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The Science of Cables

It seems to me that there is too little scientific, objective evidence for why cables sound the way they do. When I see discussions on cables, physical attributes are discussed; things like shielding, gauge, material, geometry, etc. and rarely are things like resistance, impedance, inductance, capacitance, etc. Why is this? Why aren’t cables discussed in terms of physical measurements very often?

Seems to me like that would increase the customer base. I know several “objectivist” that won’t accept any of your claims unless you have measurements and blind tests. If there were measurements that correlated to what you hear, I think more people would be interested in cables. 

I know cables are often system dependent but there are still many generalizations that can be made.
mkgus
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
@cleeds 
Confirmation bias is 'experiencing' a change where there is none.

Having messed with the math, manufacture and sonics of multi conductor cables in decades past, an interleaved/interwoven construction clearly has electrical and sonic benefits.

When I first saw them, I thought "Why would anyone build a cable like that and not interleave + and -?"

Listening confirmed exactly what I experienced from previous exposure to the class.
cleeds
6,077 posts
 
ieales
Confirmation bias is ’experiencing’ a change where there is none.
That is mistaken. Confirmation bias is allowing your conclusion to be influenced by your predisposed belief. That’s independent of the nature of any change.

Confirmation bias appears to be what happened here. You first judged the cables based on appearance alone. Then you listened and concluded the same. You also stated:
I did not say I compared them.
So after your initial listen, you then did nothing to confirm whether your listening impression could be validated by anything other than your initial visual assessment. That’s classic confirmation bias.
Having messed with the math, manufacture and sonics of multi conductor cables in decades past, an interleaved/interwoven construction clearly has electrical and sonic benefits.
Again, an indicator of confirmation bias in this instance.
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

"If someone is advancing/producing something for sale, is that really called a "hobby"?"

Hobby, lifestyle, profession it doesn't really matter. What does matter is listeners are exploring their passion differently as these communities move away from the magazine reviews and on to their own discoveries, and are willing to share those explorations.

I hope you guys can see this huge change taking place in the listening community, that you are a part of. Once you guys get past the ego bending I hope you realize how much expertise is here and how that experience builds (documents) many paths to both successfully and not so successful listening. There are not two people here who have the same sound in their home as the next. Do you guys realize that? Some of you here in all honesty are not pleased with what your system is doing. Others can't be more happy with the sound their getting. But one thing you all have in common is some music sounds good on your system and some doesn't.

The more you look into the variables, and not plug & play, the wiser you are becoming about the audio signal and the audio chain. Your moving toward your system becoming a variable tool. Plug & play is the long way around, and some of you are getting that big time. Others not so much.

but let me paint this

What if you had lets say 5 different cables that you like, and if you could take the best of each one and combined them you would be happy. What's stopping you? While these guys have their technical go arounds, you could be using cable that is variable, and with a little work you could make it match your system perfectly. Not only that but as your cable continues to burn in you can tweak the cable to a new setting.

This science is a variable one folks and everyday someone is finding that out. What about you? Do you really want to stay on spin cycle talking instead of doing?

not I, been tuning a long time and have enjoyed watching people convert for over 30 years now

Michael Green

ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
@cleeds 
If I hear an amplifier clipping, I don't need to compare to know it.
cleeds
6,077 posts
 
ieales
If I hear an amplifier clipping, I don't need to compare to know it.
We're talking about cables here, and you mentioned your experience with Nordost speaker cables. Are you now saying that the Nordost cables caused amplifier clipping?
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