Cables Don't Matter That Much, It's a lot of Hype

[jdandy]

That may have been "the cable that God uses", but it seems they were made by the devil.

[jetblack]

Originally Posted by 1KW

Ok,
I really did it now, I shook the branch with the big hornets nest . I am going to get a big

Yesterday, I went to Hi Fi House and compared Audioquest mid-low level cables retailing for around $400 for two to Transparent high level cables which retail for $2000 for two. I could not hear any difference between the two, nada. I am now convinced that resistance is the most important part of a speaker cable; as long as you have the proper gauge that can handle the current and runs are short ie less than 10 feet it is hard to hear any differences. How can we have a cable thread and not have this come up ?

That's ok, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have yet to witness beatings on this forum.

All I ask is that when one uses the term 'resistance', that they be specific. Whether it be DC resistance, or AC reactance. It can make a world of difference. And then there's sheilding, and cable layout design. Let the floggings begin..............

[bradleyc]

Maybe that lower-priced Audioquest corporate wire held it's own with the good stuff, and aint so bad after all?

[tony-w]

Originally Posted by jdandy

In my humble opinion, Tara Labs owners were well aware of their actions, and fully intended to capitalize on the perception of Made In The USA. Their weak excuses were smoke and mirrors to avoid prosecution, fines, and negative publicity.

In the early 90's I believe it was after hearing Mathew Bond speak at a stereo shop seminar I almost bought their new tube preamp, at the special seminar price. Must have been the Australian accent.

[jdandy]

tony-w........I can't say whether Matthew Bond's accent is real, but he seems to be a master of talking out of both sides of his mouth and tap dancing.

[1KW]

WOW guys, I went away for a few hours with the family and I come back to all this... hmmm . Nothing like a cable thread :rant:

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

"In my humble opinion, if you don't hear the difference it is because: 1) you don't want to 2) you are trying the wrong cables."

1. Not likely that someone would take the time, effort and money to swap out cables and then not want to hear a difference. I think the opposite is true.

2. From my reading over the years, it has been my observation that folks who hear cable differences claim to hear differences no matter what cables are tried. If there are truly audible differences, and if the measurable differences, such as resistance and capacitance aren't the reason, and things such as metallurgy, dielectrics, stranding etc. are the reason, then there can't be any "wrong" cables to try, can there?

Regarding point 1. I have used non-OEM power cords on most of my equipment for years and have swapped a couple brands in and out to try and better them. Until now, no improvement over what I have been using. I wanted the current less expensive (not cheap) power cords to hold their own. They did not.

Regarding Point 2. The other variable is company's such as MIT and Transparent that have in-line Network boxes. These are placed there to impact the sound. Whether or not someone approves of those devices is up to them.

As I stated earlier in this thread the difference in sound with these cords was more apparent than the changes attributed to my PPP's, the C-1000 or the MCD-500. Just to be clear, without the benefits provided by those components it is quite possible that I would not have been able to hear the differences.

[tony-w]

Nordost has put on some very good shows at stereo shop events I've been attending recently. One was where a $32,000 cable called the ODIN replaced a much cheaper cable. Well the ODIN sounded much louder and of course a few people there thought it sounded better, but when it came time for the question and answer part their spokesman couldn't explain much. It could have been a good magic show and needed several guys to change a cable, or maybe we all need $32,000 speaker cables.
Then at the same place several months later a strange, and this is by San Francisco standards guy from Nordost with a very strong what I think was Norwegian accent gave another talk about cables and ended up saying their cost should be 90% of any good hi-end system . . .

[TommyC]

When comparing cables, it is best to do it on a system you are very familiar with, and playing a familiar tune.

It is also important that the gears are up to par. Using a 5K cable on a $500 integrated amp might not sound much different than using a $100 cable.

It is extremely hard to discern any difference in cable if you are listening to an unfamiliar song on an unfamiliar system.

Try swapping the cables back and forth, sometimes you won't be able to hear a difference until you swap back to the original cable.

Cables do make some difference in gears, but not a huge difference. But like everything else, it always takes a lot more to obtain the last few drops of performance. For someone that already has the best equipment (ie. McIntosh reference system) and room, why not invest in cables for the last 5%?

[1KW]

[QUOTE=TommyC;30919]

Cables do make some difference in gears, but not a huge difference.