Help ! Some questions about setup

[dertourist48]

Hello Mates,

I ordered an Audiolab 7000a together with a Wiim pro plus. The Audiolab 7000a should drive my front speakers and bypass my other speakers in my HT Setup. The 7000a will be paired with a Marantz Cinema 50.
I do use several streaming services and also listen to flacs from my synology nas. My question is about the cable management. What is the best way to connect the wiim with the audiolab 7000a ?

 

[BowsAndArrows]

if i were you, i'd choose optical out or coax out from the WiiM to the Audiolab. in my setup coax sounds a bit better, but not by much....

 

[BowsAndArrows]

i'm sure other users will chime in with their thoughts on which DAC to use (WiiM vs Audiolab) and you can test both. but i reckon this setup should sound the best. after all you paid for an integrated amp, so the DAC implementation in the audiolab is likely to be very good...

 

[dertourist48]

Would this one Coax fit ?

How do I bypass the dac of the WiiM ?

 

[Achim1811]

Would this one Coax fit ?

How do I bypass the dac of the WiiM ?

As soon as you use optical or coax out from the WiiM its internal DAC is bypassed. The decision what sounds better for you is only yours.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

Would this one Coax fit ?

How do I bypass the dac of the WiiM ?

yes that should work fine. although i would go for the 1.5m length. just because of the theoretical possibility of reflections in shorter lengths... very hotly debated though. many people say it's a myth.

 

[harkpabst]

yes that should work fine. although i would go for the 1.5m length. just because of the theoretical possibility of reflections in shorter lengths... very hotly debated though. many people say it's a myth.

If the characteristic impedance of the coax cable is correct (75 Ohms) then there are no reflections.

 

[dertourist48]

Well, it says so and it is 1.5 m now

 

[BowsAndArrows]

If the characteristic impedance of the coax cable is correct (75 Ohms) then there are no reflections.

yes, technically you're correct, but unfortunately in practice - RCA cable terminations cannot (because of their physical dimensions) be made to exactly 75 Ohms. blue jeans have a good article on it. https://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/75ohmrca.htm only BNC terminations can be exactly 75 Ohms necessary to prevent reflections...

and yes - theoretically using cable length to combat reflections is not ideal, but if you can choose between lengths then 1.5m seems to be the easiest choice overall. see this post from John Siau (engineer at benchmark media) https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...o-cable-reflections-and-dacs.7159/post-165509

 

[BowsAndArrows]

this audiogon post could shed some light too. https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/1918946

 

[harkpabst]

Funny. We read the same sources but our takeaway is obviously different.

Did you notice that this last statement on forum.audiogon.com is in contradiction to what John Siau explains on audiosciencereview.com?

Anyway, using a cable with the correct characteristics impedance is the right thing, regardless of everything else.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

Funny. We read the same sources but our takeaway is obviously different.

Did you notice that this last statement on forum.audiogon.com is in contradiction to what John Siau explains on audiosciencereview.com?

Anyway, using a cable with the correct characteristics impedance is the right thing, regardless of everything else.

yeh well, this sort of difference of opinions amongst the experts is what leads me to have a balanced view on things. i'm not so sure because the experts seem to have not reached complete consensus...

which is why i try to reflect that in the language i use... i never said "there are 100% definitely reflections and you MUST to x, y or z"...