 Stereovox HDXV Digital Interconnect
There's no subject that raises the temperature of an
audio discussion like the whole cable thang. Otherwise reasonable folks are reduced to
slathering zealots by the topic.
I'd love to dodge the whole issue, but there's this tiny
little problem: No matter how unpopular the statement might be, those suckers really do
make a difference.
And, in the case of digital cables at least, there are
basic engineering principles at work that even the audio flat-earthers will acknowledge.
There are even digital cables out there that marry those principles to price points that
are relatively painless -- and for the next two weeks (until January 1, 2004), one of 'em
will be an even better deal.
Who could possibly object to that?
Proper words in proper places, make the true definition
of a style
Stereovox is Chris Sommovigo and Antonio de Almeida. Chris
is probably best known for creating the Illuminati D-60 back in the '90s, the first truly
high-quality digital cable readily available. What made it so good? It was a true 75-ohm
cable, employing 75-ohm connectors, which minimized reflections between conductor and
connection.
In 2000, Chris launched Stereovox with an impressive (and
very pricey) interconnect, the SEI-600, which was a true cost-no-object design
incorporating Chris's own Xhadow Millenio RCA connectors. Xhadow Millenios are
ridiculously overbuilt RCAs that just happen to sound and perform like no other connectors
I know of.
Chris wanted to get back to his digital-cable roots, but
his Illuminati experiences, reinforced by his design of the Millenio, had convinced him
that as good as a cable design is, it lives or dies at its interface with the product: its
connector. So he was committed to the fact that his digital cable must wait upon the right
connector.
He found it in a true 4GHz 75-ohm BNC connector, the only
one of its kind. It had been designed for use in HDTV applications, but Chris recognized
that it would serve perfectly for any digital signal transfer. He set about designing a
cable to mate to it, preferably one that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
The HDXV is the result of that design odyssey. Its BNC
connectors are mated to interseries adaptors that allow users to connect their HDXVs to
either BNC or RCA S/PDIF connections. (Of course, you could also use the HDXV as a video
interconnect using the BNCs.)
The HDXV employs silver-plated copper conductors,
low-capacitance dielectric, and a woven shield. The cable is manufactured by a military
contractor -- "and those guys are used to getting paid really well," Chris
confided -- and assembled to length (and the connectors added) in-house at Stereovox.
So how did Stereovox manage to price the cable at $100 USD
for a one-meter length?
"We simply decided to order it in quantities that made
that number work. If we're wrong about the demand for a reasonably priced high-definition
digital cable, we're going to be hurting."
A high-def digital cable for $100?
"Well, $75 until January."
A definition is the enclosing of a wilderness of idea
within a wall of words
So how much better is the HDXV than just any old cable?
Well that all depends on what your definition of is
is, as the ex-President said.
Any old cable will connect two digital components and
produce sound. Digital is just ones and zeroes they say. But does that sound improve when
you pay attention to stuff like impedance and capacitance matching?
Yes, even with digital.
You get more. More detail, more space around the
instruments, more space (at least the sound of it), and more of the signifiers that
tell you that you're listening to a specific musician playing a specific instrument in a
specific room.
I suspect this means there's more information making its
way through the pipeline -- or, put slightly differently, there might be less other
stuff.
Chris likens the digital signal to a ball rolling down a
washboard. Wavelength plays a part, so larger waveforms (let's call them basketball-sized)
are not as affected by the ripples in the washboard's surface as smaller waveforms (let's
call them marble-sized) would be. The reflections caused by impedance mismatch are
the "chatter" caused by the ball's interaction with the washboard's surface.
Since this metaphor uses an analog example to describe a digital phenomenon, the
translation isn't perfect, but you get the idea.
The DAC, of course, has no way of knowing what's signal and
what's garbage, so it tries to process everything. That means your nice, pristine ones and
zeroes have to fight their way through a bunch of shadowy reflections and fragments of
themselves -- in other words, signal gets submerged in "noise" (information
theory-speak for everything that is not "signal") and you just don't hear all
you should be hearing.
I would far rather feel remorse than know how to define
it
I used HDXV between an Audio Research CD3 CD player and a
Perpetual Technologies P-3A DAC fed by a Monolithic Sound P3 power supply. For comparison,
I used an old standby digital cable, an AudioQuest Digital One.
On Jerome Harris' Rendezvous [Stereophile 1013-2],
the differences were clearly audible. The Stereovox sounded fuller, more present, and
punchier. Jerome Harris' acoustic bass guitar became the backbone of the group's sound.
Through the AudioQuest, Harris was merely another player.
That's a fundamental musical change, not simply a
minor sonic difference.
On Camerata Iberia's Songs and Dances from the Spanish
Renaissance [MARecordings M035A], the sound of the vihuelas and that of the viola da
gamba were cleaner and crisper through the Stereovox, but the most remarkable change was
in the evocation of the reverberations of the tambour in the recording venue. Through the
Stereovox, you could hear it go on and on and on, until it seemed as though you were
hearing the dust bouncing off the stone floors of the Collegiata de Zenarruza. Talk about
hearing below the noise floor!
To define true madness
What is’t but to be nothing else but mad?
The Stereovox HDXV is my new reference digital cable. It's
as well constructed as any I've ever experienced and it's a stone bargain, especially for
the next two weeks. Don't let this one slip by -- it's almost too good to be true.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
Stereovox HDXV Digital
Interconnect
Price: $100 USD for a one-meter length ($75 until January 1, 2004).
Warranty: Lifetime (limited).
Stereovox
2710 Natoma Street
Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: (305) 858-7777
E-mail: info@stereovox.com
Website: www.stereovox.com
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