Cable curmudgeon
I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman. Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc. After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel. He complemented me on my "good ear." Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference. However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft. Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido). Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz. But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.
Yep like I said @wesheadley dude.
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Interesting concept recommending cables with no regard to how they interface in a system.
Actually, first started investigating cables and connectors in the early 70's. Done literally hundreds of comparisons. I'll wager on a lot more diverse gear, in more locations and on more program, live and recorded, than most. When I left Los Angeles, I filled a 55 gallon garbage bin with old cable.
Far too many start at the wrong end. When searching for a new home before we left LA, realtors asked the missus "Why does he go around clapping and banging and shouting?" Get the room right, most everything else is a doddle. That's how recording studios are built. |
My system, being what it is, is very adequately served by inexpensive cables. A big issue for me has been bad connections between components and cables. As long as the contacts are all good I get the sound I want for cheap! My latest upgrade was changing my HDMI cables out to a couple grades above basic. I was getting frequent signal dropouts where the sound would just turn off and the picture would go black for a few seconds at a time. I assume that was also from intermittent contacts. If I just slightly wiggled and HDMI cable it could cause a dropout. The new HDMI cables seem to have solved the issue. As for hearing differences with cables, I think some equipment combinations are particularly sensitive to cable parameters. That sort of "revealing" characteristic is a nuisance to me, basically a design defect, although a defect for one can be a feature for another. I don’t see any evidence that basic, serviceable inexpensive cables are the cause of any meaningful destruction of information in the audible range. They’re not doing anything wrong. They’re just failing to act as a remedy. |
Let me add a little more perspective here. I wouldn’t use colored components with rolled off highs to assess any cables. I worked for Magnolia and heard more than my fair share of Mac/B&W D3 combos, and they simply gloss over too much detail to be useful in accurately determining the subtle yet critical differences between cables. Whenever a customer wanted to hear the differences in cables I deferred to other more neutral and transparent electronics so the differences could be more readily heard. |
