Is it all Hype ?

[Blacksabbath25]

So I see by the test that they had done they used the same speakers for both budgets + hi end and also on the budget they used cheap red + white phono leads that you get free which are crap full stop I do not know any of the Hifi separates they used in this test . Still think you get what you pay for and something else when you buy an amp and get to know it for its good points & bad ones and say 12 months late say I am not happy with it so you go out and buy a new one but bigger and better how come you hear a difference straight away why does the new amp sound different to the old one they both still play music the same

 

[keeper of the quays]

I dont believe it...they used cheap interconnects on the cheap system too..anyone who has hifi notices the difference decent interconnects make? If they used same cabling for both systems and had people who werent much interested in audio maybe? Sorry i just dont buy it...if any of us put cheap interconnects on our kit right now? It would sound horrible!

 

[tonky]

Thanks for the reply Gray - interesting comments on those amps - I had a Cyrus 2 (many moons!!) - very explicit but too clinical for me (through JBL 20Ti) at the time

The Behringer has been much commented on before - usually quite positively.

Over the last 10 years my amplifiers have been Pioneer A400, Cambridge 840A v2 and now Naim Unitilite. All through Epos es14 speakers. same interconnects, speaker cable etc. To me the sound differences are obvious. All sound good. The Naim gives the best overall balance of sound - by far - full, balanced,detailed, crisp with a deep tuneful bass. It really seems to suit the Epos speakers.The Cambridge 840A is so powerful, detailed and spacious - but the sound can be thin on some material and the bass is somewhat dry and doesn't sound as extended through the epos speakers. - I do need to sell it!

cheers tonky

 

[Gaz37]

I dont believe it...they used cheap interconnects on the cheap system too..anyone who has hifi notices the difference decent interconnects make? If they used same cabling for both systems and had people who werent much interested in audio maybe? Sorry i just dont buy it...if any of us put cheap interconnects on our kit right now? It would sound horrible!

Again pretty much every blind test has resulted in testers being unable to differentiate between cheap leads (in one case a wire coathanger) and expensive ones at least not by any form of overall majority.

If the difference was a night and day as you suggest surely every tester would know the difference straight away

 

[MeanandGreen]

I dont believe it...they used cheap interconnects on the cheap system too..anyone who has hifi notices the difference decent interconnects make? If they used same cabling for both systems and had people who werent much interested in audio maybe? Sorry i just dont buy it...if any of us put cheap interconnects on our kit right now? It would sound horrible!

Would it sound horrible though, or is that just the audiophile brainwashed expectation bias?

If you had 2 identical sources playing the same material in sync, one with boutique interconnects & one with the free cables and you randomly switched between them I very much doubt you'd hear any difference.

Years ago I played with interconnects, all sorts from £7 for a meter up to £80 for a half meter silver plated OFC 24k gold plugs etc... and not once did I notice any change in sound. My current 2 systems have those very mixtures of cables plus a few others now. Some are 0.5m some are 5m in length, some are silver plated OFC some are just OFC. Can't distinguish anything between them.

I think transducers and acoustics and they way they interact play the most important role. Yes some amplifiers will struggle with certain loads when asked to push it, but most of the time in modern dwellings at normal listening levels there won't be a lot in it.

I always find it a bit odd that my £300 NAD has more informative and more acurate quoted measurements than amplifiers costing much more. Why is that I wonder?

 

[CnoEvil]

I've found, that if you stare at your navel long enough, it starts to look like everybody else's navel. *crazy*

 

[iceman16]

I've found, that if you stare at your navel long enough, it starts to look like everybody else's navel. *crazy*

Ive ordered a pair of 906!

lets see

 

[keeper of the quays]

Mmm? Same source, same amp same speakers! Different interconnects...el cheapo vs decent ones? Sorry i did this recently on my kit...i changed from good interconnects to very good ones! Heard considerable difference..i have loads of interconnects. I changed my cheap belkin to van den hul on tuner..major difference again to my ears...i do consider when im listening to new things whether shock of new is influencing me..im a careful listener and i hope im not deluding myself...but they do say 'no fool like a old fool' lol...perhaps im a old fool...hahaha

 

[tonky]

No jokes about umbilical interconnects!

tonky

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Let's put it this way do all violins sound the same no they do not even though they all still violins and they all have there own sound from budget to high end violins

 

[CnoEvil]

I've found, that if you stare at your navel long enough, it starts to look like everybody else's navel. *crazy*

Ive ordered a pair of 906!

lets see

?

 

So you've stopped gazing at the LS50s, then?

 

[keeper of the quays]

I find it baffling that audiophiles cant tell between cheap interconnects and decent ones...the test used same speakers very good ones too! They would have shown limitations of el cheapo interconnects..as i said before if they used decent cables for both systems? Might be slightly more difficult? I cant imagine anyone on this forum or any other one uses cheap interconnects!

 

[Gaz37]

Let's put it this way do all violins sound the same no they do not even though they all still violins and they all have there own sound from budget to high end violins

The question is could you (or anyone else) tell, in a blind test, which is the multi thousand pound Stradavarius (spelling?) and which is the hundred quid learner jobby?

I very much doubt it

 

[Gaz37]

I find it baffling that audiophiles cant tell between cheap interconnects and decent ones...the test used same speakers very good ones too! They would have shown limitations of el cheapo interconnects..as i said before if they used decent cables for both systems? Might be slightly more difficult? I cant imagine anyone on this forum or any other one uses cheap interconnects!

Oddly when they know which one is which they seem to hear a huge difference, yet when they have no idea what they are listening to, they can't?

Go figure

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Let's put it this way do all violins sound the same no they do not even though they all still violins and they all have there own sound from budget to high end violins

The question is could you (or anyone else) tell, in a blind test, which is the multi thousand pound Stradavarius (spelling?) and which is the hundred quid learner jobby?

I very much doubt it

yes if I got to know both setups for a week I could tell but them kinds of test I've never seen were I live . But would be interested in a brand name company amp something like a marantz pm6005 + roskin k3 say in a blind test with the same speakers that would be interesting as 1 costs £250 & k3 £1299 . I was using the Violins as a different point of view as the principal is the same

 

[keeper of the quays]

Im not sure hifi fans are that gullible? If we used their logic then we should all use the freebie interconnects and bell wire for speaker cables? I just dont buy it...

 

[MeanandGreen]

I find it baffling that audiophiles cant tell between cheap interconnects and decent ones...the test used same speakers very good ones too! They would have shown limitations of el cheapo interconnects..as i said before if they used decent cables for both systems? Might be slightly more difficult? I cant imagine anyone on this forum or any other one uses cheap interconnects!

An audibly transparent interconnect cable does not cost a lot of money. You could use an oscilloscope and measure signals on various cables to prove they don't have any impact on the signal.

Tosh from the press over the years, expectation bias and placebo have a lot to answer for. I've read plenty of posts on these forums from audiophiles who use very moderately priced cables (myself included).

If you look closely at the listeners in that test posted earlier and see the concentration on their faces. If anyone needs to put so much effort into listening for a difference than it can't be "night & day". It should be blatantly obvious for any person not just an audiophile to hear the difference if the differences are so large.

 

[keeper of the quays]

Yes a good interconnect need not be pricey..but the test was using freebie interconnects with the cheap kit? Its absurd..put on cheap interconnects and you will hear a difference? The test clearly said people couldnt tell with cheap kit using cheap cables any difference? I just dont believe it..

 

[MeanandGreen]

Im not sure hifi fans are that gullible? If we used their logic then we should all use the freebie interconnects and bell wire for speaker cables? I just dont buy it...

Don't forget not to confuse cost with 'fit for purpose'.

Bell wire sometimes can't carry the current required to drive speakers well depending on the situation. Being electrically well designed for the role is not related to cost though.

 

[tonky]

Without a doubt, there would be an easily discernible difference between a Stradivarius and a much cheaper violin. The same with other acoustic instruments too. Classical guitars etc. Different types of wood, the bracing, When these instruments are heard live - easy to hear a difference. And crucially a talented player.

tonky

 

[Al ears]

Without a doubt, there would be an easily discernible difference between a Stradivarius and a much cheaper violin. The same with other acoustic instruments too. Classical guitars etc. Different types of wood, the bracing, When these instruments are heard live - easy to hear a difference. And crucially a talented player.

tonky

And yet again a thread gets effectively sidetracked. Read the origial post folks before adding your self-centred rubbish.

 

[Vladimir]

Clicky

 

[hybridauth_Google_112658120703314018098]

Yes a good interconnect need not be pricey..but the test was using freebie interconnects with the cheap kit? Its absurd..put on cheap interconnects and you will hear a difference? The test clearly said people couldnt tell with cheap kit using cheap cables any difference? I just dont believe it..

Well it said a percentage of them couldn't tell the difference, but others could. Slightly more preferred the cheap kit than the high end one though.

As an aside I just replaced some slightly too short Audioquest Crystal+ bi-wire speaker cable (I think it was quite expensive back when current) with some cheap (less than £1 a metre) industrial 4-core "CY" cable from an electrical factor. Partly out of interest, and partly because I wanted to move my speakers further from the amp. I single wired the CY cable in a "star" arrangement (2 opposite wires going to each plug). I can clearly hear a difference, but it's hard to say what is "best". After some experimenting, and having both types connected (one to each speaker) I've concluded that the CY cable sounds more "forward" with a brighter high end, and deeper bass. The AQ sounds more restrained overall, which I guess could be interpreted as more refined, but I'm edging towards preferring the cheapo cable with what I listen to. The conductors on the CY cable were considerably larger gauge than the Audioquest wires. Frankly I could get used to either though.

 

[hybridauth_Google_112658120703314018098]

Duplicate

 

[lindsayt]

...I cant imagine anyone on this forum or any other one uses cheap interconnects!

I use free interconnects. Or £3.49 interconnects. I have compared them against £120 interconnects.

I'm with Rick from Musicraft when it comes to cables.