Do your ears deceive you?

For those audiophiles following this thread and are still on the fence as to what to believe, there is no easy-to-grasp one answer fits all. Some cables in fact do not make a difference, regardless of their cost; some do, but in very small degrees of improvement; others degrade the signal, to audible effect; some are good enough to hear the jump in sound quality enough not to want o live without; some listeners, as with the way they see, listen very very well, while just as many others are not as able to catch or observe things they see or hear; most cables cannot be spoken of in isolation of the systems they sit in, together with the impedances that come before or after, as they are part of a profound relationship of the entire signal chain; the rare few do perform at such a high level, the entire signal chain may matter less. 

The first vital thing in all this, is that the effect of all cables, however impactful one may feel their improvement to sound in their system, is often considerably smaller and subtle in relation to everything else to be considered in a system. The second vital thing is, commonly, regardless of how small the difference may be, its specific nuance of difference to sound realism can be so great, it cannot be unheard if one has sufficiently developed listening ability to discern that difference.

The last vital thing is in being very honest knowing what kind of a listener you are, and if developing better listening skills while putting effort to understanding the specific signal chain making up your entire system, is worth the time and passion in your quest for hearing the sheer realism of reproduced sound in playback equipment. If indeed it is not worth your time and money, it would be obviously silly to put money into equipment, cables or anything one does not hear the benefit of. Sit back, calm down, and don’t waste your time trying to persuade others to be like you - it is perfectly ok not to driven by the pursuit of the highest levels of sound realism.

But if your passion drives your chase of the dragons tail in this crazy and wonderful hobby of ours, know it will be a very very difficult journey, fraught with countless demos, experiments, frustrating moments, and wasteful decisions, as there as so many variables and relationships in any signal chain to consider. There is no easy road here. Just know the journey will be absolutely worth its while.

In friendship - kevin 

@kevn,

Not a bad explanation but it’s a lot simpler than that.

If your system is of sufficient quality, one can absolutely hear a difference in cables.

It’s easily demonstrable.

My issue isn’t whether or not someone can hear a difference, my issue is that if one CANNOT hear a difference in their system, then no one else should be able to either.

Or similarly "I can’t measure it with a multimeter, therefore it cannot exist."

I don’t know why a tiny little fuse makes a difference in sound quality in a $6000 amplifier or preamplifier. All I know is that it does. $200-$300 for that improvement is a bargain.

I don’t know why 2 different strands of copper wire (or silver, or whatever) sound different than a coat hanger. All I know is that they do.

I don’t know why a $10 power cable sounds different than a $500 power cable, but it does.

I don’t owe anyone an explanation. I don’t care what equipment anyone runs, or what anyone else thinks. I don’t need double blind testing, nor am I seeking anyone’s approval. I don’t need a bunch of people to come over and tell me which ones THEY like best, or if they can hear a difference at all. I don’t care what anyone ese thinks. What matters to me is what I hear, and what I think.

Herd mentality.

Buy what you want, listen to what you like. If cables didn’t make a difference, why do I have boxes of extra cables sitting around? And btw, not all of them are the "cheaper" alternatives to what I’m currently using. Some cables sound better with certain pieces of equipment than others. THAT’S why I have boxes of cables sitting around. So when I swap a component in/out (which I do fairly often, especially CD players), I have options to experiment with, TO FIND OUT WHAT SOUNDS BEST.

Those of us that believe cables play an important role in fine tuning an audio system are not trying to convince anyone. Time, effort and money are needed that could derail the casual Audiophile in finding out the truth. In conclusion fine detail and subtle nuances are IMO what HEA is about. Not everyone has the same level of passion and interest in this hobby/lifestyle. 

@panzrwagn "Maybe you could define of what a sufficient system is made."

@coralking "One where you can hear the differences between cables."

Interesting question and points. A musician family buddy, also a very capable audiophile and I traded and listened to a substantial collection of interconnect and speaker cables on three different systems years back. It was a valuable exercise to check ourselves, the systems, our hearing, and beliefs about different cables.

On system A, we noted cables changes and the differences were very evident. On system B, a bit harder to discern notable differences yet still there to a smaller degree. On system C, a lower level quality system was much more difficult to discern differences to justify any of the higher $ sets of cables. Afterwards, moved cables from system C, back to system A, and quickly realized differences again.

A time consuming and expensive journey for sure to buy & try different cable setups if you don’t have a loaner program or friends to trade with to try different setups and combinations. 

The element of "negative bias" is not often discussed here.  A concept is proposed that "pegs the needle on your BS meter."  Then, reluctantly, (perhaps to prove someone WRONG!!) you listen anyway.  Astonishingly (and, sometimes embarrassingly) you have to admit there IS something there after all!! Ears 10: Brain 0:.

I can think of a minimum of 3 instances in my audio life where I was certain my knowledge base was complete (well, complete enough to reject THIS premise), only to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer -- and better for it.