DO CABLES REALLY MATTER?


Yes they do.  I’m not here to advocate for any particular brand but I’ve heard a lot and they do matter. High Fidelity reveal cables, Kubala Sosna Elation and Clarity Cable Natural. I’m having a listening session where all of them is doing a great job. I’ve had cables that were cheaper in my system but a nicely priced cable that matches your system is a must.  I’m not here to argue what I’m not hearing because I have a pretty good ear.  I’m enjoying these three brands today and each is presenting the music differently but very nicely. Those who say cables don’t matter. Get your ears checked.  I have a system that’s worth about 30 to 35k retail.  Now all of these brands are above 1k and up but they really are performing! What are your thoughts. 
calvinj
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Prof I just want to re-enforce your comments on the profit incentive in the bolstering of unsupportable claims. This IS why the FDA steps in in medical claims requiring challenging testing to be a "player". Much is still allowed especially in the non FDA aproved areas. You can bet if someone elses money (well, your money but aggregated) was paying for cables as in medical insurance, this would be a rather different conversation with different stakeholders..But I can certainly agree with those who say "it's MY money and this is friggin' audio!". 
But people should understand the financial incentive by the audio industry to get us to spend all kinds of money on dubious premises. Note I do not include visual and structural aesthetics, bling factors, long durability, company location  or business model etc etc etc as not perfectly valid contributors to buying choices.  But SELLING specifically on fraudulant claims deserves pushback. So this is mine, among many others, including the tireless prof. Thanks.
And yes djones51, welcome, all your thought are entirely resonable and many in this hobby agree but you will be amazed at the efforts and sometimes sadly, vitriol that may be directed at such "heresy". Keep your high water boots handy but enjoy your piece of the audio/music hobby.
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Here's a tale from the old school/used side of the tracks.  Few weeks back I bought a Wadia 170i (10 yrs old) to use with a few ipods I own.  Hooked it up to an 18 yr old dac I had in the 'spares' closet.  I used a set of DH Labs IC from the dac to the pre.  VERY pleased with the sound but the highs were a bit 'tizzy'.  I've read this can be an effect of high jitter so I'm looking into a new dac but I decided in the meanwhile to attempt to 'calm down' the highs by switching out the copper encased in silver IC with a (really) old set of Audioquest FMS Blues.  Problem solved!  Almost too much so, I'll be getting a new IC from Blue Jean shortly.  But the cables clearly sound different from one another, I basically used the blues as a tone controll