Most Beneficial Cable Upgrade

you don,t get it do you? i can hear. you must let the power cord have some energy thru it for a while for it to settle in. this makes a/bs virtually impossible. if you can't hear a difference then that is your problem. a/bs have been discredited anyway because the initial brighter sound may be more impressive at the beginning but after a while may not be what an improvement at all. this is why people that know what good sound is do not do a/bs. they listen for a few days and understand and comprehend what they are sensing. yes,,sensing. as in hearing. try it.as for liking a cable because it is attractive and expensive you need to try some various products out there. some of the best sounding are not jewlery for your system.

Matjet, All I'm suggesting ( and it only an idea that came to me recently....could be a terrible idea!)
is to place a mic in front of a real high end full range system and record with a suitable digital recorder a number of music tracks with the whole system wired up with ...say a loom of the 'pro' grade cables ...the type that the cable skeptics say are more than good enough (Belden for example.)
Then without changing anything,,mic position volume settings etc, replace all cables with say a real high end loom, something like Nordost Odin for example.
Then record same tracks. Then burn onto a cd, so track 1 is with beldens followed immediately with track 1 with Odins .
Then you can sit back in comfort and listen to the cd without worrying about all the things cable skeptics say will influence you're hearing.... Blood pressure changes due to changing the cables!. Time delay due to changing cables etc , etc.
and hopefully be able to form an opinion as to wether you can hear a difference and if it's an improvement and worthwhile or not.
Is only an idea but surly worth a try by somebody?

doesn,t matter if the lights are on or not. there are always some distractions like glowing meters, ugly leds, computer screen, traffic outside, kid plotting a sneak attack from behind. i hope you will accept my apology for my strident response earlier. i think you could hear a difference in better matched cables. you surely have good taste and accumen with the nice system you have. the a/b issue is loaded with difficulties because i do not think it is possible to absolutely control the variables. and the subjective comparison process is suspect. please answer this. why do audio enthusiasts doubt a cable making an improvement but many have little idea what their crossover is built with, or how their speakers internal wiring is designed? there are many other analogous questions in electronics construction. almost every audio product has some cost/performance compromises built in. an example of this is a stock pair of magnepans and a modified pair. even the owner of the company has said a metal frame would make them sound better but is not feasable due to cost, shipping etc. so just try some ac cords and turn the lights down for a double win. thanks and i enjoy your entries. jbc

pcoombs, great idea. i don,t know why kimber or another cable company with resources has not done this. maybe they are concentrating on their cables and theory and experimentation. maybe they are letting us have our own fun out here. only fanactics really care about this. the rest of the world doesn,t care as they are looking for skins or cases for their ipod/iphone.

Pcoombs, you don't need a microphone for your comparison. The room and the microphone add too much coloration and don't add anything positive to the comparison. Simply plug the power cords into an amp or preamp and record thru the tape out circuit. You can even make alllowances for the power cord to settle in and then A/B to your heart's delight.

But some people think A/B comparisons are a problem.

a/bs have been discredited

and

a/b issue is loaded with difficulties because i do not think it is possible to absolutely control the variables

I suggest that you lack the imagination to design a limited variable A/B comparison. It's easily done. (I will admit that your use of the word "absolutely" does give you wiggle room.) The hard part, as with most experiments, is interpreting and drawing conclusions from the data.

Recording engineers use A/B comparisons every day. Which mic to use with this vocalists? Do a few test recordings with different mics and A/B listen to the results. It doesn't take days. At what level should the lead vocal be placed in the mix? Do a few different mixes while varying the vocal level and then A/B listen for what you think sounds right. There are nearly a countless number of decision like these in any recording sessions and engineers/producers/musicians rely upon an A/B comparison to determine what sound they want to use. And they don't take days to do it.