Which BNC 50-ohm cable for NHB-108 and NHB-18NS interconnection

[Rob77]

Agreed. As for cable performance I think Herve's own 10mm Zeel is a good choice. Whenever a plug comes into play things may be compromised. With that said Jacob (Absolute Sounds) was using an adapter, and a quick email with Herve also confirmed the need for an adapter to be used (and he did not mention any potential compromise in performance).

The official Zeel cables appear to be H&S and we searched high and low to see if H&S made a BNC/RCA adapter. We were unable to find one - actually there do not seem to be many of any brand on the market.

Ultimately we found these at a whopping $2.24 cost :

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AIM-Cambridge-Cinch-Connectivity-Solutions/27-8110?qs=dEO1gfb2FsoQhhrXS%2FAHfA%3D%3D

When I read the review on Absolute Sound, I wondered how was he able to connect the Vivaldi (which I own as well) to the DartZeel, I didn' t know adapters of that kind existed.
Following the same approach I had with the pre to amp connection, I am considering making a cable (H&S) and terminate it BNC on one side, RCA on the other, instead of using adapters.

 

[buzzlulu]

Eliminating an adapter can only improve upon things. Unfortunately cable building is beyond my pay grade. Interested in making a second pair as well

The Mouser link in your previous post was to the Italian Mouser website. Are you in Italy by any chance?

 

[Rob77]

Eliminating an adapter can only improve upon things. Unfortunately cable building is beyond my pay grade. Interested in making a second pair as well

The Mouser link in your previous post was to the Italian Mouser website. Are you in Italy by any chance?

Yes, I am in Italy.

 

[buzzlulu]

PM sent

 

[gpu123]

I recently upgraded to the NHB-468 and this thread made me really curious about the Dart to Zeel connection, which I did not consider before, when I owned the NHB-108.
I decided to try building a 50 ohm cable following the indications in this thread.
I used this: SPUMA_400-RS-FR HUBER+SUHNER | Mouser
Connectors are these: https://www.aeco.tw/products/abc-1451?_pos=1&_fid=eb91cf6af&_ss=c

I finished the cable last week and it has been running since then (I am still breaking in the NHB-468).
The conductor is very thick and not easy to fit properly inside the BNC connector. Cable length is 8mt, since I keep my NHB-18NS on the side wall.
As soon as I plugged them in I couldn' t believe the improvement over my Elrod Power systems Statement Gold XLR. Noise level is considerably lower , image is more defined and I heard plenty of subtle nuances I did not know they existed.
I have definitely realised that it is true when they say DartZeel machines are designed to work best with this connection.

A very nice experiment that worked out quite well, and for that I thank you all for the info provided. I will try to demo the original Dart to Zeel cables and compare them. I will report the results.

Rob,

I have some experience building BNC cables primarily because the DZ cables have been good but not great.

It looks like you have found a really good audio quality BNC connector that is worth experimenting with. I have been waiting for Furutech to do a 50 Ohm BNC connector using their NCF product similar to what they have for 75 Ohm digital cables but in my correspondence with them they have no plans to do a 50 Ohm connector. I was not familiar with the Aeco connector but this looks like an excellent connector that may be worth a try. It looks like you searched high and wide to find it.

My findings to date are as follows.
Larger diameter center core conductors are better than smaller conductors which means that larger diameter cables have been better than small cables since the dielectric is affected by the size of the center core conductor.
There is less signal loss so they sound better.

Foam dielectrics are the best since they have the lowest dielectric coefficient and slow propagation speeds the least. However, they can be difficult to work with in tight spaces because they are not very flexible. Having said that, if you can bend them to shape and keep them there they are fine. It's when your are continually bending them or bending them too aggressively that you will damage the dielectric.

A good Cu braided center conductor with Ag coating has been the best center conductor tried to date. This center conductor is also desirable for those who have limited space because they bend very easily but it means you are probably not going to be able to use a foam dielectric.

Geri

 

[buzzlulu]

What material is the conductor of the DarTZeel H&S cable made from - all copper? silver coated copper? I am using the newest 10mm Zeel cable?

 

[gpu123]

What material is the conductor of the DarTZeel H&S cable made from - all copper? silver coated copper? I am using the newest 10mm Zeel cable?

 

[gpu123]

I'm fairly certain it is a Huber & Suhner Spuma 400 RS-FR which has a 2.74 mm braided copper center conductor with a foam dielectric. That would be a very rigid cable with little flex or twist.

 

[Rob77]

I'm fairly certain it is a Huber & Suhner Spuma 400 RS-FR which has a 2.74 mm braided copper center conductor with a foam dielectric. That would be a very rigid cable with little flex or twist.

Correct. 2.74mm copper conductor with foam dielectric. It is fairly rigid.

 

[Rob77]

Rob,

I have some experience building BNC cables primarily because the DZ cables have been good but not great.

It looks like you have found a really good audio quality BNC connector that is worth experimenting with. I have been waiting for Furutech to do a 50 Ohm BNC connector using their NCF product similar to what they have for 75 Ohm digital cables but in my correspondence with them they have no plans to do a 50 Ohm connector. I was not familiar with the Aeco connector but this looks like an excellent connector that may be worth a try. It looks like you searched high and wide to find it.

My findings to date are as follows.
Larger diameter center core conductors are better than smaller conductors which means that larger diameter cables have been better than small cables since the dielectric is affected by the size of the center core conductor.
There is less signal loss so they sound better.

Foam dielectrics are the best since they have the lowest dielectric coefficient and slow propagation speeds the least. However, they can be difficult to work with in tight spaces because they are not very flexible. Having said that, if you can bend them to shape and keep them there they are fine. It's when your are continually bending them or bending them too aggressively that you will damage the dielectric.

A good Cu braided center conductor with Ag coating has been the best center conductor tried to date. This center conductor is also desirable for those who have limited space because they bend very easily but it means you are probably not going to be able to use a foam dielectric.

Geri

Hi Geri, I can confirm the Aeco connector is very well made, and the only one I could find (apart form the cheap "industrial" ones you can commonly find). I have used the 10mm H+S cable, which has a 2.74mm copper conductor. It is very difficult to work with it and requires some adaptation to be able to use those connectors. I also made a cable to connect the Vivaldi dam to the DartZeel preamp, Furutech RCA on the day side and Aeco BNC on the preamp side. Works wonderfully.

Roberto

 

[gpu123]

Hi Geri, I can confirm the Aeco connector is very well made, and the only one I could find (apart form the cheap "industrial" ones you can commonly find). I have used the 10mm H+S cable, which has a 2.74mm copper conductor. It is very difficult to work with it and requires some adaptation to be able to use those connectors. I also made a cable to connect the Vivaldi dam to the DartZeel preamp, Furutech RCA on the day side and Aeco BNC on the preamp side. Works wonderfully.

Roberto

Interesting, I had not considered mixing connectors