Expensive cable vs cheap cable

[Anonymous]

JohnNewman:storsvante:Fortunately there is a simple solution. If you claim you can hear a difference and your brother and your friend don't believe you, you must prove it to them. Let them put a blindfold on you and have them randomly swap your expensive cable with a cheap one, not letting you know which one you are listening to - then prove to them that you can tell them apart with your ears alone. Nevermind the underlying science - first principle is to work out whether the audible difference is there or not. Post your results here, and good luck.
Good idea, but also put in a 'lie detector'. Change some electronics while your at it and mix it up a bit. If a person does not want to hear a difference then they will do there best not to find one . If they say the sound was the same in every instance and in one of those instances you changed the CD player, then there ears can't be trusted

No need - he who claims to hear the difference takes the test. So he will do his utmost to find the differences if there are any.

 

[jase fox]

Garland Genoho:JoelSim:
Cable Lover:So surely Joelsim can go and do the test with Randi? Just think what you could do with $1m? Oh wait....

I don't really want to do anything with Randi, especially as I've witnessed large differences in sound simply by swapping cables at home. To me it doesn't matter if these were blind or not as the differences have been substantial between various cables. Like everything some are good and some not so good, it's not just about the cost.

You could look at the reviews section above for blind listening test results though.

I agree with JoelSim. Cables DO make a difference. Differences between cables can sometimes be subtle while in other cases, substantial.

Totally agreed, especially with mains cables they do.

 

[Sliced Bread]

storsvante:
JohnNewman:storsvante:Fortunately there is a simple solution. If you claim you can hear a difference and your brother and your friend don't believe you, you must prove it to them. Let them put a blindfold on you and have them randomly swap your expensive cable with a cheap one, not letting you know which one you are listening to - then prove to them that you can tell them apart with your ears alone. Nevermind the underlying science - first principle is to work out whether the audible difference is there or not. Post your results here, and good luck.
Good idea, but also put in a 'lie detector'. Change some electronics while your at it and mix it up a bit. If a person does not want to hear a difference then they will do there best not to find one . If they say the sound was the same in every instance and in one of those instances you changed the CD player, then there ears can't be trusted

No need - he who claims to hear the difference takes the test. So he will do his utmost to find the differences if there are any.

The above test is intended for a non-believer to see if they can tell a difference. They will not expect to find one, so adding an electronics change in there (unbeknown to the listener) will help verify the validity of the test.

What hifi had a reader blind test not that long ago and it was definitely in favour of cables making a difference.

I actually agree that cables make a difference. My system sounded quite different when I changed speaker cable and mains cables. Believe my i was trying to convince myself the opposite as it would have been the cheaper option

 

[Anonymous]

storsvante:Fortunately there is a simple solution. If you claim you can hear a difference and your brother and your friend don't believe you, you must prove it to them. Let them put a blindfold on you and have them randomly swap your expensive cable with a cheap one, not letting you know which one you are listening to - then prove to them that you can tell them apart with your ears alone. Nevermind the underlying science - first principle is to work out whether the audible difference is there or not. Post your results here, and good luck.

[...]

JohnNewman:The above test is intended for a non-believer to see if they can tell a difference. They will not expect to find one, so adding an electronics change in there (unbeknown to the listener) will help verify the validity of the test.

Nope! Read it again.

I'm suggesting the believer takes the seat and the non believers swap the cables around, the believer not knowing what he is listening to, and as such verifying his claim that he can tell them apart with his ears.

 

[Anonymous]

Mains cables in particular, have made a HUGE difference in terms of the picture and sound quality in my home cinema system.

My TV, amp and blu-ray player have all seen very clear visual and sonic benefits - remarkably big difference with SD and HD content.

Speaker and analogue cables do make a difference too, IMO, but in my case, it was not as pronounced with my hi-fi, just subtle - but the difference was nevertheless, still there.

 

[Sliced Bread]

storsvante:
storsvante:Fortunately there is a simple solution. If you claim you can hear a difference and your brother and your friend don't believe you, you must prove it to them. Let them put a blindfold on you and have them randomly swap your expensive cable with a cheap one, not letting you know which one you are listening to - then prove to them that you can tell them apart with your ears alone. Nevermind the underlying science - first principle is to work out whether the audible difference is there or not. Post your results here, and good luck.

[...]

JohnNewman:The above test is intended for a non-believer to see if they can tell a difference. They will not expect to find one, so adding an electronics change in there (unbeknown to the listener) will help verify the validity of the test.

Nope! Read it again.

I'm suggesting the believer takes the seat and the non believers swap the cables around, the believer not knowing what he is listening to, and as such verifying his claim that he can tell them apart with his ears.

Ah...I misread the previous mail

.
This is similar to the Big Question in a previous issue. The results favoured the cable change

. To be honest though if someone cannot tell a difference then it is a waste of money 'for them', however for those who can tell a difference and are pleased with the results should buy away

 

[Anonymous]

As usual there threads become repetitive. So I might as well add something, although it could be too subtle

. First of all, there is a huge difference in the type of cable we are discussing. For instance, the video signals that go to a SCART cable are very sensitive. A long coax antenna cable without proper shielding is sensitive. In these cases there can be considerable signal loss, especially with longer lengths and bad isolation. Cables for digital signals are generally much less sensitive, up to a certain threshold when errors start playing a role, or if timing (jitter) problems occur in case of digital audio. Digital interfaces/cables with error correction (such as networked protocols over utp) would have been ideal, as packets that arrive 'damaged' are resent. Still, for hispeed transfer, higher grade CAT 5/6 cables are needed to diminish packet resending/loss. In any case, if the transfer fails there will be very noticable problems that have nothing to do with 'better', 'warmer' or 'less bright'.

The clearly contentious areas are power cables, interconnects and speaker cables. I am in the camp that believes that, for instance, speaker cables, should be as transparant as possible and deliver the amp's signal as faithfully as possible to the speakers. Let the amp do the damping and control of the drivers rather than any aspect of the cable. As scientific theory suggests that losses in a few meters of a fat speaker cable are not a problem, who am I do doubt that? On the other hand if people perceive differences, who am I to doubt that? The only logical explanation, as Dr Spock would agree, is rather surprising. If two (expensive, well constructed) cables differ in perception it is likely that they (one or both) have something peculiar to change the signal to make the sound 'warm' or 'bright'. So cheap might even be 'better' in terms of interfering less with the goals of the manufacturers of amp & speakers... Now there's a thought. Although not better for people who do not like their sound to begin with.