Oh NO! Cables again!!

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the What HiFi community: the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products.

My2Cents

Well-known member
Nov 10, 2023
439
321
770
Visit site
If you are going to make a statement like that, think about what you are saying, or you risk making yourself look ridiculous...

jy999, is almost spot on with his conversion.
Ah yes... I may actually be ridiculous (and possibly have early stage dementia). I had the 6ft number in my head because I actually purchased the 2 meter cables which are close enough to 6ft (6.56ft I guess) which is the length I wanted. Too many numbers flying around.
Don't know what all the fuss is about; $130 for speaker cables is not expensive. A recent poster stated that they had issues with some speaker cables that cost them 5k euros (I do hope that was a typo).
 

podknocker

Well-known member
If you're fairly new to this, or any other HIFI forum, you might not be aware of the overpriced nonsense out there:


Not typos!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DougK1

podknocker

Well-known member
My theory, is that someone did a typo on a product several years ago, but they still managed to sell the item at this ridiculous price, let's say £99.99 instead of £9.99 etc.

This company then realised many people are stupid enough to pay a ridiculous amount for something and the experiment began.

They started charging hugely inflated prices for normally very cheap products and it's developed into a business model.

Sell a few things at a reasonable price, but make sure one item stands out and becomes the coveted and unattainable thing everyone talks about. This will obviously draw more attention to other, cheaper products and hence more sales.

I'm a bit of an cynic, but this is happening on many highly regarded sites and sadly, many people are becoming very wealthy, selling overpriced tat to the gullible.

Not done the rounds for a while:


Just what your kettle needs!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DougK1

Rui

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2021
376
85
4,970
Visit site
i bought some better cables than the provided ones in the 70´s that i never had problems as they were free without any other electric part or suply above or crossing them , so i´m happy with the 25€ cables for components and regular O2 free copper wires for the speakers ,

the others i refer i think they are oxygen free also ,not sure but all works perfect, i had some very good cables to conect optical fiber but their weight made them loose signal as the component had it´s output broken ,

so i´m using the cheaper ones provided and work perfect as the better ones that don´t work anymore,

CDplayer to MD player and a Pioneer CD-R ,the first models with litle turntable,
some say no but the CD-R sounds a lot better than the computer one,

the CD-R ,all play even one that was lost in a big card box all yellow missing a bit but the CD-RW don´t work anymore ,

this refering to the first ones i recorded from Kodak, but some cheaper i bought from Benq are all playing correctelly and when new they were so thin that one can see through,
 

Rui

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2021
376
85
4,970
Visit site
With metric girls I always use imperial measurements, with imperial girls I use metric measurements... always worked for me :)
in that matter i don´t measure at all only got them or not, but today not metric or imperial just don´t, like Nike says in advertising or similar, don´t remenber it well
Dementia is horrible, a friend of mine as it but his well enough so i told him get them while you can, at all levels in life.
I think old age is like when a teenager. So, free to commit the same errors , as in history, like Sting said "History, will teach us nothing", just take a look at the world today. and i quote the tv series family guy " One doesn´t understand what Sting says , unamani dey da sifil la ud arrr in this fields of gold" somethin` like that.
 

My2Cents

Well-known member
Nov 10, 2023
439
321
770
Visit site
It is worrying seeing people equate a foot to a metre. There's a whole world of problems on the way if you can't get this right. Type '1m in feet' in google and a metre is about 3.28 times as long as a foot. You learn this stuff when you're about 4 years old. I did anyway. Also, expensive speaker leads won't improve the sound, just make sure they're not a tripping hazard (been there) and make sure they're flexible enough to avoid snags and kinks etc.
Bear in mind that most Americans wouldn't know the difference between 1 mm, 1 meter or 1 Km...
and you're in a country that sells petrol by the liter but uses mph on it's auto speedometers, speed limit signs and all the direction signs I see display 'miles' to a destination. Even fuel consumption figures on most auto manufacturers web sites show MPG before l/Km.
It always amazes me when I talk to people in the UK how, one second they are talking metric and the next minute imperial... a somewhat bi polar country when it comes to unit measurements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rui and DougK1

DougK1

Well-known member
Jan 4, 2024
563
803
1,270
Visit site
Sorry Doug. I know you know a lot about this, maybe I should just stay stumm next time. (y)

Having said that, some of the asking prices for some copper wire is truly astounding.
Dom, what I know about all this stuff I could probably write on the back of a postage stamp :) Please don't ever take me too seriously as I'm only here for the laughs, I really like you bud and would feel bad if I knew I'd miffed you off.
 

DougK1

Well-known member
Jan 4, 2024
563
803
1,270
Visit site
Bear in mind that most Americans wouldn't know the difference between 1 mm, 1 meter or 1 Km...
and you're in a country that sells petrol by the liter but uses mph on it's auto speedometers, speed limit signs and all the direction signs I see display 'miles' to a destination. Even fuel consumption figures on most auto manufacturers web sites show MPG before l/Km.
It always amazes me when I talk to people in the UK how, one second they are talking metric and the next minute imperial... a somewhat bi polar country when it comes to unit measurements.
:ROFLMAO: We are rather an eccentric country with more than our fair share of nincompoops and idiosyncrasies...a basket case :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stuart83

Stuart83

Well-known member
Jul 22, 2023
481
404
1,270
Visit site
I see the cable debate has gathered traction again 😁 and going amusingly off topic.

I've been busy but you guys always cheer me up.

I'm listening to "the lumineers" stubborn love smiling at the comments.

Tbh id use lamp cord to get to listen to them if nothing else was available after all providing the guage is correct the values at the other end are proven the same.

My dear old father demonstrated that to me after I tried showing him a YouTube video testing different cable with a waveform readout favouring others over others.

He disappeared into the loft and after a lot of clattering around and dust smudged he emerged coughing with a time machine looking device (oscilloscope) and showed me the difference (which was none) between my new wire and his old stuff he had lying around.

He does that when pushed my father in such a comical but deadly serious manner.

He explained what I know to be true which is guage and quality being correct it's all too similar to make a difference.

Obviously poor quality wire is bad but after a certain quality is obtained it's the same.

Each cable will give a different readout minutely on these YouTube videos as it's very difficult to replicate the exact same waveform repeatedly even with the same wire and audio equipment there's to many variables to perform such a match.

I use van damn cables for everything and it serves me well but that was picked up whilst djaying as the normal stuff used to fray all the time with constant moving of equipment.

I know I will be in all probability shot down by those who suffer the human condition that paying more for speaker cables gives a better result as it must.

Afterall paying more as a general rule does indeed render better results.

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
 

podknocker

Well-known member
Household copper will give the same result as fancy 6N copper. The charge will move through the metal at the same speed, with an infinitesimal difference, perhaps millionths of a second difference. Humans can't detect these very small amounts. Stop falling for the pseudoscience and marketing and stop wasting money on nonsense.

There's a whole chunk of the HIFI market, dedicated to extracting as much money as possible from the unwary and gullible. Those people with little knowledge or understanding of electronics and physics, but with lots of money to throw around. These are the people these companies prey upon and sadly, it's still happening.
 
Last edited:
Household copper will give the same result as fancy 6N copper. The charge will move through the metal at the same speed, with an infinitesimal difference, perhaps millionths of a second difference. Humans can't detect these very small amounts. Stop falling for the pseudoscience and marketing and stop wasting money on nonsense.

There's a whole chunk of the HIFI market, dedicated to extracting as much money as possible from the unwary and gullible. Those people with little knowledge or understanding of electronics and physics, but with lots of money to throw around. These are the people these companies prey upon and sadly, it's still happening.
Yes, be cynical, not impressionable, you’ll save a LOT of money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DougK1

podknocker

Well-known member
I would love to be a fly on the wall, when these companies have a marketing and sales meeting, poring over the number of overpriced items they managed to sell. I bet some of these people are rubbing their hands and laughing their tits off. Sadly, these companies will always exist, because there will always be enough customers out there to give these products a try. I read some posts on here and other forums and some people are like excited puppies with a new toy. They fail to realise they've spent a fortune on corporate lies and nonsense. That £8k fuse is a perfect example. I can't find out what they cost to make, but it must me closer to 80p than £8k.
 

My2Cents

Well-known member
Nov 10, 2023
439
321
770
Visit site
Well, to be fair the US sells it by the US gallon which isn't an imperial measurement either.
It's actually based on the old Queen Anne 'wine' gallon which existed before the Weights and Measures act of 1824.
In 1824 the Imperial gallon approximated the 'Ale' gallon and became the standard.
It was defined as 'the volume of 10 pounds of distilled water weighed in air with brass weights with the barometer standing at 30 inches of Mercury at a temperature of 62 °F'
This was subsequently changed in 1963 to:
'10 pounds of distilled water of density 0.998859 g/mL weighed in air of density 0.001217 g/mL against weights of density 8.136 g/mL'
So the whole 'definition' of the Imperial gallon is based on metric units... i.e. g/mL's!

The metric system itself was created during the French Revolution (initially rejected under Napoleon and then brought back with the revolution of 1830). Elsewhere in Europe, the meter and kilogram took root as a result of Napoleonic conquests. As one historian put it: "metric measures marched in the wake of French bayonets,” and were imposed on countries along with the various legal and commercial reforms of the Napoleonic Code (and more recently EU directives).

 
  • Like
Reactions: DougK1
Bear in mind that most Americans wouldn't know the difference between 1 mm, 1 meter or 1 Km...
and you're in a country that sells petrol by the liter but uses mph on it's auto speedometers, speed limit signs and all the direction signs I see display 'miles' to a destination. Even fuel consumption figures on most auto manufacturers web sites show MPG before l/Km.
It always amazes me when I talk to people in the UK how, one second they are talking metric and the next minute imperial... a somewhat bi polar country when it comes to unit measurements.
It’s car tyres that fascinate me, in their dimensions. The diameter is in inches and with width in mm. On every type, or any size!

I am familiar enough with it, but it’s bonkers. I still pump air in PSI, mind you, even if my car insists it’s Bar!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DougK1

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts