Suggest me cables for Crack + HD600. Also cables for DAC between Crack

[Gauss]

Maybe this question is about tastes but I know here are many people that have tried a Bottlehead Crack with HD600.

I believe that when you use cheap equipment, good cables won't do any noticeable difference in what you hear. Maybe I'm wrong. But I believe that if you have a decent amp, decent headphones/speakers and decent source, cables would not exactly improve sound, but let you hear of what the system is capable benefiting some frequencies more than others, resulting in a final sound signature and taste as well as better performance of the overall chain in the system.

I've being enjoying my Bottlehead Crack with Speedball tons paired to a Sennheiser HD600. My source is redbook FLAC files through an iBasso D12 DAC. I'm using a Monster cable, which I think it's still a standard cable suitable enough for a standard DAC. At the headphones I'm using an HD650 stock cable.

I've started to feel that my music is shallow, maybe too smooth than I would like, bass is "poor", not really if you compare to cheaper equipment. My music still sound gorgeous, but I'm starting to feel I need more, I wan't more definition, less veiled sound, more slam on the bass without making it bloat. So I thought, is time to upgrade my DAC as well as my cables, the cables should allow me to hear the better DAC. I already set an order on a newer DAC, I was aiming on a DAC at $1000 or more but I retracted and went on a cheaper Bifrost, should be enough for now.

I know that maybe I should have simply went the path to change headphones instead of a DAC, but I'm not willing to spend on a newer amp as I thought: if I want to upgrade headphones, it should be the Audeze LCD2, oh well, maybe at the end of the year I would be looking for that. I don't really want a total change in sound signature now so crisper headphones is not an option now.

Any comments, correction / opinions on my thoughts are welcome. If you can suggest me cables that are going to make me happy and get the result I'm expecting please throw the line. Thank you!

Note: My experience on amps, dacs and headphones is limitted to the combo I mentioned. I also don't have any chances to test equipment on stores nor with other people, so this is why I research the most I can.

[Tickwomp]

What is your price range?

If you're looking to stay in the realm of DIY, you could do far worse than making something like what you can see here:http://www.tempoelectric.com/cables.htm

[btrancho]

If you're looking to stay in the realm of DIY, you could do far worse than making something like what you can see here:http://www.tempoelectric.com/cables.htm

I'd also be interested in hearing from others about this.  Especially anyone with experience with the silver cables (or similar) mentioned by Tickwomp above.  I was just looking at them last night.

[corndog71]

I made my own digital cable using Homegrownaudio silver wire.  All it takes is a 3 wire braid and 2 of their silver plated RCA plugs.  This is similar to the well regarded Kimber AGDL but a lot cheaper.  2 wires for signal and 1 for ground.

http://www.homegrownaudio.com/products/IC%252d3.24S.html

[HF9]

I'm hoping you'll be DIYing yourself a set since you just made yourself an amp

There are quite a few different options out there. Homegrown Audio does make some great stuff; I've used their wire and connectors plenty of times. I also really like Cardas wire when warmth and bass is important, particularly the internally litzed and enameled copper. It has a warmer sound to it than the crisp, clear sound of silver.

I have some details posted about building a pure silver cable here. In that particular case the wire was sleeved with PTFE / Teflon tubing manually, but if you get it from Homegrown it typically comes in Teflon already, which I suggest if you're going above 2-3 feet. The reason is that there gets to be a lot of friction when you're feeding the silver through the tubing once you're a couple feet in.

There are also some details here about building a set of interconnects using Cardas wire and RCAs. Cardas wire requires a hot iron to burn off the enamel on the wire and heat up the rhodium-plated RCAs sufficiently, so if you don't have an adjustable solder station, it may not be worth trying.


For a Digital Cable, I really like the DHLabs Silver Sonic wire. It's solid core silver plated copper in foamed PTFE. Terminated with the Furutech BNC connectors, it's very crisp and detailed. It takes only a few minutes to build.

[denti alligator]

I made my own digital cable using Homegrownaudio silver wire.  All it takes is a 3 wire braid and 2 of their silver plated RCA plugs.  This is similar to the well regarded Kimber AGDL but a lot cheaper.  2 wires for signal and 1 for ground.

http://www.homegrownaudio.com/products/IC%252d3.24S.html

How would you add shielding to these if you wanted to?

[HF9]

How would you add shielding to these if you wanted to?

Tinned copper mesh is usually what people use as a shield on interconnects, although I'm not sure if it would meet the 75 ohm requirements of a digital cable.

[corndog71]

I made my own digital cable using Homegrownaudio silver wire.  All it takes is a 3 wire braid and 2 of their silver plated RCA plugs.  This is similar to the well regarded Kimber AGDL but a lot cheaper.  2 wires for signal and 1 for ground.

http://www.homegrownaudio.com/products/IC%252d3.24S.html

How would you add shielding to these if you wanted to?

If you want a shielded cable then you might be better off getting a properly shielded cable.  For that I would recommend Blue Jeans Cables.  The Belden 1694 is on the stiff side but makes a great digital cable.

Personally, I find my homegrownaudio cable sounds better but it's marginal.  Bass is somewhat better.

[lextek]

I use a Monoprice.com optical cable from my Apple TV2 to Cambridge DAC Magic, kimber Heroes to Crack and Moon Audio Blue Dragon/HD600s? 

[John Roman]

This is a very interesting thread. Several excellent sites to check out. I appreciate the input. Hope to see some of you next week in Burlingame.
John