Chord Electronics - Blu Mk. 2 - The Official Thread

[analogmusic]

Want to travel to UK to hear Blu2 with Dave, does any dealer have this in UK?

 

[Triode User]

Want to travel to UK to hear Blu2 with Dave, does any dealer have this in UK?

Try asking my dealer, Fanthorpes at Hull. I deal with Dale there. Their contact details are on their web site.

www.fanthorpes.co.uk

 

[Crgreen]

Try asking my dealer, Fanthorpes at Hull. I deal with Dale there. Their contact details are on their web site.

www.fanthorpes.co.uk

If you fancy going to Hull and back

 

[Triode User]

If you fancy going to Hull and back

Well we don't know where @analogmusic is going to be in the UK. Hull might be close!

 

[analogmusic]

Well to hear Blu, I'll make the effort ! Good to know there is a place in UK where me and a friend who wants to buy it can actually hear Blu.

Thanks for the info, Triodeuser.

 

[esimms86]

So, any consensus on what BNC to BNC 75 ohm cables those of you fortunate enough to already have Blu2 are using? I know that TriodeUser has gone with inexpensive Canare cables. RW has yet to weigh in on specific brands and, God knows, he already has enough on his plate these days.

 

[Triode User]

OK I have had a chance to listen to some BNC cables. I have a 0.5M BNC to BNC, a $500 audiophile BNC, and a 2M BNC to BNC.

To remove variations due to cable upsetting other things, I used MSI lap-top > USB > Blu 2 > BNC cable > Dave > Audioquest Nighthawks.

The first test was the 0.5M against the audiophile cable - and the $500 was smoother, with better depth.

Next I tried the 2M BNC against the 0.5M BNC - and the 2M was better than the 0.5M cable. Moreover, it also was a bit better than the $500 audiophile cable.

The longer length is perhaps surprising; until one realizes that longer lengths means more RF filtering by the cable itself.
So I have on order some more cables, of 1M, 2M and 5M lengths, together with ferrite clamps on cores as this should further improve RF isolation. I will report back.

Conclusions? Yes there is a small difference; so far don't spend huge sums on audiophile cables, just quality RF cables.

Rob

Rob, I wonder if I could edit your post as follows which might equally reflect what you observed?

Some times it is the way one tells it that is important! Your further testing will be interesting (although I have no intention of changing from my quality but not expensive 1M cables).

"The first test was the 0.5M against the 1m cable (the audiophile cable) - and the 1M cable was smoother, with better depth.

Next I tried the 2M BNC against the 0.5M BNC - and the 2M was better than the 0.5M cable. Moreover, it also was a bit better than the 1M cable.

The longer length is perhaps surprising; until one realizes that longer lengths means more RF filtering by the cable itself.
So I have on order some more cables, of 1M, 2M and 5M lengths, together with ferrite clamps on cores as this should further improve RF isolation. I will report back.

Conclusions? Yes there is a small difference; so far don't spend huge sums on audiophile cables, just quality RF cables."

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

Blu MkII must be selling well. I am told orders in the UK are on 5-6 weeks delivery time.

 

[Crgreen]

So, any consensus on what BNC to BNC 75 ohm cables those of you fortunate enough to already have Blu2 are using? I know that TriodeUser has gone with inexpensive Canare cables. RW has yet to weigh in on specific brands and, God knows, he already has enough on his plate these days.

Although my Blu 2 has not yet arrived, I had a pair of Black Rhodium Allegro BNC terminated 75 Ohm digital interconnects delivered today:

http://www.blackrhodium.co.uk/digital-subwoofer.html

They have ferrites at either end, which might be useful in the light of Rob's comments about RFI.

Black Rhodium is probabaly a brand not well known outside the U.K. I've always rated their products highly, which are reasonably priced, and use their mains cables on all my kit, and have a new mains cable ready for the Blu 2. I also have a pair of their interconnects exiting the DAVE.

I'll report back in due course.

 

[Triode User]

Although my Blu 2 has not yet arrived, I had a pair of Black Rhodium Allegro BNC terminated 75 Ohm digital interconnects delivered today:
http://www.blackrhodium.co.uk/digital-subwoofer.html
They have ferrites at either end, which might be useful in the light of Rob's comments about RFI.
Black Rhodium is probabaly a brand not well known outside the U.K. I've always rated their products highly, which are reasonably priced, and use their mains cables on all my kit, and have a new mains cable ready for the Blu 2. I also have a pair of their interconnects exiting the DAVE.
I'll report back in due course.

Yes, interesting about the ferrites on these cables. Coincidentally I am going to visit Black Rhodium next week. I am looking forward to it.

I am also looking forward to hearing what you think of your Blu2 when it arrives.

Just for fun, why not try it with the mains cable it is supplied with? You might be surprised how little, if any difference it makes.
I would have thought Chord would always want their kit to sound it's best at shows and yet they seem to use standard kettle leads . . . . . .

 

[GreenLeo]

ferrites,work in this way, the more the ferrites or the stronger the ferrites, the better the sound?

 

[Crgreen]

Yes, interesting about the ferrites on these cables. Coincidentally I am going to visit Black Rhodium next week. I am looking forward to it.

I am also looking forward to hearing what you think of your Blu2 when it arrives.

Just for fun, why not try it with the mains cable it is supplied with? You might be surprised how little, if any difference it makes.
I would have thought Chord would always want their kit to sound it's best at shows and yet they seem to use standard kettle leads . . . . . .

I might do that. With the DAVE I did use the supplied mains lead for the first few months and it was fine. I then switched to a Black Rhodium mains lead and it did bring about an improvement, but it wasn't a night and day thing. The DAVE certainly doesn't need a fancy mains cable to sound superb. As a general rule, I'm happy to use a few tweaks but not prepared to pay silly money, though perhaps these things are relative. In any event, after paying for the Blu 2 my budget is limited, to put it mildly.

 

[Crgreen]

And since you're visiting Black Rhodium, just for fun, why not try one of their mains leads. You might be surprised at the difference it makes

 

[Triode User]

And since you're visiting Black Rhodium, just for fun, why not try one of their mains leads. You might be surprised at the difference it makes

Ah but my expectation bias is too heavily ingrained for me to properly evaluate it!!

 

[Crgreen]

So: will you be sampling any of their products, or are you just designing an extension to their existing premises?