Atlas Opus digital coax cable

[Dan Turner]

I'm thinking of buying an Atlas Opus digital cable as an upgrade over the QED Reference that I currently use to connect my Sonos ZP90 to my SuperNait. They've got them at a very good price on Futureshop so I thought I'd take a punt and see if there was any difference; even if there's not, I'm happy to sell one of the cables on ebay even if that means losing a bit overall.

Anyway, my question is that given the 'quality' of a digital coax cable and it's ability not to create jitter in the signal fed down it seems (from what I gather through reading on the subject and talking to dealers etc) to be down to the cables ability to maintain a consistent 75 ohm impedance, is it case that the impedance of the cable will vary according to what length it is, and therefore is there an optimum length for a coax cable (and will this vary by manufacturer)?

I realise that the challenge for manufacturers of such cables is more to maintain the impedance at the connection to and through the plugs, not the cable itself, which should be relatively straight forward, but I just wondered if the length of the conductor made a difference and therefore if one should go for an optimum length?

Also - any owners of the Atlas Opus care to share their opinion of it?

Cheers.

 

[datay]

I don't know of an optimum length but the impedance should be consistent - see the Atlas website. What length do you need? Atlas stuff is at a massive discount at the moment because I think they're introducing new stock. By the way, you might want to check elsewhere for it, I got mine from Weymouth Audio with free postage via their "auction site" shop.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Dan Turner:
I'm thinking of buying an Atlas Opus digital cable as an upgrade over the QED Reference that I currently use to connect my Sonos ZP90 to my SuperNait. They've got them at a very good price on Futureshop so I thought I'd take a punt and see if there was any difference; even if there's not, I'm happy to sell one of the cables on ebay even if that means losing a bit overall.

Anyway, my question is that given the 'quality' of a digital coax cable and it's ability not to create jitter in the signal fed down it seems (from what I gather through reading on the subject and talking to dealers etc) to be down to the cables ability to maintain a consistent 75 ohm impedance, is it case that the impedance of the cable will vary according to what length it is, and therefore is there an optimum length for a coax cable (and will this vary by manufacturer)?

I realise that the challenge for manufacturers of such cables is more to maintain the impedance at the connection to and through the plugs, not the cable itself, which should be relatively straight forward, but I just wondered if the length of the conductor made a difference and therefore if one should go for an optimum length?

Also - any owners of the Atlas Opus care to share their opinion of it?

Cheers.

It's a fine cable for sure. I sold my Clearer Audio Silverline to generate some money and bought the Opus from FS - I'm very happy with it.

 

[Dan Turner]

Thanks Gerrard.

Datay - thanks for the tip - they are cheaper on Weymouth's ebay shop and free postage as you say!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Dan Turner:
Thanks Gerrard.

Datay - thanks for the tip - they are cheaper on Weymouth's ebay shop and free postage as you say!

I just saw your other post Dan so I will say a bit more. I have used the QED reference cable before (I still do from DAC to Sky HD). When I bought the Clearer Audio coaxial I was very impressed with the extra it gave. I didn't (and don't) do any A/B testing but it was clear to me that my sound improved. I sold the CA cable for a decent price when I saw how cheap I could get the Opus and I was trying to generate some money for an interconnect upgrade. All I can say is that I haven't noticed any less a quality in sound since I've used the Opus and the CA cable retails at £285 and has constantly won rave reviews.

 

[Dan Turner]

Thanks for elaborating Gerrard, I'll definitely try the Opus myself.

Cheers!

 

[Dan Turner]

Received the Opus today (Weymouth HiFi have excelled themselves, I didn't think I'd have it before Xmas) - very pleasantly surprised at what an improvement it makes over the QED Reference, most notably timing seems improved as well as a a bit more detail and bass lines seem a bit more tuneful. A no-brainer for £59!

 

[datay]

Like a fine wine, it should improve with age...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Dan Turner:Received the Opus today (Weymouth HiFi have excelled themselves, I didn't think I'd have it before Xmas) - very pleasantly surprised at what an improvement it makes over the QED Reference, most notably timing seems improved as well as a a bit more detail and bass lines seem a bit more tuneful. A no-brainer for £59!

Glad you're pleased Dan. You will probably get some sceptics pop along soon though.