Cables Make No Difference - Thread for the people who think this is true to comment in

[Infiniteloop]

Lol.....

All truth passes through three stages.

First, it is ridiculed.

Second, it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Arthur Schopenhauer

That's if it's the truth in the first place.......

 

[andyjm]

I felt pretty good, I could clearly identify all of the problems they described, and clearly hear how later versions had solved the problems, and identify the new issues that later designs introduced.

Except they had only played one speaker.

​A good lesson, but doesn't really prove that cables can't make a difference. What you experienced is the differences you can hear when someone tells you the difference you are going to hear - the power of suggestion. I don't like telling people the differences they're going to hear, partly because they might not hear it, and partly because I'm then programming them to hear it. I'd prefer an individual hear whatever difference is apparent for themselves. Although you can advise people on how to listen...

David, you are quite correct - and for the record of course cables make a difference.

The experience did teach me that audio perception is subject to bias, whether suggestion bias ("Sir, you should listen to this speaker, it sounds much better...") or expection bias (I paid £200 for this mains cable and it has a 5* review, I just know it will sound better..) and that these biases are very powerful forces to be aware of.

Some form of blind testing is the only way to overcome these biases. Can be done using software on your own (I believe foobar has an ABX facility) for things like file formats, bit rates and codecs, but for anything physical you need the help of a willing assistant - and that is tricky to arrange.