Schiit's wrong about cables

[PeterMusic]

Enjoying my Yggy for the past several years, I've never questioned Schiit's recommendation to use simply "good" cables to connect to my preamp. I had a pair of Transparent Musiclink RCAs ($200) from my previous DAC, so I kept them.

Spurred by a desire to set up a second system, I decided to try out a pair of balanced cables with the Yggy and move the less expensive Musiclinks to the junior varsity. My dealer had outfitted the rest of my current interconnects as Transparent Plus ($400) a year ago, so when I told him I wanted balanced he sent me home with Transparent Plus Balanced ($800) and Transparent Super RCA ($800) to compare.

On comparing the Plus Balanced to the Musiclink RCA, the balanced cables were better in a subtle way--a bit more shimmer on vibraphones and the like, a bit more decay. But pretty much in line with Schiit's advice that cables aren't a big deal and balanced is better than single-ended.

But then I tried the Super RCAs--WOW! A huge improvement across the board and especially the texture of acoustic instruments, vocals, and imaging. It's kind of like a hose opened up. This was as big an improvement to my system as a new set of speakers or amplifier--better than than the Yggy upgrade I posted on a few months ago. I have a loaner set of Transparent Ultra RCAs ($1600) coming next week for one last comparison, but I'm ecstatic already.

YMMV, but if you are using simply "good" interconnects, and you have a nearby dealer who will loan you some cables, it is well worth the time to think about an upgrade.

Rock on