how many do you believe make a difference?

[Pikman]

I've never spent a lot on cables, although I would be interested in the opportunity to try some expensive ones and see if I could tell the difference!

Mind you, my HDMI cable was £30 but I was in a rush and all excited

 

[idc]

chudleighpaul:
Cable threads have been done to death.

I am not going to get involved in this one, everyone knows my views.

The round and round arguments and bickering have been done to death. Sadly that has made new thoughts and ideas (such as Maxflynn's on consistency in digital cables) rare as people are scared to get involved.

I continue to find this whole topic fascinating. Why does something that should not sound different, sound different? What is the effect of that on hifi as a listening experience and as an industry?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm with idc. No harm buying well constructed cables though. My take on this is that the job of these cables is to deliver the signal at the other end with the least possible distortion. If so you would expect that especially expensive cables should converge to the same quality/sound. Yet people often discuss/find differences between expensive cables. Or even throw in a spouse's opinions . Perhaps that are manufacturers that can produce 'warm' or 'analytical' cables, but I doubt it. And if they do, I do not want them.

Note that cables that transmit signals using a carrier frequency (like antenna signals) is a different story than simple 'voltage' transferring cables, In that sense hdmi is the special one. But it profits from the fact that a smart ways were developed to recover the digital signal, allowing up to 10.2Gbps transfer, which is pretty impressive.

 

[jase fox]

idc:
jase fox:

.......And yet idc was once on my side of the fence, i know how ben feels now with anakin at the end of the last star wars movie

:-(

LOL I am the Darth Vader of cable debates! Luke, you must come to the Dark Side and join me!

haha you'll be telling me your my father next, ha

 

[jase fox]

davejberry:jase fox:davejberry:
;

power cables - NO,

Obviously YOUR opinion.

i would try at least to provide the source of the information i support of any statement.

I have done, my eyes and ears

 

[Gerrardasnails]

idc:chudleighpaul:
Cable threads have been done to death.

I am not going to get involved in this one, everyone knows my views.

The round and round arguments and bickering have been done to death. Sadly that has made new thoughts and ideas (such as Maxflynn's on consistency in digital cables) rare as people are scared to get involved.

I continue to find this whole topic fascinating. Why does something that should not sound different, sound different? What is the effect of that on hifi as a listening experience and as an industry?

This months Big Question is an interesting one...

 

[Anonymous]

I use a Spyder 3 TV colorimeter to calibrate my TV (via my laptop).

I often run 3 calibrations in succession and check for consistent results (which they are e.g. I may get an optimum setting of 96% for contrast on each test run).

When I replaced the stock power lead on my TV with an 'upgrade' (Silvermann Labs), the picture noticeably changed and was immediate.

I ran another set of calibration tests and the results were numerically significantly different e.g. changing brightness from 22% down to 16%.

Due to the 'scientific' nature of the measuring equipment, my observations were verified by measurement i.e. not prone to any placebo or other psycho-acoustic phenomena.

Therefore cables can and do make a difference in my experience.

However, I believe that a £500+ cable can be worse than a £20 one because of what some refer to as 'synergy'. I think there is alot of luck involved; you may just get a cable which affects the aspects of the sound you do not like and nullifies or tames it thereby producing a perceived improvement. That could be the £20 cable! Wheras the £500+ makes it worse.

They do say that cables act as filters and that that the best cable is none at all (i.e. doesn't (de)emphasise) any part of the signal.

So it seems logical that with so many variations in people's gear and so many variations in cables, the experiences posted will vary wildly to zero difference to 'life-changing'.

My personal experiences are very mixed. My biggest surprise was a subwoofer cable change; I wasn't expecting much change but I had to turn the sub down a few notches (I didn't expect a volume change!).

 

[idc]

Shreddy, can you measure your subwoofer cables and find out if there is a difference in their inductance, so a difference in voltage, so any potential attenuation, which would explain the difference in volume.

I can't think of how the cable would affect your TV picture, can you?

 

[Anonymous]

Back in the day I had a nice Exposure 10 amp and a Nacamich 4 CD player. Used Audioquest Bronze (about £40) I think. Upgraded them to some Audioquest Crystal (£110). Again not totally sure on the names (it's been twenty years), but there seemed to be a improvement in the treble especially. I don't know if cables in general have improved over the last twenty years, but most quality analogue interconnects seem to be much cheaper. Around £40 now. So maybe the improvement was solely down to manufacturing quality control and processors.

As for HDMI I've got the chord company supersheild 1.4 and I am please as they seem a better fit, being die-cast plugs. Any performance differences would solely be down to "having a feeling of improvement".

Never tried power cables. Although might be interested in some main cleaning devices if someone would be willing to give me some advice.

Digital interconnects no difference. Even though I saw some with gold plated connection ends! How's that work?

Most would have to say that it's hard to walk away from an audition, having just parted with a great big lump of cash, not to ask which cables had been used while they had been listening.

 

[v1c]

Maybe a workshop will help !!!

Audio Myths Workshop

 

[Andrew Everard]

Oh gawd, not that again...

 

[Alantiggger]

Oh man , v1c ... I'm not yet half way through this video link that you give... and already can see that people on this very forum buy things like 'power cables' ... and for big bucks too ... will they be able to get their monies back if they return them for not working ?

 

[John Duncan]

Andrew Everard:Oh gawd, not that again...

Andrew, Andrew. Some of the comments to that video contain much good sense. For example, Poppy Crum is kinda hot...

 

[Andrew Everard]

Your views taken under advisement, JD. But that video gets trotted out with monotonous regularity.

 

[v1c]

Got another one

HDMI Cables not just 1's and 0's

with some tests you can do.

 

[plastic penguin]

idc:

Delving into the various threads on this subject, amongst the bickering, there is a really interesting and for hifi enthusiasts a very important subject here.

I wonder how many prospective enthusiasts have bought cables after glowing reviews and recommendations, not heard a difference and subsequently thought, my hearing must not be of the caliber of those golden eared audiophiles, there is no point in me continuing with this.

I wonder how many people have been left with constant nagging doubts about their hifi because they can't afford the latest highly rated and recommended cable, so leaving them dissatisfied with the hifi's sound and not enjoying the music as much as they should be. (I accept that the opposite can occur, where a new cable can be just what is needed to take away doubts about a system, but I would never recommend anything over about £20 to do that)

Agreed. There are some genuine 'cable' thread starters who need help to tweak their system. I think the key word here is "tweak" because you'll never make significant difference if you use half decent cables.

 

[Alantiggger]

GOOD GRIEF ! mate you should have said the vid lasted an hour ............ pffffffff

Only time i'd disagree with the fellow was during the 'phase' experimentation ... I definitely heard differences.

I'm guessing that maybe too many people though... are wasting a lot of money on things that wont really aid what they are listening to then ..... and others that will convince themselves to hearing such ?

 

[v1c]

I believe that they all make a difference in some way, not always greatly distinguishable.

I think that through the development and manufacturing process that a "House sound" / "Trait" is produced.

That diminishing returns set in the higher the values.

That Reviews of the products offer an insight into the house sound/trait of the product and that reviewers genuinely hear/see differences.

The cost of accessories is proportional to the perceived quality of the equipment owned and what can be afforded.

Through personal experience with products i have witnessed non placebo based differences with accessories owed therefore i will always believe.

 

[Alantiggger]

Okay then ....... I'm learning all the time on here

 

[6th.replicant]

FWIW...

Can't recall brand/make, but the fancy, gold, and thick enough to tow a house, power cable has made no difference to my CDP or BDP's sound or TV's pic quality.

A £25 Tacima mains block gave my previous hi-fi setup - an Arcam CD73, A70 and KEF iQ7SE, with Chord Co Carnival Silver Screen Bi-wire - improved separation, tighter bass and an overall 'fuller' concert hall-type sound, although a Tacima did now't for my AV kit. However, with my current hi-fi, see below, the Tacima produced a 'gloopy' sound compared to the MasterPlug mains block's clearer and more open delivery. The MasterPlug cost £7.

Similarly, my current speaker cable produces a more balanced and neutral sound compared to the Chord - and the latter costs twice the former's price.

Kimber Kable Silver Streak (SS) RCAs have generally opened up and released my TT's hitherto moribund top-end range and detail. The SS costs c. £160 for 0.5m. So thank Gawd for eBay; grabbed my SS for £57. (And many thanks to Big Chris for the clue re Kimber SS.

)

I guess the moral of the ramble is believe what you hear and only pay what you need to?

 

[idc]

jase fox:davejberry:jase fox:davejberry:

;

power cables - NO,

Obviously YOUR opinion.

i would try at least to provide the source of the information i support of any statement.

I have done, my eyes and ears

Jase, interesting comment. I say that when you use your eyes and ears to judge the sound of something that you are adding in senses which have nothing to do with hearing and can clearly affect your regard for a product beyond just what it sounds like.

Not you, but to anyone who claims the golden ears argument. If your ears are so golden that you can easily hear a difference, how come blind tests show that that is not the case and how come you need your eyes as well to reliably differentiate between cables?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Mentions of a retired illusionist can't be too far off...

 

[The_Lhc]

idc:jase fox:davejberry:jase fox:Obviously YOUR opinion.

i would try at least to provide the source of the information i support of any statement.

I have done, my eyes and ears

Jase, interesting comment. I say that when you use your eyes and ears to judge the sound of something that you are adding in senses which have nothing to do with hearing and can clearly affect your regard for a product beyond just what it sounds like.

I'd suggest when Jase says "eyes and ears" he's possibly referring to HDMI cables which carry video as well as audio, and not just audio interconnects...