Aes cable lenght

Must say very impressed with the shunyata aes cables.
It has made a wide sound stage even wider and deeper. Plus it has uplifted the clarity i feel, it certainly sounds different.
But i like it.

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Thanks Dunc. Improved soundstage and clarity. I hope you don’t mind me asking but how was the music? I appreciate that perhaps it is an unusual interest of mine so I hope that you can humour me.

Very much the same as it was beforehand.
I certainly didn’t detect say more bass, midrange or brightness.
But it does sound nicer, clearer is probably the best way to describe it.

I will run it like this fow a week to give myself time to adjust and see what else pops out. Then i will pop the standard cables back in and see if what i thought has happened actually has.
But i could definitely hear a difference right from the first track.

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Thanks Duncan. I look forward to anything you may add after you have had a longer experience with them.

I am interested in considering them my self . However the cost exceeds my usual limit on the risk of what I will buy unheard but there seems no alternative .

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Would your dealer not be willing to arrange a home demo for you?

Unfortunately I am unable to travel to dealers easily. My ( now-ex) dCS dealer only seems to stock the top ranges according to their website e.g. Omega. Another source is an online dealer. So not a great deal of opportunity for me,

I’m sorry to hear that, Pete.

I have just completed my full loom of Siltech cabling which I have been building out since the summer. The last cables to arrive were power cables for the Vivaldi stack, a set of clock cables, and a set of AES/EBU cables.

The AES cables were the ones I was most looking forward to, and the first I installed and allowed to burn in before inserting the others. I had high expectations as they would replace the free in the box, low cost Van Damme XLR’s.

From the first notes I think Dunc exactly described what I heard as well. There was no doubt about it.

@PAR Pete, in the world of crazy cable prices I found the Siltech 680D’s to be reasonably priced and easily commensurate with Vivaldi prices. The list price was $1395 per cable, and that is before discount.

Worth a try imho

PS - 1m length to help with cable dressing

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As a (cheaper) alternative you might consider Wireworld AES cables. Ive always found WW very good and not over-priced compared to some of the bigger names. In the UK they can be bought on 30 day return terms from the Futureshop website. A good improvement over the stock cables.

Well i got these second-hand at a very good price and only just up the road from me.
Pete you can always borrow them for a month when i go away later this year if you want, that’s if you haven’t sorted things

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Thanks Gregg but unfortunately the price is beyond my maximum though, yes, it is commensurate with Vivaldi . In the UK a pair would be £2,800. There is also the additional factor of impedance. It is available in 75 and 110 ohm versions. However at least one dealer over here appears to think that only XLR termination is the important factor for AES/EBU. so another thing to watch out for if buying remotely.

Omni, it is nice to know about a possible trial from Futureshop who also have the Shunyatas. Good information and I may give them a ring.

Dunc, that is very kind of you though I would need to figure out how to send them back. However I think Royal Mail are now offering a parcel collection service .

Beware - Their sale / return policy may not stretch to top end of the market ungodly priced cables. :grinning:

I expect that is probably correct. I do not expect dealers to stock high end cables as inventory. They just have an account with the distributor. I am sure that we have all experienced " I can get it in for you " or " in 10 days".

Anyway, Wireworld have several ranges. Do you have a favoured one?

That is a dealer I would stay away from.
The Siltech website is highly detailed and specific. I think it shows what they believe the important factor is:

ā€œ Classic Legend 680D is available in two versions:

  • 75 Ohm comes with BNC or RCA connectors
  • 110 Ohm meets the XLR AES-EBU standardā€

I bought the micro platinum AES silver cables.

My XLR and speaker cables are their best copper cables (Eclipse 8) and Ive used them for 5 or 6 years (pre-dCS in my system). The silver XLR and speaker cables are expensive, but not Shunyata expensive. I went to WW because MBL use them inside their speakers and while MBL don’t ā€œrecommendedā€ them, they are favoured. Good quality and reasonably priced IMO.

All my Siltech cables are Silver.
My first time with Silver after 25 years of Naim related copper.
I like them :grin:

Silver throughout over here. Crystalcable reference diamond, based on solid silver-gold alloy conductor (xlr + speakers) & AQ Diamond (dual aes/ebu + bnc).

Crystal Cable - owned by Gabby, wife of the Siltech owner