I read TR's review and concur with it absolutely. The path to break in is too bright a top, then a hardness in the upper midrange and then a full mellowing out from those problems with added bass extension. I don't have a lot of experience with digital interconnnects but my switch from the Tara RSC Master Gen 2 to the D-60 was a very serious eye opener. Like substituting in a better amplifier. I stuck my neck out on the D-60 because of the Stereophile concensus rave review and I am pleased with the results. The D-60 is very revealing, detailed and has great extension at both ends. The Tara was clearly obstructing an open and more natural top end and extension beyond that. The bottom end detail and impact is excellent too. The smoothness of the D-60 acts most interestingly to still clearly reveal the flaws of poorer quality CDs. A very revealing and seriously excellent cable that I did not realize was a Kimber Kable product until I was purchasing it. Also, the cable is not marked as to direction. I was told the shrink wrapped end goes to the DAC, but both ends are shrink rwrapped, one including the serial number of the cable, the other not. I put the serial number end to the DAC, but I am still not sure I have it right. No instructions with the D-60. Buyers are uncomforably left to guess.

Read a lot about this cable at this website, as well as the great reviews given to this cable. Understandably, I was very intrigued by it.
When it came, first impression was very good. Its box is very nice (well-weighted too), having an internal lining made up of velvet-like material (could not confirm). All in all, it is very posh looking. I remember telling myself that for the price I paid, it had better come in a box like this. Still, it is a very nice box.

Hooking up the cable (replacing another Illuminations cable, DV75), the sonic difference is not subtle. In fact, without burn-in, the highs and mids are very sweet and nice, although the highs are a bit forward. The bass extension was a tad soft, compared to what the highs and mids did. I guess I can attribute this to the fact that it has not been burned in yet (as testified by other D-60 owners here).

I too asked the question of which end of the cable to hook to either CD Player or DAC. I experimented and found that having the serial numbered end to the CD player yielded greater bass extension, compared to vice-versa. I had one of my buddy with me when I did it and he too felt (and heard) the difference in bass extension. For the highs and mids though, there was hardly any discernable difference between both ends. As such, I stuck with the serial number end to the CD player. Other D-60 owners may want to try this.

Finally, this cable is something special. It gives me the best sound yet from my system. I currently have an XLO type 4 digital cable as well and again the sonic difference is there (again not a subtle one). The D-60 is a very nice sounding cable, one which I am happy to say is worth every penny of it. If anyone is out there for one, do try it. I'm pretty sure you won't regret it. I certainly didn't.

Equipment :

Parasound CDP-1000 transport/player
Parasound DAC-1600
Anthem Pre 1L preamp
Bryston 3B-ST power amp
Hales Revelation 3 speakers
Wireworld Eclipse I & Tributaries SCA interconnects
AudioTruth Argent speaker cables
Various footers from DH Cones, Vibrapods and Sorbothane CD Feet

I was using a Tara Labs RSC Master Digital link that I picked up used for a good price. The RSC Master Digital link originally retailed for 400$. This cable has a huge soundstage, extended bass, and nice light airy highs. Without comparison to anything else it sounds fine. Replacing this cable with the D-60 revealed how flawed the Tara Labs RSC Master is.
With the D-60 the soundstage was more natural and focused, placement of instruments were rock solid, bass is firm and deep, and with excellent pitch resolution. There is a realistic weight to the sound of the instruments being played. The highs are excellent, symbols have a natural sheen to their sound. Lots of inner detail, which I think can be attributed to this cable's very low noise floor. And, it never sounds harsh, but can be very revealing of source and software.

I have never experienced such a cost effective improvement in my system. I purchased the D-60 from the Cable Co. for 238$ and plan to get another one to replace the Monster cable digital connection to my DVD player.

With some work you might be able to find a more synergistic cable for your system but I don't think you could go wrong with the D-60.

Highest recommendation.

I have had this cable for about a year. The D60 while highly tauted in the domain of audio-phile-dom (ok that's a stretch) is not without its shortcomings. I find it err towards the bright side. Otherwise everything else is in place save one, ambient/spatial information... I have done extensive testing along side the Music Metre (www.musicmetre.com) Fidelus $250US. It is not subtle and it is immediate, you WILL hear information that the D60 is not passing. I now use my D60 as a video connector between my DVD and monitor. I give it 3 stars. You owe to your ears to audition the Fidelus.

I did not believe that digital cable could make any difference in a system. Well, this D-60 from Illuminati converted me totally when I first listened to it. I don't care what others say, I believe in my own ears.

Clarity, Detailed, & 3D soundstage

None

I have read many reviews from this web site and magazines about how great this cable is. I am pleased to say that I agree will the positive reviews I have read. The bass is deep and strong and the highs are detailed without
being harsh. I am using an Pioneer DVD-525 with a Musical Fidelity X24K DAC and the sound is everything that I could have hoped for. The one issue that I have with the cable is
the price. I guess you get what you pay for.

Similar Products Used:

Transparent HDL
Audioquest Digital 2

For a change, I agree with both of the previous posts here. I ordered two digital cables from AudioAdvisor... The Kimber Kable TGDL and the D-60. After 25 days of listening, I pretty much could only tell very minor differences between them. The TGDL has a slightly more solid bass and a more clearly defined sound stage. The D-60 has a larger and more open sound stage but less clearly defined. A matter of choice. What won me over to the TGDL was the tonal balance. The D-60 never convinced me it was completely true top to bottom and the TGDL did. Both are the same approximate price and are both Kimber products. Who knows? Maybe they're the same cable but with the cables visible in the TGDL and not in the D-60. Either will make a fine choice in digital cables. $350 - $400 is a chunk of money but with either decision, you will probagbly never need to buy another digital cable again!

This cable sacrifices musicality for ultimate detail retrieval. It tends to suffer from a certain sterility that impedes musical enjoyment and it lends a bit of an artificial hi-fi character to the sound. While very good it in no way deserves the hype lavished upon it and I suspect most users buy it on the basis of its longstanding recommendation in Stereophiles "Recommended Components". I would recommend that prospective buyers borrow a Synergistic Research Digital Corridor Reference 2 before making a final decison for their system.

What kind of moron would spend this much for so little improvement in their system? ITS DIGITAL, MAN! It cannot affect the tonal balance. If it is a bad cable it can only cause errors. That might make someone sound like ma ma max headroom but it can't make the "highs come forward" or let you "gain some bass". Buy it if it's built well, it won't change the quality of the audio spectrum.

The Illuminati D-60 digital cable arrived to my home in a hefty velvet-covered wooden case. Coiled neatly inside was an iridescent, pearl-like in color one-meter coaxial cable that has since impressed me with its impeccably clean and detailed sound.It is a nicely flexible cable with flawless fit and finish. The D-60 requires a quite extensive burn-in period before it reaches its peak. I found that the sonics had finally settled down after approximately 200 hours of use. During that 200-hour burn-in period the cable takes some interesting twists and turns, but in the end clearly defines what is to be expected of a high-end coaxial interconnect.
The cable has utter control of all frequencies from the bass through the treble. The bass is deep, precise, and well-controlled. The midrange was free from any artificial artifacts, and the treble was well-extended with no sense of harshness or hardness. Multichannel information such as the 5.1 tracks on DVD as well as PCM data passes flawlessly through this magnificant cable.
I do understand that, as in any case with a cable, there may be some component interactions that may in fact contraindicate this cable, but I surmise that these combinations would be few and far between. Overall highly recommended!