen to. To be certain, I have a few friends with reasonable ears coming by tonight, so I'll reserve final judgment until then.
To be specific, these are the changes I'm experiencing:
1) I've always had a problem with "unstable" deep bass - that is, sustained bass notes that would waver continuously in volume, and sounded "impure" - almost as if the tones coming out of each speaker were slightly different. My example for this is Arvo Part's I am the True Vine where the vocals are accompanied by steady organ pedal tones. With the new cable, these notes are both entirely stable and beautifully pure. This is a major improvement.
2) Complex musical passages, such as the last movement of Pictures at an Exhibition or Jupiter from The Planets have always been muddied to the point of being distorted. I had attributed this to deficiencies in the DAC, but having heard both of these pieces sound very nice with this DAC in other systems, I was a bit skeptical. Both of these pieces are now very clear, with the individual instruments being well defined and easily recognizable (including the giant bell at the end of Pictures, which is now actually a bell).
3) The placement of instruments and voices within the soundstage were often difficult to pinpoint, and when found would move about quite a bit. Now, not only are the positions of the musicians solid, but there is a well defined difference between being in the correct listening position, and being outside of it. Previously, changes in listening position made very little difference in the overall sound.
I'm willing to believe that what I'm hearing is all psychological and that objectively, things really aren't any different. If all it takes is an afternoon project and an over inflated sense of pride to improve my listening experience, well, I'll be happy to keep it up ;-). However, I'm inclined to believe my ears in this case and appreciate the difference that a better digital cable can make.
Thanks for all of your comments about my epiphany. And now that I have my soldering iron out (and another successful diy project under my belt), perhaps its time to take Brulee's suggestion and try building some better quality power cords. At the very worst, it'll keep me out of trouble for a while :-).
Thanks all,
Ken