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Opening a can of worms

Here is the can filled with opinions. It's been hashed and rehashed to infinity and beyond with no clear result. Since I am a seeker of truth I'll post my thoughts here for the yea and naysayers to debate over. Question is: Are expensive speaker or any other cable in a system worth the exorbitant cost over a reasonably priced cable loom? I thought I'd  experiment myself to find out. My comparison is between Transparent Ultra cable loom and Blue Jeans cable loom on a pure stereo system comprised of Proceed PAV,  Proceed PDSD,  Krell Kav 250, Musical Fidelity A3cd, Sony Ps4300 TT and B&W 803D2 speakers. All sources were used by this experiment using identical playback material. Cables had in excess of 200 hrs burn time and all were identical in lenght. The only variation were the connector manufacturers.
One change that occurred during this 4 week long endeavor was that I'm firmly seated on the sharpest picket on the fence.
My result is that I'm now a believer that there are audible differences in cables. I also believe that these differences are minute and one has to really listen carefully and for a long time to discern these differences.
Now to the crutch of the matter, $$$$$, As we all know Transparent Cables would reside in the upper tier of Audio Cable expense.  Blue Jeans Cable on the other hand falls into the lowest tier of expense (well maybe not lowest but low nontheless )
One would think then that the Transparent would be far superior to the BJs. Not really! Yes the highs were a little cleaner, mids a little tighter and lows a tad more pronounced but not by as much as one would expect. Soundstage was somewhat more open and airy and depth was somewhat more defined with the higher priced cable but again less than one would expect. 

Now for my personal opinion regarding the cable debate: expensive cable looms are slightly better than reasonable priced looms, if a dollar equals a penny to you then by all means opt for the higher priced loom, if a penny equals a penny don't be ashamed for opting for the best you can do. The differences are so minute that it's not worth going into debt over. BOTH looms sounded superb on my test system and I would be happy with either loom.

Now let the debate begin, just know I'm a fence sitter and not in one camp or the other
gillatgh
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
Correct, with some speakers (cones) there are audible differences in cables, because they change the complex impedance that the driver "sees."

One could call the difference minute - it is certainly not as large as using a different speaker.

And, there is no reason whatsoever to waste a lot of $$ on expensive cables - just keep swapping them at a cable rental place until happy (or until worn out, if you are the type of audiophool who is never happy).

The use the $$ you saved to build a new listening room, constructed for the very best SQ.

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Looks like the transparent ultra cables have a black box which probably houses a filter.

If you add a filter then it likely will sound different and audibly so in many cases.

This is normal. This is what filters do. Of course at no cost you could use a tone control too but whatever floats your boat. 
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
It would be great to live in a world where changing a piece of wire brought about an improvement in sound quality! Alas...
Post removed 
blindjim
3,092 posts
 

OP
Is any cable worth its exorbitant cost?

Depends on what you call ‘exorbitant’, doesn’t it?

How deep, if at all, does one wade into the pool is their own question to answer. Anytime. Everytime. On any thing.

Everything is relative. Most of my problems are relative so I stay away from my relatives as much as possible.

I have found the sonic results of wires are similar to the results one gets from calling insureance companies for quotes on car insurance.

Open the phone book, start with the A’s, and you’ll get a different price from each and every one of them. Some by a lot. Some not so much. But all are different. In fact, some won’t even insure you depending on your current carrier, and as such could loosely equate to those cables few can afford or are exorbitantly priced.

Blue Jeans & transparent? I would not say those two makers are even anything resembling extreme ends of the industries cross section based on price, or popularity. It does however, make up two wire brands…. You have a very long ways to go to make sure your hypothesis is ‘global’ rather than between one tiny segment of the industry. At least two of them are quantified and qualified now.

I recall years back, maybe ’04, ’05 a poster here said they opened the box on several wire makers cables. MIT, Transparent, Shunyata, and maybe a few more. There were posted pics which supposedly showed pretty clearly, there was nothing substantial inside the boxes. One post said they found only a stick, or peg, or rod with a wire wrapped around it.

Of these brands, MIT, Shunyata, and SR cabling and electrical renumerating power strips, do alter the sonic presentation with their proprietary technologies, IMHO.

The only cable maker in this list I’ve not had any good results with has been Transparent. I have not tried every model they make. Just a few. Certainly I’ve had EXP with many, many, other wire makers models.

I’ve posted loads of cable reviews on these pages in the past. It’s a boring, lengthy, frustrating affair, and one restricted to those who are irretrievably pedantic, and expecially true for those who wish to fully optimize their cable loom by using different makes and models for specific ends..

Blue Jeans offers a decent value but it is easily surpassed if one wishes to do some testing, it usually won’t take long to find better than BJ although it will take a fair amount more money and time.

Congrats!!!

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