Black Cat Silverstar 75 Digital BNC Cable

Nina, I don't know the Black Cat cable, but the Naim DAC was designed with the Naim DC1, so that would probably be my top recommendation.  For all that you can get some decent Canare 75ohm BNC digital leads these days for beer money and in my experience the performance is as good or better than many expensive alternatives..

Richard Dane posted:

 For all that you can get some decent Canare 75ohm BNC digital leads these days for beer money and in my experience the performance is as good or better than many expensive alternatives..

+1. 

In the U K it is retailed  at £450, which is more expensive than the Naim dc1 at £315. I also have the Canare BNC cable sounds very good, cost about £20.

I have a friend who purchased the version of black cat digital cable before this current version. He used it between to his Rega DAC feeding an original Naim Nait. 

The system sounded amazing to me. 

Here in the US the Black Cat is less than half the price of the DC1 ($550). So I'd go Black Cat. 

I can purchase the Black Cat new in the UK for £245

Why not just get the DC1, designed to work with your equipment?

You could go to Mark Grant and save yourself £215 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Why not just get the DC1, designed to work with your equipment?

Or that...

Richard Dane posted:

Nina, I don't know the Black Cat cable, but the Naim DAC was designed with the Naim DC1, so that would probably be my top recommendation.  For all that you can get some decent Canare 75ohm BNC digital leads these days for beer money and in my experience the performance is as good or better than many expensive alternatives..

I used a Canare 75ohm BNC in place of the DC1 and it was brilliant. Around £25 from a well known auction site I recall.

G

Hi Nina,

I used that cable during my home demo of the nDAC, simply because it was the one I had here. The demo went well enough to by the DAC, but I never compared  different S/PDIF cables. So no help here.

GraemeH posted:

I used a Canare 75ohm BNC in place of the DC1 and it was brilliant. Around £25 from a well known auction site I recall.

G

Was it this one Graeme?

Moderated Post:  Nina, please refrain from posting links to sales/auction sites.  Thanks.

Nina posted:

GraemeH posted:

I used a Canare 75ohm BNC in place of the DC1 and it was brilliant. Around £25 from a well known auction site I recall.

G

Was it this one Graeme? 

 

That’s the one.

G

I've just ordered 1m of the Canare 75ohm BNC cable

At the price it's definitely worth a try and I like the idea of using the locking BNC's both ends

Graeme are you using the Canare as a replacement for the DC1?  amazing if so..   

I was...until I went 272/250DR without regret.

G

I have a dc1 on loan to compare to the canare, will give it a week or do and post a few thoughts

Gazza posted:

I have a dc1 on loan to compare to the canare, will give it a week or do and post a few thoughts

Gazza I'd love to know your thoughts on DC1 vs Canare when you have given it some time  

Well I started this morning and listened for 30minutes and then put the DC1 on, did not notice much difference. In putting the cable on I knocked my ethernet switch off the hifi stand. So after an hour of listening, I decided to put the ethernet switch back in place, all the music stopped. Fumbled around and realised the Dc1 had become disconnected. I had not locked the BNC connector in place properly. So I need to do the A to B comparison again. But I feel it sounds better now it’s properly connected, but I could be mistaken.

Does anyone on the forum know if I should expect any burn in improvement as this is a new cable on loan?

Sorry about your kerfuffle Gazza 

Will post tomorrow Nina

Well here goes, I played some Goldfrapp, Leonard Cohen, Agnes Obel. I went back and forth between the Canare and DC1 a few times. The DC1 is better, with a clearer, better defined edge to notes, and a more forward soundstage. Is it 10 times better than the Canare, like the price is, no.......But I will be keeping this cable.

i also then compared streaming from the Core by Upnp to my Nova, it was again better, in much the same way as described above. My dealer lent me this cable, and I guess I could have borrowed others. So Nina, if you can borrow that would be what I would do, if not I don,t think you would be disappointed with the Naim DC1. The saving grace is the Canare cost so little, I can write off the cost without much of a worry.

Gazza posted:

Well here goes, I played some Goldfrapp, Leonard Cohen, Agnes Obel. I went back and forth between the Canare and DC1 a few times. The DC1 is better, with a clearer, better defined edge to notes, and a more forward soundstage. Is it 10 times better than the Canare, like the price is, no.......But I will be keeping this cable.

i also then compared streaming from the Core by Upnp to my Nova, it was again better, in much the same way as described above. My dealer lent me this cable, and I guess I could have borrowed others. So Nina, if you can borrow that would be what I would do, if not I don,t think you would be disappointed with the Naim DC1. The saving grace is the Canare cost so little, I can write off the cost without much of a worry.

That's good to know Gazza

I just received my Canare so will try it out tonight and see but would consider the DC1 in the near future

Go for the Canare L-4.5CHD or Belden 1694a cables. Terminated with Belden or Canare BNC connectors. These are excellent cables which won’t go wrong either ways.

Nina, enjoy, it’s a game of diminishing returns........every time you open the more expensive box(cable) it’s better, but does not necessarily reflect the extra cost. It’s a personal judgement. But music is the “king” for me.

Thanks Gazza.... however I still have the urge to try the Black Cat...  

OK, when you do let us all know........always something to learn. I was invited by someone from the Audio east show and listened to their system. It was a Rega RP8, LFD integrated amp ( built or designed in Clacton, Essex) and Shahinian Arc speakers with max Townsend cables. The speakers I thought were Neat  Iota,s, but are probably even smaller. What a lovely system, very musical, very sweet, and the system disappeared to let the music flow.

Best to keep an open mind. Enjoy your weekend and listening

Gazza