Who says cables don't make a difference?

Sometimes an “upgraded” interconnect cable can clearly make a sonic improvement.  For years, I had been using 35 feet long Blue Jeans/Belden interconnects between my preamp and the power amp that is located between my main speakers.   Deciding it might be worthwhile to finally replace those cables, I spent a lot of time researching name brand interconnects.  Of chief concern to me was identifying characteristics of unique cable design that the manufacturer claimed provided performance superiority over its competitors’ product offerings and, within that manufacturer’s own product line, where and why were the greatest price increases. Based on all that, I purchased Wireworld Cable’s Equinox interconnects.  Wow!  Music simply sounded better -- much more real.  For me, this was a costly investment ($2,400) not made casually.  I have no buyer’s remorse, however.  Moreover, I don’t know of another upgrade I could have made in my system for that amount of money which could have resulted in such a sonic improvement.

Pfh again, you start with the assumption that not a single person has ever done a true blind test, and in fact many of you who deny there are audible differences claim any test I’ve ever seen mentioned, in invalid for one reason or another. Most of those who are in denial of this obviously would not accept any test that did not end with their expected results. My testing was a true blind test. I went in expecting a retain result, though unlike those who continually try to deny the differences, I did not go in with a closed mind on the subject. My goal was to prove to myself that there was, or wasn’t, so I could be done once and for all on the subject. I had no idea what cables where being used in each case, and we cycled through many. I had no idea what brands, or the costs of those products. I kept a list of my perceptions of each as a number one through x. I had someone in another thread try to tell me that the mind can’t remember what it heard for the time between changing cables. The cables were also out of sight on purpose. The results spoke for themselves. I can’t say that the nest person would hear them the same as me, though I would bet they for sure would hear a difference, and if not, then I don’t know how they could hear any differences in the equipment, or quality of the music source. Though to that point I have seen people who heard something much differently than I did, for good or bad, though at least they did hear a difference, so for sure personal preferences color all perceptions, no right or wrong in that. Yes, some cables I really could tell no difference from stock cables. Those were mostly value priced cables after the tests were done. The most expensive cables weren’t always the best sounding, and I suspect that boils down to synergy in components, and my own personal preferences. I listened to the same cables in two different sets of equipment. As expected some cables performed differently in each system after reviewing the results. I paid for the rental time at the dealer, I insisted on that as I felt it only fair since I was making sole use of their space, and I had no intention on making a purchase. They felt I had bought enough equipment in the past, but I believe in paying for any services I receive. I also hired people outside of the industry to label and make the cable changes, not the dealers employees. This was before I spent much time on near reading these types of threads, but was just a few months ago. I might have actually made a video production of this had I realized all the controversy,  it I’m sure the naysayers would have picked it apart and denied its authenticity or validity anyways. Peoples who’s minds are already made up won’t be swayed by any facts or proof, so would have been additional time and expense to do nothing but reaffirm what many already do know and hear for themselves, while doing nothing to quell the controversy in the minds of those whose bias is too deep to be moved on the subject. Even as someone who didn’t feel he heard differences in the past, I still believed others did, as stated in my previous post. I never felt once that anyone was imagining what they heard. 

In your test was the test statistically designed?  In other words there needs to be a statistical test where any difference (in means) is tested against the probability that the difference was above a random difference.

Lol, and I sense the first to try to pick apart the testing method, as I mentioned. Jd, the test was valid by any designation. No I have no desires to go into any more detail on it, i was doing it to prove anything to anyone other than myself. I do know a bit about conducting tests that would eliminate variables other than ending up with a valid conclusion either way, that the test was designed to determine. We are not talking subtle differences here, any more than if I subbed out a sweet sounding tube  for an analytical Solid state set up. If you could detect that difference in a blind test, you could also detect the best of the cables compared to the worst. If you could not tell the difference in the amp/ preamp, then I might suggest that spending much on audio equipment would not improve your experience.

jmeyers,

"I had been using 35 feet long Blue Jeans/Belden interconnects between my preamp and the power amp..."

35 feet? That is very long for an interconnect. How come you had to leave components that far?