General Information
Refinement, great stereo image and black background. These are some qualities of the acoustic chain that audiophiles are chasing, and with good components it is easy to obtain them nowadays. But there are some things that can easily go wrong in an audio chain, and that could come from the way that each component is being connected to another or simply powered, which opens a very sensitive subject – cables.
Quality cables are very important in the audio chain, and starting with the power cables, which I consider the first upgrade to do for every component in the setup, and continuing with analog interconnects and digital cables, each one needs to work properly so that your components could offer the best experience.
Standard power cables are never shielded or even twisted, and they will produce EMF which will affect other cables connected to your gear, such as RCA interconnects. So, in order to achieve a great performance, it is necessary to use cables with excellent electrical and mechanical characteristics and high level of insulations that are fitted with carefully chosen connectors.
Now I will present some of this cables which are handmade in Italy by SoundFidelity and I will share with you my impressions and the improvements that they have brought to my DAC and Headphone amplifier.
The Reference Power Cable is Sound Fidelity`s top product yet and as soon as i plugged it into my audiophile setup i noticed the differences. Wether it powered my active speakers, DAC, Headphone amp or even a streamer, they all performed better compared to their stock cables or different brands. I got better dynamics, deeper and better sustained bass and low end rumble, clean voices and the highs got smoother, leaving behind those harsh peaks that appears with some recordings.
Don’t get me wrong, a good power cable will not do wonders to a entry-level DAC or amp, but it will do justice to those that are capable to perform in mid & high level stereo or headphones systems.
The complex insulation of this cable combined with top quality silver plated OFC copper conductors and high quality Rhodium plated connectors are a guarantee that your gear will receive clean and sufficient power that is not influenced by electromagnetic and radio disturbances, therefore less noise will get into your device.
In my setup it felt like a veil was lifted in front of me and I could see and hear the soundstage more clearly, by easily pin pointing the place of the instruments or where the sounds are coming from, all that while keeping a pitch black background. The low-end greatly improved its presence making me very happy while listening on Audeze LCD2C especially. The voices got a natural representation too and the weirdest thing happened in the top-end, where my LittleDot CU KIS can become a little hot with certain tracks, now that behaviour was long gone and I could listen those tracks without clenching my teeth.
When I added the Gold Digital USB I got some of the cleanest and musical performances that I heard on my setup.
A wise man recently said that “the secrets are in the heart, the magic in the details”. After listening the Sound Fildelity products for more than a week now, I realized how tiny details from the music can be the secret that bring so much joy in our hearts.
Red Silver 2 Power Cable
So we got a nice R2R DAC and a powerfull headphone amplifier working in class A, both connected with high quality power cables that Sound Fidelity kindly provided and a pair of Audeze headphones, i`d say that it’s time to hit some eardrums! Well, not so fast. We saw (and heard) the impact that both Reference and Red Silver 2 power cables had, but when you got a separate DAC unit and an head amp/ amplifier there are two more variables to keep in mind:
In order to receive the digital signal to your DAC, you may chose an USB cable, COAX, AES or I2S, depending what transport you use.
I’m using an iFi iUSB3.0 USB interface so I got to test the USB Gold Digital Cable from Sound Fidelity which is made with silver plated OFC copper conductor for the power supply section and 5N OFC copper for the signal line, both having double Teflon insulation to keep outside any kind of interference that could mess with your precious data that is being transported to the DAC. These guys really worked and tried different combinations until they found the right connectors and conductors so that the signal will arrive into your DAC unaltered, keeping its rich and detailed sound with 3D scene and depth.
Once the digital signal is there and transformed by the DAC, it is time to be sent to your amplifier via RCA or XLR cables. By having only RCA input at my headamp, I got the Reference RCA Interconnect, which are looking exactly like the Reference power cable and use the same proprietary insulation and my OCD is very happy with that. Built wise, they use 7N OCC silver plated copper conductors and Rhodium plated pure copper Viborg connectors all and needless to say, they look very imposing and clearly they’re built to last.
So, what`s the result? By making sure that your digital signal travels to your DAC in the best conditions, you will get the best out of it, and if that too is delivered in the same great conditions to your amplifier, you will experience music as an emotion, as a manifestation of what the artist want us to feel, live, experience. You will feel the realism of the record, its stage and infinite background, you will live the dynamics and naturalness, you will experience the art of music.
I’m not gonna talk about comparisons here, as common cables made the difference from “I want to enjoy a full album” to “I heard the first track, that’s enough”.
But I’m gonna talk about the importance of chosing a maker and enjoy its philosophy in building and deliver the best performance with his products, and in matter of power cables, digital and analog ones, Sound Fidelity really showed their commitment in delivering such performance with their products.
Quality cables are very important in the audio chain, and starting with the power cables, which I consider the first upgrade to do for every component in the setup, and continuing with analog interconnects and digital cables, each one needs to work properly so that your components could offer the best experience.
Standard power cables are never shielded or even twisted, and they will produce EMF which will affect other cables connected to your gear, such as RCA interconnects. So, in order to achieve a great performance, it is necessary to use cables with excellent electrical and mechanical characteristics and high level of insulations that are fitted with carefully chosen connectors.
Now I will present some of this cables which are handmade in Italy by SoundFidelity and I will share with you my impressions and the improvements that they have brought to my DAC and Headphone amplifier.
The Reference Power Cable is Sound Fidelity`s top product yet and as soon as i plugged it into my audiophile setup i noticed the differences. Wether it powered my active speakers, DAC, Headphone amp or even a streamer, they all performed better compared to their stock cables or different brands. I got better dynamics, deeper and better sustained bass and low end rumble, clean voices and the highs got smoother, leaving behind those harsh peaks that appears with some recordings.
Don’t get me wrong, a good power cable will not do wonders to a entry-level DAC or amp, but it will do justice to those that are capable to perform in mid & high level stereo or headphones systems.
The complex insulation of this cable combined with top quality silver plated OFC copper conductors and high quality Rhodium plated connectors are a guarantee that your gear will receive clean and sufficient power that is not influenced by electromagnetic and radio disturbances, therefore less noise will get into your device.
In my setup it felt like a veil was lifted in front of me and I could see and hear the soundstage more clearly, by easily pin pointing the place of the instruments or where the sounds are coming from, all that while keeping a pitch black background. The low-end greatly improved its presence making me very happy while listening on Audeze LCD2C especially. The voices got a natural representation too and the weirdest thing happened in the top-end, where my LittleDot CU KIS can become a little hot with certain tracks, now that behaviour was long gone and I could listen those tracks without clenching my teeth.
When I added the Gold Digital USB I got some of the cleanest and musical performances that I heard on my setup.
A wise man recently said that “the secrets are in the heart, the magic in the details”. After listening the Sound Fildelity products for more than a week now, I realized how tiny details from the music can be the secret that bring so much joy in our hearts.
Red Silver 2 Power Cable
- High quality OFC copper conductors.
- Silver & Rhodium plated Oyaide connectors.
- Superior level of insulation (Teflon & Kapton).
- With my Dac/Amp: black background, airy soundstage, clean and tight bass, superb voice representation, clear highs.
- Great pairing with Sound Fidelity Gold USB and Reference RCA Interconnect Cable.
- I want one.
So we got a nice R2R DAC and a powerfull headphone amplifier working in class A, both connected with high quality power cables that Sound Fidelity kindly provided and a pair of Audeze headphones, i`d say that it’s time to hit some eardrums! Well, not so fast. We saw (and heard) the impact that both Reference and Red Silver 2 power cables had, but when you got a separate DAC unit and an head amp/ amplifier there are two more variables to keep in mind:
- How do you connect the DAC to your digital transport;
- How do you transfer the analog signal to your amplifier.
In order to receive the digital signal to your DAC, you may chose an USB cable, COAX, AES or I2S, depending what transport you use.
I’m using an iFi iUSB3.0 USB interface so I got to test the USB Gold Digital Cable from Sound Fidelity which is made with silver plated OFC copper conductor for the power supply section and 5N OFC copper for the signal line, both having double Teflon insulation to keep outside any kind of interference that could mess with your precious data that is being transported to the DAC. These guys really worked and tried different combinations until they found the right connectors and conductors so that the signal will arrive into your DAC unaltered, keeping its rich and detailed sound with 3D scene and depth.
Once the digital signal is there and transformed by the DAC, it is time to be sent to your amplifier via RCA or XLR cables. By having only RCA input at my headamp, I got the Reference RCA Interconnect, which are looking exactly like the Reference power cable and use the same proprietary insulation and my OCD is very happy with that. Built wise, they use 7N OCC silver plated copper conductors and Rhodium plated pure copper Viborg connectors all and needless to say, they look very imposing and clearly they’re built to last.
So, what`s the result? By making sure that your digital signal travels to your DAC in the best conditions, you will get the best out of it, and if that too is delivered in the same great conditions to your amplifier, you will experience music as an emotion, as a manifestation of what the artist want us to feel, live, experience. You will feel the realism of the record, its stage and infinite background, you will live the dynamics and naturalness, you will experience the art of music.
I’m not gonna talk about comparisons here, as common cables made the difference from “I want to enjoy a full album” to “I heard the first track, that’s enough”.
But I’m gonna talk about the importance of chosing a maker and enjoy its philosophy in building and deliver the best performance with his products, and in matter of power cables, digital and analog ones, Sound Fidelity really showed their commitment in delivering such performance with their products.