I recently upgraded my plain jane USB cable to a Triode Wire Labs Split Power & Data cable. For the time being, I’m not using the power cable portion of this cable (In my mind, this shouldn’t introduce any additional noise from my computer because it isn’t carrying any power)… This cable goes from my computer to my Matrix X-SPDIF 2, powered by a 9V linear power supply.
I also upgraded the HDMI cable that goes from the Matrix to the DirectStream DAC from a BlueJeans HDMI to a Wire World Platinum Silver Starlight 7 HDMI (1M).
I had planned on doing some listening sessions with only the USB cable, then the HDMI, then both together… but I’m not a reviewer. I just want to enjoy my music, so here is what I’m hearing so far.
My current impressions, at least one of the obvious ones include an increase in volume. Is that usually the case with better cables? I had not read that while I was reading on the forum. This increase in volume may also just be me hearing more of the recording than I did before and misinterpreting it. So far, everything seems clearer, but fuller, even more bass. Dare I say, better imaging? It’s sounds surgical but it’s still easy on the ears. Listening to acoustic guitar recordings, I’m hearing literally everything from the scraping of the fingernails to the resonance of the notes that linger. I never thought I would be spending this kind of money on cables, but I’m happy so far.
The Triode USB cable is pre-burned in (to a degree), but the WW 7 is brand new, so I’m going to put some hours on these and see how the sound changes, but so far I have zero buyer’s remorse =).
Next up is to upgrade my SMSL SA300 amp. My Decware UFO is still more than half a year out. I may build a Pass Amp Camp Amp (ACA), maybe 2 in mono? Aways open to recommendations so I can read up on them, watch reviews, etc… I miss the days of just going to the stereo shop and asking the salesperson to demo some of the equipment. Back to my stereo. If anyone was wondering, I have Klipsch RP-600Ms and Decware Tiny Radials… I need to figure out how to run them both at the same time and adjust volume separately.