Do USB cables make a difference?

gudnoyez
gudnoyez Posts: 8,124
edited March 2018 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
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Ok don't want to start a big controversy but do they? A simple yes or no will do. I'm sure some of you have spent more than what these Wireworld Starlight 7's cost, but I'm going to find out if these are any better than the Audioquest Forest ones I own along with some other ones, only have been listening a couple hours with the Starlights and I'm noticing a difference, I'm hoping it's not the placebo effect, but so far the 1's and 0's are sounding better coming out of these red cables, after a couple of hours of tunes and beers.
Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
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Comments

  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    No experience here, but too many others whose opinion I generally trust feel they do.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,563
    People around me say yes

    I’ve never tried
    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,645
    What's a USB cable?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,554
    The blue and green ones sound better.
    Red not so good.....








    Haha
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,124
    edited March 2018
    DSkip wrote: »
    It's not about the data - its about the noise that travels through the system. A digital cable is still an analog cable. How the DATA is transmitted doesn't matter as much as how the NOISE is transmitted.

    I thought the Platinum Starlight was such a great investment (one of the best my system has seen) that I now own three of them.

    I bought these cause you did not sell me yours Skip. :#

    quote="Joey_V;c-2389479"]People around me say yes

    I’ve never tried[/quote]

    Ha I bet when you do try Joey they will cost 3 times what these Starlights set me back want to hear a report when you do.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,981
    I would imagine they do.....if other digital and analog cables do.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,296
    I have yet to try a USB cable that made me take a step back and wow me...
    Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎

    SVS SB16 X2

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    Jolida JD9 Fully Modified

    VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM

    MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s
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  • GlennDog
    GlennDog Posts: 3,120
    edited March 2018
    DSkip wrote: »
    It's not about the data - its about the noise that travels through the system. A digital cable is still an analog cable. How the DATA is transmitted doesn't matter as much as how the NOISE is transmitted.

    I thought the Platinum Starlight was such a great investment (one of the best my system has seen) that I now own three of them.

    I'll let ya know later this week . . . I'm expecting a WW cable . . . very soon
    Tho, it will need running-in
    AC Regenerator PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 10
    Source Lumin U1 Mini into Lampizator Baltic 4 DAC
    Pre Cary SLP-05
    Power Rogue M180 Dark monos
    Mains Salk HT2-TL
    Rythmik F12
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  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    http://passionforsound.lachlanfennen.com/massive-usb-comparison-test/
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
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  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    Not to flame, but wouldn't an optical be better? Hard to transmit EMI noise through photons...
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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,563
    FestYboy wrote: »
    Not to flame, but wouldn't an optical be better? Hard to transmit EMI noise through photons...

    I think part of it is the optical has no ground.
    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    I have found zero difference in USB cables.
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  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    I have five or six usb devices so have tried several cables. Upgrading from basic definitely improved my den and study sound, beginning with the Wireworld UV, WW Starlight Red, AQ Carbon, and WW Starlight Silver. The first two added an organic and more 3-dimensional quality. The Carbon is well thought of, but just didn't do anything special for me. Beyond those above, I have found (varying degrees of) improvement in detail retrieval and frequency response and sometimes a
    slight frequency emphasis.

    These vary quite a bit in price, but ones I like most are: Lush, WW Starlight Platinum 7, Curious Cable, and DH Labs Mirage.

    I would encourage folks to pick one within budget and give it a try to see firsthand.
    b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
    Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
    Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
    Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
    Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
    Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
    Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet
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  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    What would you rather have a $2200 dac and a $100 cable or a $1600 dac and a $700 cable?

    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    I don’t know how pricey usb cables are but. If it were a $30 cable vs same price dac, I would take the cable.

    If it were a $2000 or $20,000 dac v cable. I would take the DAC. I have heard DAC’s that make a world of difference. USB cables? None to date. Not hating as I do know cables in other areas make a difference.

    Cheers
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  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    My favorite of the ones I mentioned is $250 new. Very much worth that to me personally. Dunno re the zero-sum hypothetical. I always seem able to rationalize whenever necessary, hehe. So probably the $2000 dac and then HAVE to get a good cable. To me, "It all matters" includes usb cables.
    b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
    Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
    Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
    Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
    Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
    Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
    Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,124
    Well running this Starlight since yesterday zero dropouts, or digital clicks or pops, using a run of the mill USB cable or a amazon one I would experience those issues on occasion, so I guess spending a little bit of money on a good cable is worth it. I was considering a Audioquest Jitterbug, or a IFI Silencer, no longer needed running this Starlight 7.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
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  • ALL212
    ALL212 Posts: 1,577
    edited March 2018
    Joey_V wrote: »
    FestYboy wrote: »
    Not to flame, but wouldn't an optical be better? Hard to transmit EMI noise through photons...

    I think part of it is the optical has no ground.

    USB doesn't offer an optical flavor that I know of. The digital output of something would but this isn't it.

    IMO... a digital output in optical, in theory, should be better (ground has no bearing on that). But you've now introduced two transceivers, one on each end. So electrical impulse to light - across the fiber - back to electrical impulse. If the transceivers putting light on the fiber and then taking it back to electrical suck or are bad or are dirty or the fiber has fractured or... It's just one more thing in the signal path and you have no control of that at all. If you're going to run that signal 1000 feet strapped to a 440vac 3 phase I'm all in. I've been through optical and prefer, by a long shot, the copper lines.

    Soapbox put back under the desk.
    Aaron
    Enabler Extraordinaire
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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,563
    edited March 2018
    Atkinson and McGowan discussed noise as a principal issue with optical and they linked it to lack of ground, beyond that i have no personal experimentation that would lead me to believe its inferiority or superiority.
    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    Who cares about theory or on paper. Try it out and experience it. Theory or on paper should not command you like a master. Or does it?

    Not me.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Well, my parents used to ask me if I was going to stick my hand in the fire to see if it is hot. FYI, it is. :)
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    Haha. I will be doing lots of traveling soon. Bud, you happen to be one of my cities. Would love to have some drinks! And touch them Magicos. Haha

    Cheers.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Sure. PM me when you have a date. Didn’t you grab my free LSi15s, LSiC, and Oppo in 2016?

    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,563
    halen wrote: »
    Who cares about theory or on paper. Try it out and experience it. Theory or on paper should not command you like a master. Or does it?

    Not me.

    Agreed.

    I have learned that theory in this hobby doesnt exactly translate to results.

    As I said, I have not tried to compare with reasonable sweat equity various digital cables against each other to make a personal assessment. I can only repeat what others have said with regards to certain digital interconnects, etc.

    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Sure. PM me when you have a date. Didn’t you grab my free LSi15s, LSiC, and Oppo in 2016?

    Yep. Paid almost $1000 to have them shipped to me. And then I gave them all away.. All of them.

    It was a awesome karma you did. I passed it all along on my dime after.
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  • halen
    halen Posts: 715
    Joey_V wrote: »
    halen wrote: »
    Who cares about theory or on paper. Try it out and experience it. Theory or on paper should not command you like a master. Or does it?

    Not me.

    Agreed.

    I have learned that theory in this hobby doesnt exactly translate to results.

    As I said, I have not tried to compare with reasonable sweat equity various digital cables against each other to make a personal assessment. I can only repeat what others have said with regards to certain digital interconnects, etc.

    My response was not towards you but my experience with USB topic, in general. Much respect to you from me.

    Cheers

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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    halen wrote: »
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Sure. PM me when you have a date. Didn’t you grab my free LSi15s, LSiC, and Oppo in 2016?

    Yep. Paid almost $1000 to have them shipped to me. And then I gave them all away.. All of them.

    Great. I hope the new owner enjoys them. I know I did.

    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter