James Randi vs. Anjou Pear - once and for all

Shadorne, I'd try some of the entry level Audioquest like Type 2 or Type 4. Both are solid core copper cables with the Type 4 being a heavier gauge. You can buy them raw for a few bucks a foot and not have to pay for termination.

Within the realm of slight audible differences, I find that these solid core cables sound a bit tighter in the bass than stranded cables generally. Solid core cables also tend to be a little smoother in the highs. No hocus pocus.

Shadorne,
What I am suggesting is that some "high-end" read "expensive" cables are in fact not worth their asking price and do in fact offer a negligible price to performance ratio as well as lower then acceptable ultimate performance given their asking prices. SO if cables DO NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE then it should not matter which high end (expensive) cable challenges the Monster Cable and the choice of which cable takes on the Monster should be in the hands (and ears) of the challenger; and not a "ringer cable" selected by a person looking to prove ALL HIGH CABLES ARE JIVE; who will then take his "challenge results" to smear the real high end cable players whose cables do make a huge difference. Again if cables do not matter then the cable that takes on the Monster should not matter either. But it does matter, then this proves that (some) cables do in fact make a significant difference.

If I were I taking this bet I would select Synergistic Research Precision Reference Active Speaker cable ($2800) or Synergistic Research Active Apex speaker cables ($4600). These cables are significantly better then any cable I have ever heard in my system and I have owned cables that were several times more expensive then Synergistic Research Tesla Series cables. Perhaps some high end cables are little more then "snake oil" but Synergistic Research Tesla cables represent a paradigm shift in audio playback that is easily heard when compared to other high end cables- I'll bet you.

LM

LM,

Good point. That is the trouble with any test...it does not prove that all cables do not make a difference....only those two tested.

However, perhaps the idea is to show that a rave review may not be as authentic as it is made out to be.

>>>> perhaps the idea is to show that a rave review may not be as authentic as it is made out to be.<<<<

Shadorne,
I agree with you- a lot of mediocre and over priced cable and audio gear for that matter garners undeserved rave reviews however I doubt that this is the gist of this exercise. It will be interesting to follow the fall out after the challenge is met however I have an idea as to the outcome- most likely "my test proves once and for all that ALL high end ables are fraud"

Time will tell.
LM

I was recently a sucker for the cable hype, but was enlightened by a person who requested that I remove all of my high end Nordost Cable and replace it with Monster Cable to see if I noticed any loss in quality of sound. To my surprise after a week of listening, I didn't miss the high end cable at all. I then invested all of that money into a high end CD/SACD player where I noticed a BIG improvement in sound quality. The idea is to put your money where it makes the most difference. Who cares about the super-duper specs of high end cable if you can't hear, or can barely hear the difference.