Rca or coaxial

[Mr Ee]

I was using the cables that came with the pro plus, and the wiim amp, which look the same, but of course might not be.

Given you have speakers that cost nearly $3000 and the best speakers I own are in the $1500 range, and the cheapest closer to $600, that you are picking up something I can't

Didn't mean to start a big debate.
I'm hugely sceptical of most things audio too.
Yes, my main hifi speakers are now A$10,500 new a pair (fortunately I got them for much less than that), but this rca change was in my 'pro 3' setup, where the amp and speakers are from the mid 90s.
iirc, the amp was £300 and the speakers were £100, new at that time.

I specifically remember buying the speakers - got them from Richer Sounds on Tottenham Court Road, and they were surprisingly heavy by the time I got them back home on public transport!

 

[harkpabst]

I specifically remember buying the speakers - got them from Richer Sounds on Tottenham Court Road, and they were surprisingly heavy by the time I got them back home on public transport!

I bet they became heavier with every single mile.

Have you applied for a patent for this simple and cost effective method of making speaker cabinets more substantial, even after production ?

 

[steadyshot]

Raihdo td 6 uses Nordost internal wiring , some amps using siltech . Look… use Microsoft copilot or ChatGPT and ask questions . You will get your answers

 

[onlyoneme]

Time for another quick test - a ground loop scenario. Two use cases, one with the stock RCA cable and another with one of my mogami cables. Results measured in dBFS this time.

WiiM idle:



WiiM playing a silence signal:



WiiM playing a full scale sine 1 kHz signal:




I believe that situations when interconnect cables "sound different" and it's really audible are similar to above one - an audio path with issues.

 

[Smartplug]

Time for another quick test - a ground loop scenario. Two use cases, one with the stock RCA cable and another with one of my mogami cables. Results measured in dBFS this time.

WiiM idle:

View attachment 5129

WiiM playing a silence signal:

View attachment 5130

WiiM playing a full scale sine 1 kHz signal:

View attachment 5131


I believe that situations when interconnect cables "sound different" and it's really audible are similar to above one - an audio path with issues.

Thank you for measurements. This is gold standard instead relying on someone else ear and giving us their opinion.

 

[cooky560]

Copper is copper lol. That said there are some nasty cables out there that aren’t copper all the way through. As this can have a significant effect on conductivity I can see THAT making a difference but once you go above the $0.50 price point I can’t see it being an issue as construction reaches the level where at minimum it’s fully copper

I’d like to see a scientific measurement of one of these dreaded alloy cables and see if that is where the difference is picked up

 

[Malkie]

He doesn't hear any differences between the two DACs (which is quite normal in my opinion). And then you come up with power cords?

The most important thing is the room,
then the room again
and then the speakers.
.
Then all sorts of other things.
.
Then: cables, power supplies and any other voodoo ;-)

I totally agree with this!! DACs are overrated and it's crazy how many there are when in general there is little to no difference.
The room and most certainly speakers make a very noticeable difference.....not speaker wires or power cords!!!

 

[cooky560]

I totally agree with this!! DACs are overrated and it's crazy how many there are when in general there is little to no difference.
The room and most certainly speakers make a very noticeable difference.....not speaker wires or power cords!!!

I'm in this camp too, you can get remarkable sound out of very basic hardware, by spending a bit of money on treating your room. However for most of us room treating is impractical, so we get the speakers that sound as good as possible in the rooms we have.

 

[harkpabst]

DACs are the phono cartridges of the digital era.

 

[harkpabst]

I won't dispute that.

 

[ZoydWheeler]

Chord c link rca is amazing …. Another 15 - 20% cleaner more textured sound compared to stock cables

Really interesting - might invest in some !

 

[harkpabst]

Yeah ... 15% cleaner, hardly audible. But 20% cleaner, that's a different story.

 

[onlyoneme]

But why not 18%? Weird.

 

[harkpabst]

17.5%. Gotcha!

 

[onlyoneme]

Ouch. I'm hit, I'm hit.

 

[steadyshot]

Such a great sense of humor!

 

[jkdjedi]

Coaxial (or optical) will give better results because it's a digital output, meaning the audio goes directly toward the amp, without first being modified by the Wiim's DAC chip. This lets the amp's DAC chip do its magic.

Seems weird and have to ask, the one coaxial cable can handle both channels? I am tempted to grab an external DAC to my line and it oddly doesn't have a spdif input, just the coaxial. Should I pass? Denefrips 12th-1 is what I'm looking at.
Edit: oops...it does have the sbdif input...

 

[alpha_zulu]

Seems weird and have to ask, the one coaxial cable can handle both channels?

Are you kidding?

 

[jkdjedi]

Are you kidding?

You have a right and left channel for RCA cables...no?

 

[alpha_zulu]

Coax transports a digital signal containing all informations. Channels will be decoded later at your DAC. Or do you need two WIFI networks to stream stereo songs?