I’ve found a longer ethernet (streaming) cable 1.5m+ performs better than a shorter one.
I’ve also found a shorter 75ohm S/PDIF BNC-BNC cable 0.5m performs better than a 1m one.
Any scientific logic to this?
G
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I bought a shorter coax cable because my Naim DC1 was much longer than necessary and its stiffness made it press up against the wall behind the rack and it looked ridiculous. I had a Gotham and a Mark Grant HDX1, and neither of them sounded significantly different to the DC1 which was at least 10 times more expensive.
Regarding Ethernet cables, I recall @Simon-in-Suffolk saying explaining why longer ones should sound better, although he was talking about using many metres of cable to make a real difference.
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There is a length of around 1m wherein internal reflections build up inside of a 75r digital cable. So, significantly less than 1m (like you @GraemeH ), or meaningfully longer (like 1.5m) is needed to avoid this. .75m to 1.25m for 75r digital cables are the no-mans-land for optimal sound quality.
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Opinions on digital cables will be as personal and varied as any type of cable discussed here.
As to BNC cables I think @ChrisSU and I have agreed to disagree on the merits of the DC-1 cable. After trying a 2-meter BNC cable that came free with a satellite dish, a one-meter Mogami 2964 cable off Amazon and a 1-meter Chord Clearway on loan, I vastly preferred the 1.2-meter Naim DC-1 between the two Naim boxes. I have not heard the Mark Grant HDX1 that he prefers, so there’s that.
Manufacturers give out recommendations, I think Naim said over 1-meter was preferred for digital cable due to some reflections? And Chord Company provides C-Stream Ethernet cables in 0.7-meter with the English Electric stuff.
You find that the opposite of these recommendations sounds better to you, and one should always trust your own ears. There surely must be science about these cables, but a lot written here is about personal experiences that count anyway.
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Very interesting. I have a variety of ‘audio’ 1m 75ohm cables which are easily outperformed by a 0.5m Canare 61S which was ‘cheap as chips’!
G
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I once quizzed someone at Naim during a factory visit re. cable lengths, and it seemed that they have no appetite for stocking them in a variety of lengths as you see from dedicated cable manufacturers like Chord. So it seems that they choose a length based on what will be right for the majority of systems, with performance of course also being a consideration. Chord, on the other hand, will make up any length you want, although they do list traditional Naim analogue DIN cables at a minimum of 1m, slightly shorter than Naim’s.
FWIW my Mark Grant cable is 0.5m long and when I used it between NXD2 and Dave it sounded identical to the Naim cable.
I used a Gotham RCA to BNC when I had a Mk1 Hugo, and that sounded fine as well, and again prompted me to sell the Naim RCA to BNC I originally used.
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No there isnt.
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