Without going silly, what is recommended

the other week I bought a Matrix Audio SPDIF to use its i2S connections into the SGCD. I am looking for a good HDMI cable to connect the 2. I like the TQ brand, as their Black II speaker cable made a huge difference for me, so was hoping one of their HDMI;s could do a similar thing. Given the cost of the 2 pieces of hardware, I feel that spending 100’s on a cable that cost more than one of the items its going from a bit of a no no, as would upset the other half if she found out :thinking:

Congrats on the purchase! Is you like TQ, why not just stay there! Plenty of cable loom advocates around here - all cables from one maker so they all pull in the same direction. If not, the AudioQuest models from Cinnamon up are reliable and perform better than standard. You don’t need to break the bank at all - often the biggest performance steps are at the entry point of a range. The old 10% rule seems to still make a lot of sense until you start going down the rabbit hole. :man_facepalming:

What’s around that’s about 10% of the stuff it’s connecting up…

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The best bang for the buck in USB cables I have found:

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BJC makes very good quality cable with Belden wire. The bits should get from point A to point B. :popcorn:

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USAudiomart is your friend. This is an excellent cable. The 3 meter length is not a negative. I have a 3 meter and a 1 meter and I can’t hear a difference.
Make an offer that you’re comfortable with. You never know, they might take it.

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Try the HDMI cable from Morrow Audio. It’s what I am using at the moment with good results. List price is $150 for 3/4 meter but it’s often available at a discount.

I have a very good USB cable, in a ARTISAN SILVER CABLES | pure silver digital interconnects & USB cables its HDMI I am after

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I am in the UK, and not really buying from outside these shore (for personal reasons… been ripped off before)

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I would try to match brand/level of the cable you have feeding the matrix. If that’s not an option maybe picking up some AQ cinnamon level cables like mentioned above would serve you well. For about $100 you can get a .75m coax and 1m matching hdmi. I’ve been completely satisfied with my cinnamon coax and my GCD.

What are you using as your streamer? Would love to hear your impressions of the Matrix and the GCD.

I stream from my 3 yr old Pentuim i5 NUC with a 2 tb SSD and uprated 32gig RAM, with Audirvana 3.5 on for the past 3 years. I added the Matrix a couple of weeks ago, and just use a good USB cable (that powers it as well) from the SGCD its fed to the M700 amps and Amphion 3LS speakers

what length HDMI cable do you need? I have a .5M wire world silver sphere 48 for sale in the UK if that’s of interest.

I’m am using Supra Cables for HDMI as I have found their engineering to be first-rate without an exorbitant price tag. They are readily available in the UK at shops such as Supra HDMI - HDMI | Futureshop.co.uk.

prob .5 to.75 of a metre, not sure, will measure it tomorrow

for me the addition of a basic HDMI made a big difference in the sound, probably down to the use of the i2S connection in and out connections on both

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(@peterthebutcher) I second the recommendation to look for your next HDMI cable among the wares offered by fellow audiophiles through used equipment sites, including dealers with active trade in and trade up programs and the denizens of this forum, in particular.

Best way to get a (big) bang for your buck.

Good luck.

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Inakustik Excellence HDMI should be available for under 100 Euros on line at various shops.

I’ve been very happy with a Furutech HF-X NCF HDMI cable, about $200 from Audiophonics. Really nice tonal density. I haven’t tried out the high end stuff yet, but I haven’t been toooooo tempted. This was coming from DH Labs and Belden FE cables.

I think mine is actually .6 of a metre but will measure to check

@peterthebutcher You can try taking a look at Ricable. Their HDMI cables are affordable and recommended by a youtuber.

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Someone in the forum raved about Wireworld cables a few years back and I’ve sort of stopped going elsewhere.

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