For nearly 2 years I’ve been using amphenol RF bnc cables first between my hugo 2 and mscaler and since last September from the mscaler to my TT2. These cables were given the thumbs up on the blu 2 thread and cost £70. I was in two minds as to the improvements further expenditure on bnc cables could bring. That changed once I replaced the amphenol cables with the WAVE High Fidelity Stream Premium dual bnc cables.
I was given a no pressure home trial on these. I recall a large elegant wooden box and wondering what is this when they arrived. My inner gut reaction when the box was opened was a silent “wow”. These are not cables but actually resemble and are indeed a hifi component. The construction with ferrites and braiding, the connectors and overall impression is an item that must have taken meticulous attention to design.
Compared to the amphenol RF cables 4 main areas of improvement. The overall presentation of the music is more refined, more sophisticated, very natural as if previously something was slightly out of tune and finally instead of the music just engaging you now and with the right recording it grips you.
The WAVE cables in effect replace or emulate the output that you would get with a battery powered mscaler. The ferrites are designed to eliminate the troublesome “frequencies” and this has come about through extensive testing. With the WAVE bnc option there is no pseudo science but a carefully engineered product. I can also see how Nick’s architectural skills have filtered down into the construction of the cables. They are not that light but the overall construction including the rubber type moulding near the bnc connector result in a rock solid structure throughout. All of this from someone who was in two minds don’t forget. The end result is a step up and my efforts here are now paying off.
Finally as the WAVE cables refine everything to a higher level I feel it’s important to ask yourself what filter on tt2/hugo2 am I using with each album being played? Again the high frequency roll off in these filters also eliminate unwanted noise from the ADC. If I were listening to Norah Jones with a 44khz file I would choose filter 3 warm. The same album through a 96/192khz recording I would use filter 4 i.e. same as 3 but with a high frequency roll off to get rid of noise from the ADC found in high resolution recordings. Switching to electronica or classical I would most likely choose filter 1 incisive at red book cd resolution. The same classical album in a 96/192khz format I would choose filter 2 incisive with a HF roll off. Incisive equates to 256FS i.e. 256 times the sample rate for the most accurate timing and warm equates to 16FS less accurate giving the warm tonality. Of course this being a simplistic understanding and explanation. (The cables were propped up as seen below but later I learnt it’s best to just let them settle by themselves unaided).
All in all very happy with my latest acquisition. No further improvements scheduled.
