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A/B testing of RCA interconnects using Y splitter- Thoughts?

I am trying out a few sets of cables and this thought occurred to me but would like to get some more knowledgeable folk's opinion ESPECIALLY on the safety side of the amp & phone stage.

Option 1- connect splitters to the output of PS and connect the two cables to compare. One set to input 1 of integrated amp and the other set to input 4 of integrated amp. I would then switch between the two inputs. This I believe would be a level playing field where the output db and the quality of splitter would be the same for both cables.
Can this harm the amp or the PS?
PS=Sutherland Phd
IA= Luxman L-507ux

Option 2- Just use one cable (A) for some time, learn the music well for a # of hours or a week (just to through a number out there) AND then switch to cable (B)

My intuition tells me option 2 is the way to go but I only will have the cables for a very short time so that is why I started off thinking of the viability on option 1.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
wado
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Yeah nice science project you got there. Good luck. Not that I can't relate. Time was I believed the A/B BS. The differences are too slight. You'll never be able to remember. Yada yada blah blah blah. Drove a long way just to find the device to perform this essential trick without which no human being could ever discern the difference. Seriously. Corner Audio in Portland.

When I got there, the magic WireWorld device was broken. They made me do it the old fashioned way. Listened to their $75 cable a few minutes. Sounded real nice. Put my patch cord in to compare. Wasn't even able to sit back down it sounded so bad. Couldn't believe it. I'd been lied to. You've been lied to.

So its a nice science project. Enjoy it. Maybe learn something from it. Don't see how but you never know. Wouldn't waste one second of my time on it. Neither should you. But that's life.
wado OP
5 posts
 
@millercarbonI apologize for the delay. Didn't see the notification.
Anywho I apprerciate your thoughts. Yes that is exactly the method I ended up employing. Listen to one for a while and then switching.
No A/B switching apparatus involved.
Was this an ethernet cable from a router or switch to a streamer/bridge that you were referring to you tried?
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
That's exactly A/B switching. You must have that confused with ABX, where each button push changes but you don't know to what- A to B, B to A, or no change which is X. Waste of time since the whole point of my story is that differences are so large and easy to hear its silly to even doubt. But also because of the unstated corollary, that if the differences aren't large and easy to hear then who cares?! The whole point is to build a system not conduct some pointless science project! For this purpose if you can't hear any difference, not sure, etc, that's just great. You can save a lot of money.

It was an interconnect, but you've latched onto another one that doesn't matter. Really does not matter. Could have been a power cord or speaker cable. Could have been the inch of wire that is a fuse. Or streamer, router, do you get the point now - any wire.

So, nix your splitter idea. Hook up a wire, listen. Change wire, listen. One sound better? That's the one. Done. No difference? Done. It really is that simple.


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