commsysman
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CARY AUDIO CD/SACD PLAYER CD 306
mrlowry
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Hey, I'm using the exact same DAC! What digital cable are you using with it? At that price I'd consider the Ayre C5 universal player as well which plays CD, SACD, and DVD-A. I have listened to that back to back against a dCS P8i at over twice the price. On SACD those units are neck and neck. On CD the dCS does edge it out ever so slightly but it should at more than TWICE the price. That is a big compliment to the Ayre indeed. I'm not saying that it's better than the Cary, because I haven't heard the Cary but just something you might want to add to your list of contenders. If you listen to the Ayre let me know what you think.

commsysman
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Thanks for the input.

I tried a BUNCH of different digital cables, including some I made myself from some exotic RF cable stock, and a lot of them sounded absolutely horrible! The one I have now, which works very very well, is the MIT Terminator 3. I certainly have not tried them all...there are a lot out there. The sound with this cable is quite excellent.

Jeff Wong
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Years ago, I used to use the MIT Terminator 3 75 ohm cable in my audio system. I found the sound grainy and ended up switching to the inexpensive, smoother sounding Apogee Wyde Eye, and later, the far more refined Illuminati D-60. I ended up using the MIT as a video cable to my TV set, where it still resides.

Yiangos
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I am using a 306.It replaced a Theta Jade/Audio Synthesis DAX decade.There is no comparison.The cary is in another leaque.Robert harley is right in everythis he says in his review.

commsysman
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The digital cable that works in one application may be terrible in a different one. Each piece of equipment SHOULD be a 75 ohm termination or source, but alas, it is not so.

The Illuminati is no doubt perfect for the two pieces of equipment you are using, and may be a gross mismatch for two other pieces, with poor sound the result. The MIT seems to be a good match between my SONY and Theta Pro Basic; there is certainly no graininess or degradation.

The real issue seems to be digital signal reflection at the termination due to impedance mismatch. I have used a spectrum analyzer and various measurement schemes to test various cables and terminations, but the measurements, while revealing, are difficult to transfer to a specific system application.

Experimentation with your precise combination of components until you get the cable that works is really all you can do. It is a mistake, however, to take the results you hear in your system and generalize about this cable or that one being "BETTER" than some other one. The results in YOUR system may be totally diffent than what will be realized when different components are involved, because of the different terminating characteristics of different D/A converters.

Jeff Wong
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It's quite possible the graininess was due to a mismatch of impedance -- the Apogee and Illuminati were both terimated with 75 ohm BNC connections, but, the MIT was RCA.

commsysman
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Connectors are another issue you must be careful about; 99% of BNC connectors are 52 ohms. There IS a 75 ohm BNC connector; such an animal DOES exist, but it is larger and more expensive, so manufacturers do not always take the trouble to source the right one. The best one is actually the SMC connector, but that is another story; I used those for some cables I made, and they worked well. RCA connectors actually vary in impedance, since there are NO precise dimensional standards for them.
If the manufacurers would use true 75 ohm connectors, either 75 ohm SMC, or 75 ohm BNC, at both ends, that would certainly be helpful...a good step in the right direction.

Jeff Wong
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Any of my S/PDIF cables with BNC are terminated with true 75 ohm connectors with the thin inner walls (as compared to the "50" (52?) ohm versions. Do you have a pic of SMC connectors?

Editor
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Quote:
Has anyone out there had a chance to audition the new CARY?

We've had a unit in for review and all the auditioning and measuring is done. However, the review is on hold because Cary is having to redesign the player due to an important component no longer being available. Dennis Had tells me that there is almost no stock left of the current player and production is supposed to resume at the end of the year.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Amfibius
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John, I am hoping that Stereophile will let us know if there is a difference in sound between the older and the newer player. I am interested because I own a CD-306.

commsysman
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The best source I know of for a wide variety of connectors and their specifications is Pasternack Enterprises in southern California; one part number is PE4169, which is a chassis-mount 75 ohm SMC. This is a smaller connector than a BNC and is designed for use at frequencies up to several gigahertz.

commsysman
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Thank you VERY much for that information, John. I will look forward to the review!

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