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Who thinks $5K speaker cable really better than generic 14AWG cable?

I recently ordered high end speaker, power amp, and preamp to be installed in couple more weeks. So the next search are interconnect and speaker cable. After challenging the dealer and 3 of my so called audiophile friends, I think the only reason I would buy expensive cable is for its appearance to match with the high end gears but not for sound performance. I personally found out that $5K cable vs $10 cable are no difference, at least not to our ears. Prior to this, I was totally believe that cable makes a difference but not after this and reading few articles online.

Here is how I found out.

After the purchase of my system, I went to another dealer to ask for cable opinion (because the original dealer doesn't carry the brand I want) and once I told him my gears, he suggested me the high end expensive cable ranging from $5 - 10K pair, depending on length. He also suggested the minimum length must be 8-12ft. If longer than 12ft, I should upgrade to even more expensive series. So I challenged him that if he can show me the difference, I would purchase all 7 AQ Redwood cables from him.

It's a blind test and I would connect 3 different cables - 1 is the Audioquest Redwood, 1 is Cardas Audio Clear, and 1 my own generic 14AWG about 7ft. Same gears, same source, same song..... he started saying the first cable sound much better, wide, deep, bla...bla...bla......and second is decently good...bla...bla...bla.. and the last one sounded crappy and bla...bla...bla... BUT THE REALITY, I NEVER CHANGED THE CABLE, its the same 14AWG cable. I didn't disclosed and move on to second test. I told him I connected audioquest redwood but actually 14AWG and he started to praise the sound quality and next one I am connected the 14awg but actually is Redwood and he started to give negative comment. WOW!!!! Just blew me right off.

I did the same test with 3 of my audiophile friends and they all have difference inputs but no one really got it right. Especially the part where I use same generic 14awg cable and they all start to give different feedback!!!

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?
sautan904
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
@shadorne ... I don't think it's that components won't work resonably well with less pure conductors or less exotic architectures. It's the fact that many of us on here are OCD and have good hearing.. So we notice these tiny differences and then mess with what those differences offer.
I'm sure you know this. I, personally, don't have super pure copper in my cables, but having experimented with different materials and architectures has led me to believe these subtleties do make a difference. So if some say purity matters, I won't dismiss it out of hand until I experiment myself.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
"I won’t dismiss it out of hand until I experiment myself."

That statement right there negates all of the speculative bluster throughout this thread. Well said, Todd.

Dave
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
213runnin 1-23-1017
... did you know that silver conducts electricity significantly better than copper? Superior conductivity is only one of its benefits. Why don’t you google  this, you’d be surprised at the other main benefit.
The fact that silver has a lower resistivity/higher conductivity than copper is often mentioned in audiophile discussions.  But to provide some perspective:

For a given length and gauge, the resistance of silver is in the vicinity of about 6 to 8% lower than the resistance of copper.  However, simply making the copper conductor one gauge size larger will reduce its resistance by about 20%.  Also, making the copper conductor more than 8% shorter than the silver conductor would result in the copper conductor having less resistance than the silver conductor, even if both conductors are the same gauge.  Finally, in the case of line-level analog interconnects resistance is almost always insignificant anyway, in a home audio system, because it is a completely miniscule fraction of the load impedance.

So if a silver cable sounds better in a given application than a copper cable, the slightly higher conductivity/lower resistivity of silver compared to copper is very unlikely to be the reason.

Regards,
-- Al
  
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
Todd,

I would actually say our hearing is pretty unreliable when it comes to infinitessimally small differences and more often than not we think we hear something because we are expecting to!

This is why designers rely on instrumentation to test and fine tune products for QC and not ears. Otherwise everything would be handbuilt by craftspeople hand selecting what they felt sounded the best. Generally everything in audio manufacturing is prescribed right down to each capacitor - manufacturers don’t have a box of capacitors and another box of audio cables in the factory and start the day by saying "mmmm, let me see if this sounds nice" - everything is built to specifications using components that have a range of tolerances.

Anyone who frets about 99.9999 pure copper in their cables ought to worry about about the typical tolerances on capacitors, which is 20%!!!!! Worse - most capacitors vary performance with voltage as well as temperature!!!! Maybe those fretful special quality cable folks ought to be worried about controlling room temperatures to within 0.01 degrees or at least placing their components in a tightly temperature and humidity controlled cabinet.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
"manufactures don't have a box of capacitors and another box of audio cables in the factory and start the day by saying "mmmm, let me see if this sounds nice" - everything is built to specifications using components that have a range of tolerances."

Exactly why it is up to the customer to experiment.

Dave

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