Quietly but firmly the nice people at The Chord Company continue to improve each and every detail defining cable performance. Recent developments focused on digital interconnects.
Last year the RCA/BNC/mini-jack digital cables in Clearway, Shawline & Epic ranges have seen upgrade to Tuned ARAY conductor topology, which boosts sound quality, measured performance and impedance stability. Currently solid core conductors replaced the multistrand ones after the company’s research proved them to reduce internal interference, lower resistance and provide greater durability.
SPDIF electrical interface is widely used in hi-fi for many years. Cable characteristic impedance ideally should match connector impedance and both should be exact 75 Ohms otherwise detrimental reflections may cause timing distortions. The actual effect of cable impedance deviations in domestic digital audio is a topic for heated discussion both amidst the engineers and consumers but every little thing counts when one pursues high quality sound. Apart from characteristic impedance many other aspects of digital cable design directly influence downstream DAC performance, one big offender being phase jitter which interferes with clock signal recovery. The combination of Tuned ARAY topology, solid core and precise assembly makes Chord Company digital cables perform better than competition.
New versions of Clearway, Shawline & Epic digital Tuned ARAY solid core cables are already being assembled by hand at the Chord Company factory in Wiltshire, UK.
They come equipped with RCA, BNC or mini-jack connectors for 75-ohm SPDIF interface (most commonly used) and for Epic range also as XLR for professional AES/EBU digital which is 110 Ohm.
Written by Sergei Taranov
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