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a/b interconnect cable comparison single ended

here is an approach to help to determine which of two cables is least colored.

asuume there exists two cables : a and b. you will need two female to female connectors.

select recordings. listen to stereo system with cable a. take good notes. listen to stereo system with cable b. allow appropriate interval between listening sessions to avoid loss of acuity. again, take notes.

listen to cable a + coupler + cable b. take good notes.
listen to cable b + coupler + cable a. take good notes

you have 4 conditions to compare. use the results to help determine which of the two cables alters the sound more than the other.

yes, the coupler may add some "coloration" and yes the reults are anecdotal and highly subjective. but, hopefully, a good first step. perhaps there are other suggestions and improvements to this process.
mrtennis
jafox
1,456 posts
 
I do not understand how CableA-coupler-CableB is different than CableB-coupler-CableA.

The coolest way to do this is to use a line stage's tape monitor loop. You have the added RCA connectors on the line stage and the monitor switch itself, but these will be miniscule vs. the cable differences. And whatever detriments are caused here will be reflected by either cable.

Use CableA from source to line stage or line stage to amp and CableB from tape-outs to tape-ins. Toggle the tape monitor switch to engage/disengage CableB into the system and document the sonic changes caused by CableB when it is engaged. Repeat the test with the cable roles reversed. Whichever cable in the tape monitor loop causes the greater sonic changes between the 2 switch positions is the more "colored" cable.

On some older preamps, I believe the ARC SP11 and SP15, that had two tape loops, you could have an independent CableC as the IC used for the signal and engage CableA and CableB through the 2 tape monitor loops back and forth and then neither of them engaged.

John
sean
6,231 posts
 
John's idea of using the tape look to simply route signal through the cable is a good one, but there is one catch. That is, if you've not used the tape loops to any great extent, just switching them into the circuit will change the sonics regardless of the cables under test. This obviously has to do with "break in" and many will think that it is kinda crazy, but it is true. If in doubt, plug your CD player into a different input that you don't normally use ( NOT a phono input ) and see if you can hear a difference. We've done this using even mass produced receivers and the differences between various inputs was quite evident, even to the "non-audiophiles" that first noticed the differences in their system. Sean
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usblues
1,217 posts
 
Thanks Sean and John,going to try that,cheers,Bob
Post removed 
sean
6,231 posts
 
Jea48: Using the tape loop allows one to use their existing set-up and simply switch the interconnects in and out of the system instantaneously. No need to remove, replace, reconnect, etc... All of this at a flip of a switch WITHOUT altering the load impedances by running cabling in parallel to two different input jacks. Sean
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