Here is a simple experiment for those who don't believe speaker cables make a difference (or those who are unsure how much).
1) Find a telephone or cat cable that you are not using and willing to destroy. Take it apart so that you have two sets of twisted pairs (i.e. 4 single wires).
2) Connect them to replace your speaker cables using a single wire for each connection. Best to use the coloured wires as positive and the white wires as negative so you don't mix them up.
3) Play music.
4) Now remove your new telephone wire speaker cables and replace them with what you think are the best speaker cables you have in the house.
5) Play music.
The difference should be dramatic and very clearly demonstrate that "cables" do make a difference. If you cannot easily hear a difference, you need to either change your system (or the weak link in your system) or replace your ears. I would expect that somewhere over 90% of the people on this forum would find the difference between cables stark and obvious. It is simple physics, the telephone wire will be unable to properly carry the audio signal, particularly the low frequencies.
Now that we have established that cables absolutely DO make a difference, the next question is how much difference is there between proper basic cables and the "expensive" stuff. It is the real question that we are asking.
From my experience, one of the easiest ways to compare is to use a well recorded drum track. Perhaps use a Japanese Taiko drum album or similar Chinese drums. Make sure they include the big, deep sounding drums with plenty of chance to listen to the drum harmonics between beats. Its easy to listen for the following:
A) After a drum strike, those big drums should have harmonics that last several seconds, depending on recording and drums, at least 4-5 seconds.
B) Listen to the big drums in particular. Do they sound like flabby farts, or can you visualize how tight the drum skins are. With a good system (especially full-range), the difference between cables will be clearly evident.
With cables that are a good match for your system, you will instantly see the drums as much as hear them. It will be very engaging, you will be eagerly anticipating the next strike. If the cables do not perform well, the drums will sound sloppy and you will quickly get bored. It's like they forgot to tighten the drum skins.
It is actually quite amazing how much difference the cables can make. It can really transform a good, but non musical system into a magical sounding system.
As many others here have said, the price of the cables has only some influence on the quality. The most important aspect is system matching. As a one time cable agnostic, I wasted much time and money on components, when my speaker cables were the weak link all along. Until I replaced them with something better, I was only spinning my wheels. When I first discovered the difference it was revelatory!
Have a great 2017 everyone!
1) Find a telephone or cat cable that you are not using and willing to destroy. Take it apart so that you have two sets of twisted pairs (i.e. 4 single wires).
2) Connect them to replace your speaker cables using a single wire for each connection. Best to use the coloured wires as positive and the white wires as negative so you don't mix them up.
3) Play music.
4) Now remove your new telephone wire speaker cables and replace them with what you think are the best speaker cables you have in the house.
5) Play music.
The difference should be dramatic and very clearly demonstrate that "cables" do make a difference. If you cannot easily hear a difference, you need to either change your system (or the weak link in your system) or replace your ears. I would expect that somewhere over 90% of the people on this forum would find the difference between cables stark and obvious. It is simple physics, the telephone wire will be unable to properly carry the audio signal, particularly the low frequencies.
Now that we have established that cables absolutely DO make a difference, the next question is how much difference is there between proper basic cables and the "expensive" stuff. It is the real question that we are asking.
From my experience, one of the easiest ways to compare is to use a well recorded drum track. Perhaps use a Japanese Taiko drum album or similar Chinese drums. Make sure they include the big, deep sounding drums with plenty of chance to listen to the drum harmonics between beats. Its easy to listen for the following:
A) After a drum strike, those big drums should have harmonics that last several seconds, depending on recording and drums, at least 4-5 seconds.
B) Listen to the big drums in particular. Do they sound like flabby farts, or can you visualize how tight the drum skins are. With a good system (especially full-range), the difference between cables will be clearly evident.
With cables that are a good match for your system, you will instantly see the drums as much as hear them. It will be very engaging, you will be eagerly anticipating the next strike. If the cables do not perform well, the drums will sound sloppy and you will quickly get bored. It's like they forgot to tighten the drum skins.
It is actually quite amazing how much difference the cables can make. It can really transform a good, but non musical system into a magical sounding system.
As many others here have said, the price of the cables has only some influence on the quality. The most important aspect is system matching. As a one time cable agnostic, I wasted much time and money on components, when my speaker cables were the weak link all along. Until I replaced them with something better, I was only spinning my wheels. When I first discovered the difference it was revelatory!
Have a great 2017 everyone!