The above post is a reference to the stereophile article not Nelson's article
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.
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It should be pointed out that Nelson Pass’ article on cables is almost 40 years old. Not that it’s a bad article but it was written at the very beginning of Cable history right after Polk, Fulton and Monster Cables, the first “exotic audiophile cables” were introduced. The article obviously doesn’t address the *many* developments that have occurred since 1980, including extremely high purity copper conductors, Silver conductors, break-in theory, advanced connector design, controlling wire directionality, long crystal copper, shield design and exotic innovations such as cryogenic treatment, Carbon conductors, liquid conductors, EMI/RFI products, graphene enhanced conductors, etc. The article was written, arguably, at the beginning of high resolution systems; the very first digital systems (Yikes!) were still a couple years away at that point in time. Not to mention all the other advanced audiophile developments in room acoustics, advanced fuses, and vibration isolation and many other tweaks that came much later. from Nelson Pass’ article, “At this point many audiophiles are wondering, "Where are the listening tests?" I have listened to these cables on a variety of amplifiers (mostly my own) and loudspeakers, including Magneplanar Tympani 1 D’s, MG II A’s, modified Dayton Wright XG 8 MK III’s (as shown in Fig. 6) Cabasses; I have also heard some examples on Dahlquist and Snell loudspeakers. Frankly, I found it difficult to assess the results except at the extremes of performance. For 10 foot lengths with properly terminated cables and speakers with inductive high frequency characteristics, the differences between low inductance cable and twin conductor are extremely subtle and subject to question. With a low output inductance amplifier and a Heil tweeter (whose impedance is a nearly perfect 6ohm resistive) the difference was discernible as a slightly but not unpleasant softening of the highest frequencies. Fulton or Monster cables were a clear improvement over 24 or even 18 gauge, though a little less subtle than I would have expected, leading me to believe that the effort associated with heavier cables pays off in bass response and in apparent midrange definition, especially at crossover frequencies. The worst case load, the modified Dayton Wright electrostatics, presented some interesting paradoxes: the extremely low impedance involved showed the greatest differences between all the types of cables. However, the best sound cables were not necessarily electrically the best because several amplifiers preferred the highest resistance cable. In one case, I had to use 24 gauge cable to prevent tripping the amplifier’s protection circuitry.” Link to full article at, https://www.passlabs.com/press/speaker-cables-science-or-snake-oil |
@prof My goodness indeed. Ooooh, gosh darn it all, I just love the sound of feigned mild surprise in the morning...... And speaking of classics here is a modern day example that quite surgically strikes to the quick. Prof is one of those guys who just like to go on and on. and then get you tangled into their endless drivel. Usually using what they already got out of you to attack you, in order to get more out of you ,so they can get you hooked. Sorry prof, not taking the bait. Go annoy someone else. Geoff seems to be interested. Bloviate with Geoff. Sorry to stick the prof on you..But you enjoy challenges. And here is another classic " Methinks he doth protest too much " or we could also go with the ever popular " Cry me a river ". Read, as the above post shows you have made quite a special bed for yourself here, now be a man, and sleep in it, and stop complaining about the lumps. |
@taras22 so you used to work in a hi-fi store? And these were your conclusions about loudspeaker importance? I guess you overlooked all the data about which hi-fi component has more 1000x more distortion than all the rest put together. Perhaps you were preoccupied by the data showing which hi-fi product then had 100x more profit than the rest put together I really hope for your sake that your current line of work is proving more suitable. All the best. |
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