Hey, thanks Joachim. I've just gone ahead and ordered 20m. Do you happen to know where I can get the Huber + Suhner 50 Ohm BNC connectors? Also, will I need a special tool to fit the BNC connectors?

Mani.

I don't think the 'cheap' cable I bought is any better than the one Brian mentions (although it is a bit more expensive):

http://uk.farnell.com/radiall/r284c0351008/lead-rg58-bnc-m-m-5m/dp/1351884?Ntt=RADIALL+-+R284C0351008

I can't find the conductor material from the data sheet, but assume it's also just tinned wire. But the cables (2x 5m in series) sound very, very good.

I'll be able to try the H+S cables in my office system when they come, hopefully next week. This'll give me an idea of how important the quality of the conductors themselves is.

Mani.

Yesterday evening I replaced the 10m XLR cables in my main system with the 50 Ohm BNC cables and adapters. (I'm actually using 2x 5m lengths and a central 50 Ohm BNC connector per channel to make up 10m, as I couldn't find any 10m BNC cables off the shelf.)

The sound has been totally transformed for the better. The realism is now truly amazing.

But this is in no way a criticism of the 10m XLR cables I bought from Juan. These were designed with a balanced connection in mind. It was only once the Orelos were here that we realised a truly balanced connection was not possible. Running these cables singled-ended over a 10m length is just not what they were intended for.

The 50 Ohm coaxial cables and adapters, however, seem to be totally unfazed by the 10m length. It's really as if they're simply not there.

I agree with Joachim that a few things need to be readjusted after installing these cables. The bass is now tight, tuneful and utterly realistic, but tends to take the 'back stage' more than before. I'm going to explore some of the DSP options with the Orelos to just bring that gorgeous bass forward a little.

Mani.

Hey Peter, I wanted to give this a go today but the images are not downloading. I'll try again later in case it's just a temporary server problem.

Just wanted to let you know...

Mani.

Hi Coen, here's what I'm using:

RG58 BNC M/M, 5M (Farnell part no. 1351884)

I had already ordered these adapters from Mouser earlier in the week:

Emerson 27-8110 BNC Female to RCA Male adapters (Mouser part no. 601-27-8110)

But Farnell do similar adapters.

HTH.

Mani.

As I mentioned before, I've bought a nice pair of Huber + Suhner cables for peanuts (compared to the retail price) on eBay and am waiting for them to get here from the US. If I love the way they sound, I am either going to have to: 1) bring the NOS1a up from my basement into the main room or; 2) have some new H+S cables custom-built for me (for $$$), as the cables I bought are only 3.4m in length and I need 10m. I'd really rather not do either of these things if I can avoid them.

On Peter's suggestion, I ordered some long (and cheap!) 50 Ohm cables and connectors from Farnell yesterday and they arrived about 30 minutes ago.

And oh là là...

Interestingly, it's kind of hard to describe the way they sound, in much the same way that the NOS1a's sound is hard to describe. The cables just sound 'right'... as if there's no cable there at all.

For the last few weeks I've had a pair of very expensive Tellurium Black Diamond cables on loan from a dealer (although I haven't really been around much to listen to them). But having compared the two just now, I'm so sorry to have to say that these 50 Ohm cables are MUCH better... even though they're much longer and of course much cheaper. The Telluriums are going back to the dealer today, and I've saved myself quite a lot of money. Hey Joachim, thanks for the tip man!

I can't help thinking that what we're (everyone, spearheaded by Peter) doing here is amazing. Anyone in their right mind looking for a truly state of the art system would use the knowledge on this forum to put together a nice PC (or get one built for them), install XX, buy a NOS1a, buy a nice pair of active speakers from Bert/Peter... and connect everything together using these 50 Ohm cables. I'm absolutely certain that $-for-$ it'd trounce anything else out there.

Mani.



 

Thanks Joachim.

So Coen, were you calculating with 1nF/m? This comes to -3dB at ~830KHz. Putting 95pF/m comes to -3dB at 8.8MHz.

???

Mani.

Thanks Coen.

Cheers, Mani.

Thanks Coen.

The 50 Ohm Huber + Suhner cables (the ones I've just ordered and the ones that Joachim is using) are around 95pF/m. So a 10m run would still be under 1nF. Is there a straightforward way of calculating how this would affect audio frequencies?

EDIT: According to the Huber + Suhner data sheet (the one Joachim linked earlier), at 6GHz, these cables attenuate at 1.5dB/m. From the graphs, it's hard to get a meaningful figure for the Mhz range, let alone the KHz range... but it's obviously going to be very low.

Mani.

Congratulations! But having gone through all of this myself, I have to say I don't envy you.

Enjoy setting up!

Mani.

Hey Peter, so there's a distinct possibility that I'll be able to use 10m cables no problem? That would really be great.

Will you now be offering the NOS1a with an option of 50 Ohm BNC output connectors... and the Orelos with an option of 50 Ohm BNC input connectors? Or does the use of 50 Ohm BNC-to-RCA adapters negate this?

Mani.

I had a German friend at University who was adamant that 'The Life of Brian' was funnier dubbed ("synchronized") into German than it was in its original English. I cry with laughter whenever I watch this film in English, so it's probably just as well that I can't speak, and therefore can't watch it in, German.

Mani.

Huh? What makes your blood boil? The suggestion to use a 50 Ohm coaxial cable with BNC/RCA adapters, or the fact that Joachim made the suggestion on a Sunday? The former I have no opinion about (until my cables arrive), but the latter makes no sense - surely the internet is open on a Sunday.

What am I missing? Some sort of Dutch joke that only our German friends would understand? Nah, can't be.

Mani.

Thanks Joachim. Well, I can't find this exact cable anywhere. But what I did find was a pair of 3.4m Huber + Suhner 50 Ohm BNC cables and some 50 Ohm BNC-RCA adaptors. I've ordered all this for about €200 - so not a lot of money to at least give them a go. If I like the result, I'll look into getting a nice pair of 10m cables so I can hopefully keep the NOS1 in my basement.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Cheers, Mani.

Hi Joachim, I'm very interested in this. Please share the details when you have some time.

Mani.