The Science of Cables

So.. Belden ’confirms’ the existing science of high end cables.

So cable haters and naysayers....where’s your hater god now?

Please don't equate well designed cables with the 'EQ filters' that so many 'high end' cables represent.

Has anyone tried Iconoclast cables?  How they compared to some high end cables such as SilTech Crystal Absolute Dream that costs about $9K each?

I've read the articles from Iconoclast and it's refreshing to see someone who discussed these issues with no prejudice or preconceptions.  

One thing I still don't understand is which cable parameters that are responsible for what we call "transparency"?  How do we measure "transparency" in cables?  I mean we measure "LCR", impedance, propagation time and so on but how can we translate all of those parameters into "transparency"?  Hm... I see a bunch of black a$$ ... err I mean black art lols.

Years ago I bought some cables from Blue Jeans which I think they use Belden cables.  The price is about $100 a pair which sounded pretty decent.  Then after a few years I bought a pair of QED silver cables which cost a little bit more at about $150 a pair but the QED sounds much more musical and transparent compared to the Blue Jeans.  The QED construction suggests a much more sophisticated technique was used compared to the Blue Jeans.  My guess is the QED construction was optimized for "TIME" which was discussed extensively in the Iconolcast technical papers. 

I quickly went to Iconoclast website to see how much a pair of 8ft speaker cables cost - about 1400 to 2400 depending on the material and configuration.  Definitely not cheap!  

My current cables is Acoustic Zen Hologram II which is $1200 at 8ft.  Hmm...  I initially thought Iconoclast would be some type of cable Robinhood lols.  It would be very interesting if someone could compare the Iconoclast to some well known cables at similar price.

One thing I still don't understand is which cable parameters that are responsible for what we call "transparency"

It depends on what's stuck on the cable ends.

For example, a loudspeaker with excessive group delay and a ringy tweeter may require a cable that makes a more coherent speaker sound 'polite'. A tube amp with a puffy bottom may require a cable that makes a solid state amp sound anemic.

HiFi's great shame is too close a focus on parts and not enough on the system, iow "Not seeing the woods for the trees."

@andy2 

In regards transparency there is a great quote from the late Charley Hansen of Ayre electronics which unfortunately I can't find but roughly paraphrased goes something like this. Most people try to gain greater transparency by upping the intensity of the light ( in cable speak upping high frequencies which has been the standard method used for decades now to try to achieve some modicum of transparency ) we just clean the window ( or in cable speak drop the noise floor ) That can be most effectively achieved in a cable assembly by simply extending the bandwidth, either by use of a cable doubling, or the way TEO Audio does it which is using a liquid metal conductor. In both cases the cable generated noise generated by wave reflections due to impedance mismatches is reduced producing a cleaner window ( the analogy would be reducing room generated reflections and producing a room that is a more acoustically transparent musical setting ). One could, of course, also apply vibration control to clean the window by reducing the effects of micro-phonics but successful solutions along this path are harder to execute because standard vibration control protocols, while producing lower noise floors numbers, also produce phase shift which is something that slurs a signal and thus diminishes any transparency gains ( and the ear brain doesn't respond well/take kindly to phase shifts ).