Stealth Cables

That result being better with all the same cable? I don’t understand your point.

Should be like that, yes. Cabling is a lot about simultaneous transport of frequencies etc… Different philosophies of manufacturers usually work better or worse on their own, but often seem to fail if mixed. But with a mix one can tinker quite a bit tonality wise or in other characteristics (I did this, too, in the past) but not rarely quite a few other characteristics fell off the back at the end.

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I agreed. I have tried a dozen power cords and cables in the last few years. The fun part was when I found a great match among different designs. This is probably not the best way to upgrade. but i am the second craziest guy on cables in this forum. I’ll save the first for an Italian friend :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

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Don’t forget that dude from Minnesota (Big Al) in that ranking.

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Oh yeah! Al has reached the top of the mountain already. The rest of us are still struggling to find the right pathway.:confused::woman_climbing:t3:

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Just done another experiment, as for mixing cables.

I bought this cheap device, an XLR switch

My purpose was finding a solution to avoid swapping cables each time I want to play vinyl from digital.

Just for curiosity I connected XLR Dragon from DAC to the switch, then the Iconoclast XLR to the amp. It means mixing two cables on the same path. Guess what? A colossal failure!

After less than a hour I had to disconnect all and I went back to my usual set up (only Iconoclast XLR from DAC to amp). Fatigue, lifeless, bright, harsh… music on steroid and high frequencies at the limit of headache.

The little box is already in my drawer to collect dust for the next years. 50 euros thrown away!

Much better to wait for the next Stealth!

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Very interesting! Is the box designed to be an extender like power cable extender? Someone will designed a audiophile box that would improve the SQ from cheap cables. :laughing:

Stealth is a safer bet to be a winner.

It is a switch rather than an extender, 1 output and 3 inputs. I tried it as an extender (using just 1 input) and it doesn’t work at all. I don’t know if the reason is the mixed cables (Dragon + Iconoclast) or the box itself. Maybe using 2 Iconoclast cables, input and output…
I certainly don’t feel the need to go any deeper.

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It’s probably the junky internals of the switch.
I think the best place for it as you said is in the “oh well” pile never to considered again.

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