Interconnects and power cables same manufacterer

Marketing ploy. I simply use whatever sounds best in a given application. It's rarely from the same manufacturer. If you don't have the time and resources to evaluate many cables and cords, I suppose the next best thing would be to use wire from the same manufacturer. It's a daunting job fine tuning a system with cables and it all has to be done at home in your own system. Using wire from one manufacturer can lead to a specific house sound you may or may not like.

This question was debated at length in this thread, which focused mainly on power cords but also touched on other cables as well.

There was, of course, no consensus.

11-05-12: Tom6897
A single Manufacturer will "Know" that all of their cables and interconnects "play well" together and have complimentary electrical characteristics. They will not be fighting each other and creating bad match-ups.

I would respectfully disagree with this. Many and arguably most cable effects, at least those that are technically explainable, are dependent on technical characteristics of the components that are being connected. Input and output impedances for example, among MANY other things.

I cited several component dependencies relating to power cords in this post in the thread I linked to above.

With respect to interconnect cables, consider a comparison between two cables, one having relatively high capacitance and one having relatively low capacitance. When driven by a preamplifier or other line-level component having relatively high output impedance, the higher capacitance cable will have a duller and less extended upper treble than the lower capacitance cable, everything else being equal. That will be a consequence of the interaction between the capacitance of the cable and the output impedance of the component driving it. But if those same two cables are compared when being used as phono cables, in conjunction with a moving magnet cartridge, the exact opposite will usually be true -- the higher capacitance cable will have a brighter and more extended upper treble. That will be a consequence of the interaction between the capacitance of the cable and the inductance of the cartridge.

Similarly, the sonic effects of speaker cables will be dependent on speaker impedance, variation of speaker impedance as a function of frequency, use of feedback in the amplifier, amplifier bandwidth, criticality of woofer damping, and other variables.

And a whole litany of complex component-dependent interactions and technical variables could be cited with respect to sonic differences that will be perceived between digital cables.

So the manufacturer of a one-brand cable loom cannot assure that the cables will play well together, because they play primarily with the components they are connecting, not with each other.

IMO. Other opinions will certainly differ in some cases, as can be seen in the other thread.

Regards,
-- Al

Marketing ploy par excellence, IMHO.

since all components have a "sound", it is possible that a designer is (trying to) create a "sound", explicitly, or, he will create a "sound", implicitly as the designer of all components in the stereo system.

i concur with almarg's analysis regarding the interactions of electronics and cables. there are other interactions among , say preamp and amp, which will affect the cable's effect upon the sound of a stereo system.

for example, suppose there is an impedance mismatch between the output impedance of a preamp and the input impedance of an amp, would the affect nullify a cable's capacitance effect, as in the case of a preamp having a high output impedance, feeding a signal to an amplifier. i would think the affect upon frequency response would depend upon the output impedance of an amp. i believe there are other component interactions that affect a cable's performance, which almarg may cite.

hopefully, a manufacture of all components will make sure that there are no ill effects when configuring, source, preamp, amp and speaker, and will design his cables in such a way to create what ever sonic signature he intends, even if his stated objective is not to create a sonic signature.

many designers state a criterion of non interference or minimal interference with a signal, but upon careful listening, one notices some form of coloration.