How can we hear the difference in cables in a bad room?

My room and, especially, my set up sucks.  But the benefits and toll taken by cables are easily heard.  I think the neutrality of the system as much as the technical proficiency - detail, taughtness and such -play a part too.   A colored system will easily cover up any subtle cable benefits whether it’s the equipment or the room.  It’s how badly they are colored and do they complement each other that matters.  

Hi OP,
I've thought about this and read a little bit.


I think the answer is that our brain spends a LOT of time and effort filtering out room acoustics. There's been research done for instance on how much more tiring having a meeting or studying in a bad sounding room is. Your brain is literally splitting energy between hearing speakers, hearing the room, separating one from the other and also attempting to learn and assimilate more data.


Based on visiting a few audio conferences I've come to the conclusion that people vary a lot in how sensitive to this they are. 

For me, my audio room HAS to be well treated, and after a day of working in an open cubicle environment, to my brain it is like going to a mountain top and being able to see for miles. It's soothing.

Here's a really good way to show what I'm talking about. Take a recording of people talking in a room, or just of your system playing music.

Then listen on head phones. Magically, you hear all the room acoustics for the first time, and once you practice, you can learn to hear it in the room in real time.

What this shows to me is that we do hear those room acoustics, but our brain is actively routing them into the trash for us.

I think the answer is that our brain spends a LOT of time and effort filtering out room acoustics.

Well, no. No way. 

I mean, a lot of time? So think about it. Please. For like ten seconds.

Proto-human hears slithering snake about to strike. But the photo-human brain has to spend a lot of time filtering out cave acoustics, vs tree limb acoustics, vs... BAM! Snake bite. No more photo-human. Hey! You! Out of the gene pool!!

Not to mention every speaker, amp, wire, and component ever made sounds nothing like the real thing. Every single one of em brings its own full menu of distortions, omissions, and artifacts to the game. If our brains had to spend any time at all filtering out all these differences we'd never even begin to be able to enjoy listening to music. Wouldn't even be music, at least not as far as our overburdened brains were concerned. It'd all be indecipherable noise.

Whatever it is and however its done the one thing we can be sure of is its lightening fast. Or at least faster than a snake.

I encourage everyone who is interested to actually do some research instead of knee-jerk responding to a topic brand new to them.

Best,
E