Rossini APEX > Chord Music RCA/DIN > Naim 552
Rossini Clock > Black Cat Mini Tron Clock > Rossini APEX
LP12 > Chord Music RCA/DIN > Naim 552
PowerStar Horizon MKII Distributor to Rossini APEX – Vertere HB Mains Reference Power Cable
PowerStar Horizon MKII Distributor to Rossini Master Clock – Vertere HB Mains Reference PC
Rossini Master Clock to Rossini APEX – AudioQuest WEL Signature Digital Coax Cables
Rossini APEX DAC to Ypsilon Phaethon Integrated – Infigo Signature Series Premium XLRs
Power Cables:
industry standard 3x1mm² with Schuko or Swiss plug
(3x0.75mm² would be sufficient for 230V given the smaller currents)
Network Cables:
industry standard CAT.5, CAT.6A
Accuphase HS-Link Cable:
Audioquest Diamond Ethernet RJ/E (CAT.7)
AES/EBU:
Mogami 3080 with Neutrik NC3FXCC and NC3MXCC (requires crimping tool for screen)
custom confected by myself
SDIF, SPDIF, Clock:
Contrik NX0628BTGN*-BL (*=length)
Cable: Draka 0.6/2.8 AF FRNC (solid copper, double screen)
Plugs: Neutrik NBNC75BFG7 75Ω rearTWIST HD BNC
Analog XLR:
Audioquest WEL Signature
Analog RCA:
Accuphase ASL-10
Microphone Cables:
Mogami 2534 Neglex Quad with Neutrik NC3FXX and NC3MXX
Mogami 2549 Neglex with Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX
custom confected by myself
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My current setup uses:
- Cardas Clear XLR interlinks between my Rossini, Ayre KX5 Twenty and Stax DMA X2
- Nordost Frey 2 tonearm cable from my Kuzma 4P arm
- Audioquest Oak speaker cable
- Audioquest Blizzard and Monsoon power cables connected to a Niagara 5000 conditioner
I’ve experimented a lot with interlinks in the past. I find that this is an ideal component to do some final tweaks to my system. Since changing my Ayre V1xe poweramp for the Stax DMA X2 that I finally found, I don’t feel any need for tweaking for the time being. with the mentioned cables I believe I have found a balance that is perfect to my taste.
I use Shunyata Sigma and Alpha from my dCS stack to my Shunyata Everest. I use Shunyata AES/EBU between Vivaldi and my D’Agostino pre-amp. On my amps and pre-amp and turntable use Transparent Opus.
I’m curious about a slightly adjacent question: how many of you did direct comparisons of similarly priced cables in your system before settling on the ones you are using?
I’m using Nordost (Tyr XLR, Frey 2 speaker) and Shunyata (Alpha EF AC cables). I’m happy with them, and I did direct comparisons with inexpensive alternatives to satisfy myself that i could hear a clear difference, but I’ve not had the resources and time to compare them to others of the same caliber. I’m curious whether others have taken the cable optimizing more seriously, or whether most generally go with what sounds good, without a bunch of comparisons?
This is an update of my comments from another thread.
I have recently replaced all of my Transparent Audio Super Interconnects and speaker cables with Transparent Audio Reference (pre loved). I was very pleased with the result and anticipated going full loom with power cords as well. I borrowed two C19 Transparent Audio Reference power cords and noticed that they had “middle of the road” Furutech UK plugs attached (the same plugs as I had used for my own home made cables many years ago). This was a huge disapointment and I’m sure affected my listening experience detrimentally. This experience is in full support of the post of @Zapp and comments of perception. Consequently I took the loan offer of two C19 Shunyata Alpha NR cables (also extensive reading on how the connectors are cold welded to the cables). They were amazing …
Edit:
I have now replaced all of my power cords to Shunyata Alpha NR. The difference is profound (but really only in the bass response).
The only real A/B test I made is that I purchased two highish end Y interconnect cables to compare Transprent Super gen 5 cable against the previous generation Super MM2. There was really NO audible difference. This led me to believe that I was fine investing in second hand Transparent Reference MM2 interconnects and Speaker cables.
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Shunyata for power (forget the model)
Cardas Parsec for clock → DAC (custom 0.5m length)
Kondo Ls-41 silver interconnect for DAC → amp
Network: optical ethernet → RoboFIBER bridge → SoTM IsoCat → Loop ethernet jack in Rossini (to force 100mbps ethernet speed) - I use Roon over RAAT
Digital cables (USB, Ethernet, clock) - Shunyata Omega
Power - various Shunyata, mostly Alpha, into Everest
Analog - mixture of Transparent Audio Reference and Ultra
Well, you asked…
INTERCONNECTS
Preamp to amps. Stealth Sakra V16
Preamp to subs. Stealth Swift XLR
Preamp to DAC. Stealth Sakra XLR
Upsampler to DAC. Nordost Valhalla 2 AES/EBU
Clock to DAC. Stealth Octava BNC (44.1 hz) and Nordost Valhalla 1 BNC (48 hz)
Clock to Upsampler. Stealth Octava BNC (44.1 hz) and Nordost Valhalla 1 BNC (48 hz)
Macmini to DAC. Stealth USB
Wall to Ethernet switch. Audioquest Diamond
Ethernet switch to DAC. Audioquest Diamond
Ethernet switch to Macmini. Blue Jeans Cable
Modem to Ethernet female connector. Audioquest Diamond
NAS to modem. Audioquest Vodka
A hodgepodge of cabling; have thought about standardizing a bit, but the return on a huge investment to get all from same source is daunting, and not sure if I’d get appreciable improvement. In the end, it all sounds superb so why change it?
Clock cables from Rossini Clock: AudioQuest WEL
Audio interconnect from Rossini Player to Preamp: Synergistic Research Atmosphere Euphoria SX (XLR) with gold tuning bullets
Power: Shunyata Research Alpha NR Digital
I’m interested in how these sound vs other cables you’ve tried? I’m a fan of AudioQuest’s Diamond cables, however am currently using BlackCat for my Rossini clock.
I described it here, but feel free to ask questions.
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Thanks, appreciate the link 
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Bill, I have to say that inserting the AQ WEL clock cables have made such a tremendous impact – it is shocking how much of difference these clock cables have made in terms of allowing my system to sound its best, the way it can and should. Simply sublime.
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Insane, isn’t it?
I couldn’t believe it, but when you switch back to something else, the improvements go away.
Got my 3x Darkz T2 footers under my Rossini/Clock now (after months delivery time)…scary good!
Never thought that dedicated footers could impact SQ for a digital device…
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Interesting
That is why I always question when I (frequently) see Rossini stacked directly on top of the Rossini clock
I have my Rossini on top of Clock and underneath the Clock are the footers.
I have my Rossini Dac and clock sitting next to each other, each on its own Grand Prix Audio Monaco platforms. The clock is connected to the Dac with Wyde-eyes cable. The Dac is connected to my Diablo 300 with Transparent Audio Reference Gen 6 balanced cables. Clock and Diablo 300 Transparent Audio Premium power cord. The Rossini Dac has a Transparent Audio Reference power cord.
I am very pleased with it all! However, I will probably upgrade the two premium power cables to Reference for consistency. I believe I am at my end-game digital system 
.
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