The Science of Cables

What's the fuss all about when you can simply buy 'em and try 'em? 30-day, money back guarantee if you don't like 'em. But I'm betting you WILL.

millercarbon  I did the same thing for my video (non-hi fi) system.  I used a Yamaha CR620 receiver and a pair of ADS L620 speakers at a cost of $250, added my friend GroverHuffman.com much older technology ICs and speaker wire from 10 years ago (still better than a lot of expensive HEA cables), some original model Stillpoints under the speakers and one Perfect Path Omega E-mat on my power panel and voila!  A really high quality mid-fi video sound  Great bass, smooth mids and open highs.  Not to be expected from the equipment combo.   Image if I used the latest cables and Stillpoints.  Great sound can be obtained on a budget but with great accessories and tweaks.  (The room also has acceptable acoustics).

"...an eutectic alloy of gallium, indium and tin, which neatly undercuts your claim that the only metal that is liquid at room temperature is mercury."

Probably, it meant "the only natural-occurring metal". It may not be fair comparison. I am not sure, but I think I recall that none of these three mentioned in alloy are liquid at room temperature when alone.

Concept of liquid cables is intriguing, to say the least. It makes regular people wonder "why would you"? I tried mentioning it and that was the response. More entertaining to me is that in forums that mention "snake oil" so often, someone brings up the product that has one of the descriptors as oil. Viscosity. I have never heard, and likely never will, liquid cables so I will give them benefit of the doubt that they are great. At the same time, as novelty and conversation piece, they are very clever and interesting. Five stars for that.

@jmlmx,  "What I find interesting is that the second highest rated cable in the test had the worst fidelity, and the worst rated cable was right there in the middle when frequency and amplitude were measured." 

The magazines realised a while back what the implications of these kind of results were. That's why they turned their backs on them years ago. What magazine would want to report a coat hanger/ zip cord being preferred to a high end cable? Then what about amplifiers, or even CD players, DAC's etc??

Had the results supported their opinions I'm certain that blind listening tests would have become the gold standard of audio testing and reviewing. 

As things stand it's up to the likes of Floyd Toole, Sean Olive and a few others out there to continue to demonstrate that there is no reason for us consumers to be scared of blind listening tests. 

cd318

“Had the results supported their opinions I'm certain that blind listening tests would have become the gold standard of audio testing and reviewing.

As things stand it's up to the likes of Floyd Toole, Sean Olive and a few others out there to continue to demonstrate that there is no reason for us consumers to be scared of blind listening tests.”

>>>>>Actually, as I’ve oft proposed, blind tests should not be given too much credence inasmuch as they, like all audio tests, are fraught with difficulties. This is why The Amazing Randi has such success challenging audiophiles to participate in his Million Dollar Challenge - blind tests of high end cables and other controversial audiophile do dads.

A great many things can go wrong with cable blind tests, including variables that are either unknown or unaccounted for. Also operator errors, failure to follow directions, listener skill and capability, system mistakes, etc., not to mention specific cable issues: cable break in, the problem with physically unplugging/plugging cables, and cable directionality. 

To summarize, negative results of blind tests have very little import and should not be taken too seriously. There are too many things that can go wrong. It’s not a question of being scared of blind tests. It’s a matter of not trusting blind tests.