Great video by Danny Richie on why cables matter

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by Parabellum

To those who tell me that cables do not matter, I am glad to report them back that all red wines taste the same. For sure they will appreciate the savings.

Box wine all the way, baby. Mass spec of a $1000 bottle and a $10 bottle reveal the same chemical composition, so they are both the same. Perception of taste, like perception of sound, is irrelevant.

[PHC1]

Wine experts were wrong when blind folded and asked to tell the difference between red and white wines... So much is left to imagination and creative/descriptive writing and so little substance to it all... No doubt there is difference between wines but there is no way to pin it down to price and personal taste and preference is very subjective.

At an international competition some years back, a new wine company won the prestigious 2nd place after the experts got done tasting/voting. Fancy bottles, fancy name, nice bottle art, etc.. except it was water/vinegar/juice and some other ingredients.... 2nd place!

[W9TR]

I finally watched both videos end to end.

The tuner video was specious and without merit, proving nothing but the already known fact that some speaker cables are shielded, others not.

The Winer video was more interesting in that I’ve used null techniques for a long time. It’s a powerful measurement technique that lets you hear what is actually happening in a piece of gear.

But every objective supporter, be it Winer or Amir or someone else, will always, I mean always, make a statement like this:

“The distortion, noise, response, (choose one) is xx dB down and so clearly inaudible.”

Really? What peer- reviewed multi-subject test are they referring to that allows them to state that as fact?

None.

So the debate continues unabated.

At the end of the day, I don’t need anyone to protect me from the evil charlatans out there trying to separate me from my hard earned dollars.

Lamp cord, box wine, cheap whisky - they all have their place. As do fine spirits and well engineered interconnects.

[JemHadar]

Originally Posted by W9TR

... As do fine spirits and well engineered interconnects.

Hear, Hear

[jimtranr]

I find Danny Richie's "antenna test" interesting in a sidebar context because I worked at San Jose's long-gone Garland Audio in, IIRC, 1978 when Bob Fulton walked in the door carrying--maybe "lugging" is more appropriate--a 28' pair of his new "Gold" 4-gauge speaker cable. The sight of it prompted John Garland to ask, "What are you doing with that towing cable, Bob?"

Fulton, as serious a guy as they come, was not amused. But Garland quit laughing after--with some hasty termination "improvisation" at both the speaker (Magneplanar Tympani 1D) and amp (a pair of ARC D-79s) screw-terminal ends--we managed to hook them up.

Fulton explained that he based his interconnect and speaker cable designs on antenna theory that posited 57" and its multiples as the ideal cable lengths to minimize noise.

(We sold a fair number of his IC's and 14' and 28' lengths of his Gold and smaller-diameter Brown speaker cables. But perhaps the most practical use of the Gold occurred when Garland moved to a new location and we had to take out a wall. Pulling it down with guess-what did the job in a hurry.)

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

I find Danny Richie's "antenna test" interesting in a sidebar context because I worked at San Jose's long-gone Garland Audio in, IIRC, 1978 when Bob Fulton walked in the door carrying--maybe "lugging" is more appropriate--a 28' pair of his new "Gold" 4-gauge speaker cable. The sight of it prompted John Garland to ask, "What are you doing with that towing cable, Bob?"

Fulton, as serious a guy as they come, was not amused. But Garland quit laughing after--with some hasty termination "improvisation" at both the speaker (Magneplanar Tympani 1D) and amp (a pair of ARC D-79s) screw-terminal ends--we managed to hook them up.

Fulton explained that he based his interconnect and speaker cable designs on antenna theory that posited 57" and its multiples as the ideal cable lengths to minimize noise.

(We sold a fair number of his IC's and 14' and 28' lengths of his Gold and smaller-diameter Brown speaker cables. But perhaps the most practical use of the Gold occurred when Garland moved to a new location and we had to take out a wall. Pulling it down with guess-what did the job in a hurry.)

I have a pair of Fulton Gold SPs in my garage! I bought them in 1980. LOL. I specifically remember that the cables could only be sold in multiples of 57".

[DaveM]

This reminded me of Snake River Audio who came up with 1.37 M as the optimal length for their Boomslang digital cables.

https://snakeriveraudio.com/index.ph...facturers_id=4

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by DaveM

This reminded me of Snake River Audio who came up with 1.37 M as the optimal length for their Boomslang digital cables.

https://snakeriveraudio.com/index.ph...facturers_id=4

Well, the reasons for an "optimal length" are well-founded. Shunyata uses 1.5 M as their optimal default minimal lengths for digital cables, and they have very sound, engineering and data-based reasons as to why.

[John Jordan]

The cable road goes "ever on and the highway never ends."

I like the wine analogy. Cheap wine can be vile. But...Is a 2000 Carruades de Lafite more enjoyable than a more recent $20 or $25 Amarone from WTSO? Well, perhaps but IMHO not twice so and certainly not 10 or 20 times so.

The opinion that best suits me is "you don't have to spend a lot, but you have to spend some." DIY cables using DH Labs wire match well to my humble sound machine Their Mirage USB is proving to be as good as any USB I have auditioned. Your Mileage Will Certainly Vary.

[2fastdriving]

As with all of these "religious wars", it really depends on what you are doing. If you have a high level of resolution, $100k+ system in a well treated room of appropriate size, every cable change is noticeable. If you have a $10k all-in system in a small untreated room, then putting a single $3k power cable in won't do much. Maybe replacing ALL the cables with 3k cords will yield some results, but it doesn't seem very cost effective relative to the rest of the gear.

Everything matters, but it's all relative.

You can put together a satisfying solution for $10k, but it's not going to be magical when you add a nice power cord.

Just my opinion!