I´ve been listening through LV77 on and of for some years now. My impression of the cable used as SPDIF IC is, that it at its price probably do not have many oponents of its class. I do also own Belden 1694A, 1695A and 1505F all terminated with the Canare 75 Ohm RCA plugs, where the 1694A in my opinion is the best of the Beldens. Compared to Belden 1694A the Canare is a bit brighter sounding and a bit more liquid all over. The Belden seems to be a somewhat more brutal in its performance, leaving the Canare somewhat more freindly. Mostly this appears as if the Belden is a bit overfocused for my taste, it enhances in a way the dynamic contrast and transient response, where Canare seems to be cleaner on the edges.
Still I find the very low end somewhat problematic in my system on both Canare 77 and Belden 1694, which made me wonder about the Canare 75 Ohm plugs.
There is no doubt that the Canare LV77 and the RCA crimpplug are designed for each other to form a nearly perfect 75 Ohm transmissionline with outstanding HF performance, but this type of design normally ends at both the DAC and the Drives. Both RCA receptecales and the internal PCB, the groundplane a.s.o. are not 75 Ohm transmissionlines. Furthermore are most SPDIF outputs transformercoupled for isolation, and also ceramic caps are present for filter reasons. I did not yet try to reterminate my LV77´s but I think I´ll give it a try sometime, because I really do regard this cable as a very fine SPDIF IC.
By now I find my Van den Huls as a better choice as SPDIF IC´s, the digicoupler is a fantastic IC for this purpose, its shielding is simply incredible, an d there is no cable woodoo or snake oil added. This is of course a somewhat more pricy IC, but it still is really high value. I think som 20-30$ pr. m. without RCA plugs.
But I am still wondering if my reservations regarding both Canare and Belden has its origin in the crimp plugs. The more dramatic sound of The 1694A I think origins from its tinned copper cores, I listened to other TC IC´s and to me it seems, that this is an intrinsic part of TC´s soundperformance.
The Canare is bare copper, and to me it seems more promising, the plugs in contrary is made of nickelplated brass, with a centerconductor made of phosphorbronze, the outer ring is made of beryllium copper, and furthermore there are more connections between different materials in this plug than normal RCA´s.
I thinkI´d prefer some mostly copper RCA´s with solder on centerconductor and maybe crimp for the outerconnector as i.e. Tiffany style plugs. The number of connections between different materials is then lowered to one pr. conductor, and there is no nickel present and one more thing is, that a Canare plug not really forms a tight contact with the receptacles, not even their own.
Still it is a nice cable.

Enormous soundstage, very realistic, natural sound, well balanced, very..umm..yes...musical... and, let's not forget, it's cheap as chips...

Needs a little extra investment in ferrite beads, that's all

Mainly because of the favourable reviews on this page, I decided to give this cable a go. What the heck, for this money I'll try almost anything... Mine was customized to 1,5 meters length, so only the 75 Ohm BNC plugs are purple, the rest is black (which is a bit of a shame, really...I'll take purple anytime over standard black). After two weeks of burn-in (mostly using the Purist Audio CD), I sat down and had a serious listen. The first thing that was apparent right from the off was the enormaous amount of soundstage that appeared. It was hard to imagine that all this space had been clodded up all that time in my Ensemble Digiflux that I used before. Bass seemed a little slimmer, but that turned out to be "more precise" and "uncoloured" rather than "less". And the mids were a little lightweight. With the enormous soundstage however also came a feature that seems to be a "package deal" when it comes to stereo and depth imaging; a lot more detail, especially in the higher frequencies. So much more even, that I was wondering if the highs were not too bright. An audiophile friend of mine, who came by to have a listen, confirmed my deapest fear. There was too much high, it was too "fresh". I decided to bring the cable over to him, to see how it compared to his Goldmund Lineal. And alas, same result. But that is not the end of this story. Hold on to your hats... My friend used two ferrite beads around the outer ends of his Goldmund (right behind the plugs), so I decided to see what this would do with the Canare. What happened was the most significant piece of proof that ferrite beads really work. The harshness was completely gone, and we were left with a holographic soundstage of humongous proportions. Our jaws still hurt from hitting the floor! Everything fell into place now. Bass was tighter, more precise, and more uncoloured, so that the natural sounds of the instrument (wood for acoustic bass) were finally audible. The mids had more "weight" or "substance" and vocals were frighteningly uncoloured. No pale or "hand in mouth" vocals anymore, no sir! And finally the highs... Man, this was some seriously good stuff we heard. We had a drummer present, and he could tell the brand of the cymbals, and he could even hear that they were too old and fairly beatten. No overpronounciation on the S-es, t's or other short consonants, as a matter of fact, on some critical recordings, it was possible to make out, for the first time, the difference between S-es and t's. In conclusion, we were startled. The Goldmund (original price approx. $600) was completely humiliated by this cheapster. And no, I have no shares in Canare, neither do I hold a grudge agains Goldmund. It is, by all means, a matter of facts. So keep in mind that this cable is manufactured without the ferrite beads. But they are easy to get, and rather cheap. And is is a definite must to get the most out of this remarkable digital interlink.

Similar Products Used:

Ensemble Digiflux Goldmund Lineal

boundless soundstage, quiet, uncolored reproduction, sharp and silky ... very liquidy vocals and defined yet smooth cymbals.

Purple?

well... finding the right cable to connect a 50 dollar dvd player up to a Creek obh-14 dac/pre combo was more lengthy than desired. fibre optic vs. coax and lots of talk later, I concur whole heartedly with sanlyn from long island that anything more that this is a waste (atleast in my application). I immediately noticed an immense benefit over the monster fibreoptic I got with the Creek...huge improvement and I know it will continue to improve as I am still only breaking em in!!! accurate and articulate notes along the entire freq. range, no coloration of music everything is more detailed, and the soundstage is becoming more and more "holideck"-like ya know?...I am using them with my tube headphone amp / sennheiser 600's combo...with this very revealing headphone setup, I am rediscovering all my cd's and getting a whole new look at songs I thought I knew...very revealing, quiet, accurate, and lively!!...did much research on my decision...get the digiflex gold original (canare lv-61 wire, not 77)the digiflex 2 I did comparo with and it gave exxagerated bass. Well, I am REAL happy with my decision...good luck y'all!!!!

Similar Products Used:

d-flexII, illuminati's, monster fibre optic, listened to mit's...

Excellent Value, Great Construction, awesome 75 OHM RCA connectors, perfect sound, very flexible despite being such a thick, beefy cable.

None.

Wow - what a nice cable. Excellent bang for the buck. I am using this cable as a digital coaxial interconnect to hook up my DVD player to my receiver. I used to have a MonsterVideo Interlink IDL 100 cable, but I upgraded to this, sold my Monster, and now i have money in my pocket and a better cable on my system. Digiflex Gold is Canare's marketing name for their Model LV-77S Coax. I bought mine from http://www.clearcables.com. They had excellent customer service. It shipped the same day I ordered it, and they sent it via US Postal Service priority mail. I especially like the Canare RCA connectors because they are firm, but don't have the "death grip" like the monster connectors. Plus, the ClearCables brand is covered with a really cool "techflex" mesh braiding, and has heatshrink on the ends, so they look really cool. I highly recommend this cable to anyone needing an awesome digital coaxial interconnect.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable Interlink Digital Datalink IDL 100.

Value, cant get a better cable unless you pay $100s more.

None

Smooth well rounded cable! I agree, it takes time to burn in. Had it in 2 days, very friemdly service. Monster cable is going to eBay, Ill keep the Kimber, since I paid good money for it!!!

Similar Products Used:

Kimber D60 Monster IDL100

Price Adaptability(Custom Lengths) Good in some places where Low Capacitance and flexibility are needed

Vocals are muddied when used for a source IC

LV77S COAX I do agree with the last poster's statement about the use of COAX as a IC,although it did work well between my Amp & Passive Pre-Amp(FT Audio) till I could get better cable which I did in the form of 47Labs OTA Cable Kit. Really transparent and detailed cable BTW. I could not use it as a IC between my CDP to Preamp.It really sux!Vocals are where you really know it! I am waiting for my DAC to get back from Boulder to hear if it is as good as they say it is as a Digi IC. I will try the DIY,Gold and Belden when I get my DAC back

Similar Products Used:

AQ,Monster(totaly sux),Knu Kable(Inexpensive ICspkr cable for Cars),Transparent.

Far above average for all 75-ohm digital audio, great for CD-to-DAC. Absurdly inexpensive. Simple, durable construction.

Not so great as analog IC's, designed for digital audio and 75-ohm vid. Sold on the Net and pro music/wire shops only.

Well, shucks, I blew $$hundreds attempting to find a pleasing digital coax for my CD-DAC combination. Then I got desperate and forked up $15 to wickedcables and got the original Digiflex Gold I using Canare 75-ohm crimp RCA's and Canare LV-61S wire. What can I say? I just replaced some very pricey AR, Monster, Kimber, and Audioquest with a $15 wire (maybe I can sell 'em on eBay?). Some sites also sell LV-61S cable as analog interconnects -- no, they don't work so well there (prefer twisted-pair wire for analog interconnects. Never use single-conductor coax for analog IC's, they're not designed for it). Detail, imaging, smoothness, dynamics, tonal accuracy and timbre, etc., etc., it's all there. What Stereophile said about the Digiflex is true: it beats or matches cables selling for $500-$1000. What can you lose for $15 ?? You can also make your own with Canare parts from Markertek, but it'll cost more than $15 and you need special tools to properly prepare and crimp the wire and plugs. Tonal character is neutral; very minor tizz on the very, very top highs. You have to work to hear this effect, though longer burn-in seems to be curing it and it's extremely subtle. They're grungy out of the box, but the sound starts clearing nicely after a few hours. These replaced my Illuminations DV-75 and D-60, and are more musical and transparent. Yes, I've heard better than these, and they cost $2350 according to Absolute Sound. If you're $2335 short on cash, get the Digiflex I. You're unlikely to be disappointed, especially if you're using decent electronics. I also see some sites selling Digiflex II (uses Canare LV-77S wire), which have a little more bass but cost more and just don't seem to sound as clean and refined as the Digiflex I (my opinion). Frankly, I find this cable to be amazing, at any price. And wickedcables has good service and a neat little website, cable comes in a USPS box, which saves $10 to $50 right off (you can't listen to the box anyway). Also sold by Manny's in Manhattan or www.mannysmusic.com, a long-time pro music shop. If you prefer a coax that seriously modifies certain portions of the signal, with artificial, nosebleed treble and/or bloated bass, try Monster (they make a fortune off people with hearing defects); or try top-line Kimber if you need to hear spit coming out of a trumpet at the expense of all else. If you prefer to just listen to

Similar Products Used:

Kimber, Audioquest, Monster, AR, Wireworld, Cardas, BetterCables

Essential tool in a system with digital separates (or single box front end into pre-amp, if applicable). Very neutral, great dynamic range, excellent in conveying sense of space in good recordings. It seems completely ridiculous that a $26 cable could make this much difference. Not able to evaluate really low-end performance since my speakers are of the "mini-monitor" type. However, I am very satisfied with low-end performance / characteristics in my system.

None, especially at the price. Completely unmotivated to go shopping at higher price ranges.

An unbelievable value for the money, leaves you wondering why anyone would spend $500-$1000 for a "reference" cable. I replaced a Toslink cable in my system with this cable and the difference was palpable. Every step along the way from a "one box" CD player to digital separates has had a demonstrable increase in sound quality. This transition was one of the most noticeable. The system in which this cable is being used is: CD transport (Phillips) => Canare Digiflex Gold S/PDIF => Monarcy Audio 24/96 DIP => Apogee Wyde-Eye AES/EBU => MSB Link DAC III Full Nelson + Powerbase => XLO RCA interconnects => Musical Fidelity A3 => MIT T2 Bi-Wire => B&W Nautilus 805. The most noticeable differences between the Toslink and the Canare S/PDIF were dynamic range, "punch", sense of space / soundstage, and a diminution of grain in the upper-mid/treble region. If you have the chance to make this substitution in your system, run, don't walk, to your nearest dealer (or the internet where I purchased my cable) and spend the ridiculously cheap $26 that this cable costs. I can't make a comparison between this and the kilobuck reference cables, since I don't own or have access to any of them. But, I don't even care. I'm too busy spending the money on CD's and the time listening to them. Very satisfied. P.S. Another post mentions learning to solder and building the cable yourself. The cable I purchased uses the specific Canare crimping tool for the ends. Not sure what difference this makes, but I thought I would point this out. I imagine the crimping tool is very expensive (well in excess of the cost of a short run of this cable with pre-made ends).

Similar Products Used:

Tos-Link into Monarchy Audio 24/96 DIP. No comparison, S/PDIF input is far superior.

All of the above. Cheap. Competes and betters cables over $1,000 ( cables dressed up with fancy panty hoses).

You will have to learn how to solder.

I made my own digital and RCA interconnects using the Canare LV 77S($.41 per foot)which is, I think, the Digiflex. It is made in JAPAN. No need to use ultra expensive Cardas, Tara Labs, or those Australian cables which may be using the same cable only dressed up with fancy panty hoses. The LV 77S is the ultimate answer to cables - period, end of story. Learn to solder and make your own. For $28 (with Tara Labs RCA connectors) you have a pair of Stereophile recommended cable, for $15(with TL RCA connectors) you have the FINEST digital cable. WAT DO YOU GET: Lack of smearing, transparent sound, lack of irritating digititis (high frequency grunge)bottom to top coherence, musicality, clarity ( all details are revealed), musical signals float in the soundstage they are not forced or pushed in your face, instrument signals are allowed to have their own decay naturally without racing with other signals. Utter musical bliss. The best kept secret in the audio world bound to tople the ultra expensive cable giants. Dr. Gizmo is looking down with a big smirk on his face.

Similar Products Used:

Tara Labs, Monster, Cardas, Alpha Core, Nordost...etc.etc.

Very good price.

None for the amount of money spent.

Just purchased the this great cable from my local dealer,Collage Hi-Fi in Chattanooga,TN today.It replaced a Kimber Kable Optilink that I had for about a year.A daylight to dark difference.Music much more open and a few of the really bright sounding CDs I had are not near as bright with this cable.For the price it can't be beat.

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Straight Wire Silver Link II