Chord Sarum T Digital Super Aray 1RCA to 1RCA

Start with the name, because it is the thing people get wrong when ordering. One RCA plug at one end, one RCA plug at the other. A single cable, not a stereo pair — a coaxial digital link carries both channels in one stream, so one wire does the whole job. If you have come here looking for a pair of analogue interconnects, you want the Sarum T Analogue RCA instead, and the two are not interchangeable however identical the plugs look.

With that out of the way: this is The Chord Company's Sarum T coaxial digital cable, terminated in phono because that is what the overwhelming majority of transports, CD players, streamers and DACs actually give you on the back panel. Built in Amesbury with Taylon® insulation and Super ARAY conductor geometry tuned for digital duty.

Working with the socket you have been given

The coaxial digital standard was drawn up around a 75-ohm transmission line, and then the consumer industry fitted it to the phono connector, which was designed in the 1930s for something else entirely and does not maintain that geometry through the plug. Every coaxial digital cable with RCA ends is a negotiation with that compromise. It is also, for most people, not a choice — you connect what the manufacturer gave you, and the cable's job is to make the best of it.

Which is where the build matters more, not less. The phono connection is doing double duty as signal return and shield, and the quality of that earth path is not a footnote. Chord's approach through the Sarum T range is Taylon® insulation in place of the PTFE dielectric used by the earlier Sarum Super ARAY cables, with the conductor geometry set for the specific application rather than shared across the catalogue.

Super ARAY, and what Chord will and will not tell you

ARAY conductor geometry began life on the original Sarum cable — Chord's own account is that Sarum was where they developed the Tuned and Super ARAY layouts, and it has run through everything they have built since. Super ARAY is the version fitted here.

What Chord publish about the mechanics stops roughly there. No conductor gauge, no plating specification, no impedance figure for this cable. We are not going to supply those from a similar model or an educated guess, so the table below is short. A short honest table is worth more than a long invented one, particularly to the sort of buyer who reads the specification before the prose.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The owner of a two-box digital front end — transport into DAC, or streamer into DAC — where both boxes offer coaxial phono and nothing better. That covers a great deal of very good equipment. It is a lot of money for one wire, and it makes sense when the DAC and transport are themselves serious; against a modest DAC the same outlay is better spent on the DAC.

If both your boxes have BNC sockets, use them and buy the Sarum T Digital BNC — the locking BNC connection is the better interface where both boxes offer it. For a USB link from a computer or server, the Sarum T Super Aray USB 1m is the equivalent. The rest of the range is on our Chord Company collection page.

Buying from Martins Hi-Fi

We have stocked Chord Company cable for many years and are happy to talk through where a digital interconnect sits in the order of priorities for your particular system — or to leave it alone if it is not what you came in for. Should you want to hear one at home, that is covered by our home evaluation service. Remember this is a single cable rather than a stereo pair; tell us which sockets are on both boxes and we will get the order right first time.

When you get in touch, you'll be speaking with Dave, Chris and Tim at info@martinshifi.co.uk, call 01603 627010, or WhatsApp on 07554 687137. You can read more about how we work on our Why Martins page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY.