The Science of Cables

Many people are still rather skeptical about cables. After testing hundreds of cables in over 20 years of time I understand their thoughts very well. When I look back to all these tests I have carried out I have to admit that by far the most are not worth the money.

So the question is: Are most cables a scam or snake oil?

The problem can first be found more based on the limitation in insight and knowledge of the people who create them. When you cannot even answer simple questions about sound, or how our emotion works regarding music or even the aspects that influence sound and stage.

It is impossible to create good cables. In audio, many discussions are often about the limitations of products and by cables, we even hear it a lot more.

So again you may ask: why so many people still don’t trust most brands who manufacture cables?

Because first the insight and knowledge of people who work in audio are rather limited regarding the influence and importance of cables in general. Trial&error will never give you the insight to understand what exactly the influence and level of importance is of any cable.

You change a cable for another cable. But when you have no F. idea which properties of sound you took out and which ones you brought in. It is all one big guess and gamble. You never can tell what those cables do in your system. Trial&error is only focussing on the end result. This is why it lacks any kind of foundation. There is not even any kind of discussion possible.

Are there brands in cables who work well and are really important?

The answer is, yes there are. But.......only a few. This creates the main reason why most people are still so skeptical. All those brands and products which are not worth the money causes all these feelings and thoughts. And even create a wrong image of those products who are worth the money.

Most reviews in audio these days are paid. So what you read is often not the truth. This does not make people less skeptical. The audio industry makes it even worse. I think it’s very clear and easy to understand why our audio-market is decreasing?

Because the level in quality of most products is not good enough. This is the truth and the reason why something has to change in the world of audio. They way they make their choices now doesn’t work that well.

What needs to be changed and done to make people less skeptical about cables?

Very simple; manufacturers need to learn first more about sound and music in general. And create products which can reveal all the aspects of sound. This is the only way to change it. There is no other option what will work that effective.

Where do we start? It seems to me that we need a basic system from which to build knowledge. Tying together music reproduction, hearing, and human emotions into a scientific framework seems like a tall order. One I believe is conquerable. 

If knowledge was money the problem would already be solved. 

How does your new system profit all, and even better how do you make a lot of money in your system?

The first problem is that most people who work in audio have often a very limited level in insight and knowledge. Every time I speak to them it becomes clear that they often don’t know the answers on simple questions. Sound is very complex and is formed on many different aspects/properties and you first need to learn what they are and what their influence is.

When I ask them can you tell me about all the different aspects of sound? They can’t even answer it. It goes a lot further than that.

When I ask them; which parts influence the sound? They even cannot answer this question either.

When I talk about the acoustic, electro-smog, magnetism and high-frequent noise they know very little about it. It proves that they do not focus on sound and all the influences on sound.

This is why it becomes so ineffective. Most manufacturers say that they focus on their products and have no time for those other aspects. I earn my money by outperforming all competitors. For me, it is a game and I want to win over and over again.

I have spent thousands of hours in research and tests in over 20 years of time. With the goal to be superior to all other people in the world of sound&vision. This is a choice I made. Research and understanding how sounds work will cost you thousands of hours.

But when I would not have been able to see patterns and I would not have a photographic memory in sound, even those thousands of hours would not have been enough. In 1998 I had a mindset that I needed to extract the DNA of each part within a system to understand and guide audio. The craziest thing for me is to see that the whole world has been sleeping and still do audio by trial&error.

This is the 100% prove why audio is being carried out at such a limited level. The world in audio sells boxes and brands. When I see the Threads over here they are often about brands and specific products. This will never make you understand audio and guide it. It is the wrong mindset and focus.

Sound is all about the aspects it owns. I create sound by DNA. This is totally different than the limited trial&error way to choose. It is so much more precise. The results are far superior to any other way of doing audio by trial&error. When I have a conversation with new clients who often see audio as their hobby. I need 5 minutes to make them aware that trail&error is useless based on facts.

After each conversation, they become aware that the way they made their choices was the main reason why they are not that happy and satisfied. It is the same when we aks new clients to bring in their own music to listen to a Tru-Fi system.

The reactions are always the same. Because they can hear so much more details and layers of the music they know well. They can easily compare it with their own system. Their trial&error systems do not even come close.

They often say; "even after I song I understood how limited my own system is"

Because of trial&error systems miss so many details and aspects of sound. This is why they only can offer a limited level of emotion. Reading about how human emotion works regarding music gave me very important new insights. It made me bring all systems to a superior level in emotion. This is what each individual person always will choose.

The fact that I sell more expensive power cables and loudspeaker cables of AudioQuest compared to any shop in my country says a lot. This is what thousands of hours in research and tests made possible. I always had a lot of contact by phone and email with the best specialists in their area.

During all research, I used their thoughts and insight a lot. And we were always discussing my thoughts and results. When I compare myself with colleagues at that time, they never contacted these people. I learned to understand sound as a whole. As I learned to think and work by the aspects/properties of sound.

I knew this was the only way to understand and guide audio. There is no other option. All other options are all done by trial&error. Each conversation I had with manufacturers had this outcome. When you have no real foundation it is 100% impossible to guide and understand audio.

The quality of the new AudioQuest cables is now that good that it is very easy to create a better end result compared using the same money for a source, loudspeaker or even an amp. Tru-Fi made the importance of cables so much bigger than you ever can reach by trial&error. It is not even comparable how big the differences in result are.

In the Tru-Fi world, a cable is equal to the importance of a source, loudspeaker or amp. Tru-Fi gives us and our clients access to all the aspects each AudioQuest can reveal. But when you go back to any trial&error system the outcome becomes a totally different world.

Trial&error systems miss different aspects of sound. So when you put an AudioQuest into a trial&error system you only can use the aspects of the cables which can be revealed by your system. This is why the level of effectiveness is a lot less compared to the Tru-Fi world.

As I said earlier; "our clients have a different perspective and even truth about AudioQuest cables compared to the trail&error people"

All the choices we make are based on the best results possible. This is why research and testing are so important. We need the data to understand it and make the best choices. We can see into details so much further than any other company in audio. Because due to the thousands of hours in research and test we have access to details most people cannot even think of.

It is not even on their radar and it will never be on their radar ever. When you cannot think in patterns and have no photographic memory you will never have access to these details and information.

bo1972

... most people who work in audio have often a very limited level in insight and knowledge. Every time I speak to them it becomes clear that they often don’t know the answers on simple questions ... you first need to learn ...  They can’t even answer it ... They even cannot answer this question either ... they know very little about it. It proves that they do not focus on sound ... I earn my money by outperforming all competitors ... I have spent thousands of hours in research and tests in over 20 years of time. With the goal to be superior to all other people in the world ... the whole world has been sleeping ... The reactions are always the same ... I knew this was the only way to understand and guide audio. There is no other option ...
you will never have access to these details and information.

Beware the audio guru.