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Fantastic buy if you are looking for component cables or a digital coax cable!!

post #1 of 18
7/17/08 at 10:40am
Thread Starter 
Tributaries Silver Series 75ohm component cables are on extreme clearance over at Audio Asylum right now. Go here.

Regular price: 1.0M $340.00, 2.0M $400.00, 5.0M $580.00

Sale price?

$29.99... regardless of length...

I ordered a 1.0 meter set to use one of the cables as a digital coaxial cable (and have two extras!), and they came yesterday. The sound is phenomenal. I really had no idea that it would sound that much better than the Radio Shack video cable I was using... but the difference is astounding!

I have no affiliation with Audio Advisor or Tributaries other than the fact that I was very pleased with Audio Advisor's communication and shipping time, and more than pleased with the performance of a cable that I bought for over 89% off... with two free ones thrown in...
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post #2 of 18
7/17/08 at 11:58am
ty ordered one myself for coax.
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post #3 of 18
7/17/08 at 12:52pm
Wow, that's insane...hell of a deal. Too bad I don't use component video cables (HDMI now). I suppose they'd work great as digital coax, but...I already have a huge box of random cables I'm not using for anything anymore.
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post #4 of 18
7/17/08 at 1:08pm
Can it also works as normal RCA audio cable?
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post #5 of 18
7/17/08 at 2:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by alxwang View Post
Can it also works as normal RCA audio cable?
I wouldn't recommend it. The geometry required for a consistent 75ohm coaxial cable is not the same as what makes for a good analog signal cable.

But it makes an amazing digital coax cable!!
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post #6 of 18
7/17/08 at 3:04pm
Hello!

Am I missing something or would spending hundreds of dollars for a _digital_ coax cable be really senseless? No wonder they are on clearance.

Regards,
Jonas
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post #7 of 18
7/17/08 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo-Vo View Post
Hello!

Am I missing something or would spending hundreds of dollars for a _digital_ coax cable be really senseless? No wonder they are on clearance.

Regards,
Jonas
It depends upon your budget and how much you're willing to spend on improvements.

"Am I missing something or would spending over $100 on a pair of headphones be really senseless?" could be heard from the mouth of most people I know, and would be completely justified given their interests.

Actually, you could apply it to anything that can be purchased with money, really: "Am I missing something or would be spending $_________ on ___________ be really senseless?"

...and the answer would always be, "It depends."

And these are component cables which are on sale, which just happen to have the same strict tolerances as digital coaxial cables, and sound extremely good as such. Only you get two spare ones.
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post #8 of 18
7/17/08 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TopPop View Post
It depends upon your budget and how much you're willing to spend on improvements.
Well, since the data transmitted is digital, only bits, I doubt that there are improvements using an expensive cable since a cheap one does the same job - there is no loss, right? Talking about sound quality and not build quality...

Quote:
Originally Posted by TopPop View Post
"Am I missing something or would spending over $100 on a pair of headphones be really senseless?" could be heard from the mouth of most people I know, and would be completely justified given their interests.
Well, talking about headphones you can hear the difference.

Regards,
Jonas
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post #9 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo-Vo View Post
Talking about sound quality and not build quality...
You assume the latter doesn't affect the former?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo-Vo View Post
Well, talking about headphones you can hear the difference.
Well, talking about cables I can hear the difference... and I have many, many, many times.

I simply can't understand how people can't hear the difference in cables. Granted, some cables sound similar, but there are many differences to be heard between many other cables (the majority of them, I've found).

And I'm not talking about expensive cables. I don't always hear good improvements with expensive cables. Often, yes, but not always. But my point is that, often, there do exist very noticeable differences between cables, regardless of price. That is important.

But I digest... so... if you trust math and theory over your own ears, more power to you. My suggestion is that you try, and listen. You might just surprise your ears.

All respect,
Chris
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post #10 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:30pm
doesn't math and theory tell us that there should be no difference (if we are talking digital) because you are only sending 1s and 0s through the cable?? A zero is still a zero at the other end whether the connectors are gold or not.

I could be wrong about this, and i think i will probably buy a few of these cables anyways. Its nice to have piece of mind to know the interconnects is not the limiting factor in my setup.
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post #11 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpc41 View Post
but doesn't math and theory tell us that there should be no difference (if we are talking digital) because you are only sending 1s and 0s through the cable??

I could be wrong about this, and i think i will probably buy a few of these cables anyways.
All I know is that I was using a video cable before, which, by definition, should have been a coaxial geometry with a (relatively) consistent impedance of 75ohm. When I replaced it with this cable, the improvement in sound was almost as great as the improvement I heard when I went from a portable to a home-based headphone amplifier.

I'm not making this stuff up, and there is no way that it's placebo. When I see the traffic light color change from red to green, nobody is going to convince me that my mind is making me think I see a color change. I really do see it... and I move my car accordingly.

I don't know what else to say. I know my ears, and have trained them well (I conduct research in acoustic phonetics, and I need to be able to trust my ears). I'm sorry if people disagree with my experience... but it's there. It's happened. It's happening. What else is there to say?
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post #12 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:47pm
im not denying the fact that there is a difference, and i plan on buying some of these myself..i was just hoping someone had an explanation for the differences in digital cables. These are a steal at that price whether they are amazing or not, i cant even go to best buy and buy a cheap component cable for this price.
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post #13 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpc41 View Post
doesn't math and theory tell us that there should be no difference (if we are talking digital) because you are only sending 1s and 0s through the cable?? A zero is still a zero at the other end whether the connectors are gold or not.

I could be wrong about this, and i think i will probably buy a few of these cables anyways. Its nice to have piece of mind to know the interconnects is not the limiting factor in my setup.
I apologize. I think I took my frustration out as a response to your well-meaning post and important question.

I think I'm going to follow something I learned in a certain Disney movie long ago, and not take part in these kinds of discussions anymore... I fear that I won't have anything nice to say... and I don't want to be that kind of man.

Cheers
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post #14 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:52pm
haha, no harm done. Cables are a touchy subject i try to avoid at all costs.
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post #15 of 18
7/17/08 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpc41 View Post
i was just hoping someone had an explanation for the differences in digital cables.
This should help.
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