What cable do you use

[EfeTe]

Currently Wireworld and The Chord Company.

[tony-w]

Medium-end cables, such as Nordost, Audioquest, Monster, and whatever else I've won in a drawing, or was given. I consider cables to be mostly a placebo, with power cords being a scam, and doing nothing, except in audio shops. There they have demonstrations, with the most expensive power cord always sounding the best. They're always a lot of fun! It's like going to a magic show!

[Budgie]

I just use decent cables, but nothing more than 20$ a piece. Everything more is throwing money out of the window. The thing is: what you can't measure with high technology equipment, you can't hear. It's just the imagination running away with you (free after a lovely song...).

[krustycat]

[emoji50] [emoji54] [emoji44]

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by Budgie

I just use decent cables, but nothing more than 20$ a piece. Everything more is throwing money out of the window. The thing is: what you can't measure with high technology equipment, you can't hear. It's just the imagination running away with you (free after a lovely song...).

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by tony-w

Medium-end cables, such as Nordost, Audioquest, Monster, and whatever else I've won in a drawing, or was given. I consider cables to be mostly a placebo, with power cords being a scam, and doing nothing, except in audio shops. There they have demonstrations, with the most expensive power cord always sounding the best. They're always a lot of fun! It's like going to a magic show!

Let me see if I understand what you are saying. You go to shops and listen to demonstrations where the most expensive power cord sounds the best. Yet, you say it is a scam. That means you don't believe your own ears.

[PHC1]

To answer the question "what cables do you use", I will answer Transparent and WireWorld. To comment on the remarks about "whether cables work or not and if they can't be measured, the difference can not be heard". It's not that simple...

They can and do make a difference. Having said that, over the first 10 years or so of my 30+ year journey of the high end audio hobby, me and my audiophile buddies used to love to get together and evaluate whatever the new cable or component was, at least weekly. We were fortunate to have a fantastic audio store near us that dealt with ALL the top lines of the 80's and 90's and had a HUGE turnover in pre-owned gear. The hobby was in its full swing then. Taking gear home on loan/home audition was quite the norm then.

Over those 10 years we developed a very simple method of evaluating components and cables. Always using ONLY very familiar tracks, we would take turns walking out of the room and being careful not to observe what cable or component was actually installed by the other friend in the playback system (that was easy to do as the gear was on the other side of the room and only speakers looking forward). We had to listen at least a few times to the same track with the "old" cable and then walk out, walk back in and get right down to listening without knowing...

With cables, it was almost NEVER a 3 for 3. Quite often we would "guess" and "miss".

If you are ever evaluating ANYTHING, have a friend do a blind test for you and you will be amazed just how much WE IMAGINE...

[Budgie]

Blind tests are impossible to evaluate, for the simple reason there is always a 'space of time' between two listen sessions (you have to change the cables - or not... - and that takes some time). In the meantime your hearing and mind is 'reset', and then... ooh yes, this sounds better, or worse, or the same? Blind guess, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. I keep saying: what high measurement equipment can't detect, a human being can't hear. And that is the same thing my hifi supplier tells me. He has has all these expensive cable stuff in his shop (customer is king), and he advises me to buy just decent ones. No difference at all, except for my wallet. I even could try some of this stuff, and he was right: a waste of time and money.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Budgie

Blind tests are impossible to evaluate, for the simple reason there is always a 'space of time' between two listen sessions (you have to change the cables - or not... - and that takes some time). In the meantime your hearing and mind is 'reset', and then... ooh yes, this sounds better, or worse, or the same? Blind guess, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. I keep saying: what high measurement equipment can't detect, a human being can't hear. And that is the same thing my hifi supplier tells me. He has has all these expensive cable stuff in his shop (customer is king), and he advises me to buy just decent ones. No difference at all, except for my wallet. I even could try some of this stuff, and he was right: a waste of time and money.

Over time your ears are trained much better and a track is typically broken down analytically so that one pays attention to specific things and not the “macro” presentation that the typical non-audiophiles hear. Critical listening, audiophiles can’t help it. That however hardly matters as the results are typically still either no different or so insignificantly different that the cost vs perceived improvement is hard to justify. “Just decent” cables is typically a good starting point for sure. I certainly do not own any cables that exceed $1k. Even speaker cables that are my favorite were actually only a few hundred bucks. They are yet to be dethroned for sheer overall presentation and musicality.

[Budgie]

Oh yes, I'm an non-audiophile, so I don't hear the difference, and after 58 years my ears are still not trained. I hope it will happen some day. Audiophiles: a species of mankind with special ears. Like Johova witnesses: special species of mankind with very strong feet. Something like that? I can't believe some people believe all the bullshit that goes round on this topic. My speaker cables did cost 15$, no more (4 mm2, 5m long each, amp and speakers 200w). And they are doing hell of a job, believe me.