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If Cables Are Not Tone Controls...

I can't count the times audiophiles have said "Cables are not tone controls".  But if we audition (remember that?) two sets of speaker cables and decide that one sounds "better" than the other, aren't we using it as a tone control?  You can call it whatever you want, but in reality we are deciding which cable contours the sound to our liking?  Or should we just buy the speaker cable with the lowest resistance, inductance and capacitance we can find and if it sounds like crap, change other components until it sounds good?  Then we're just using the other components we've swapped out as tone controls. Just asking.  
chayro
mammothguy54's avatar
mammothguy54
951 posts
 
jperry has it correct.  I found the exact same thing as he did.  As I moved up the line I continued to find a more quiet and black background.  Not a tonal difference, but a better transfer of signa.  The better the cable the less intrusive it is (or, is supposed to be) to the signal.  I am not going to endlessly swap out cables in order to compare and try to find the holy grail.  I am so satisfied with the sound of my system.  For me, I have landed on the right ones and have made the correct choice.  Maybe I am just fortunate for that.  Either way, so much less stress in life when satisfied.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
As I moved up the line I continued to find a more quiet and black background.

See my post earlier today about black backgrounds.
I am not going to endlessly swap out cables in order to compare and try to find the holy grail. I am so satisfied with the sound of my system. For me, I have landed on the right ones and have made the correct choice. Maybe I am just fortunate for that.

Or could be you are just smart enough to go with what works, and not make it harder than it needs to be.
speakermaster
738 posts
 
The better wire lets more through without alteration it is not a matter of tone because the better wire effects the tone less.
inna
7,296 posts
 
Cables or active components, I always 'compare' the sound I get from the speakers with what I heard live, as I remember it. I have a few recordings of the musicians that I heard live, some of them without microphones. So I always know, if I remember right, where the system is going. 
By the way, microphones do not 'hear' everything there is to hear, only ear can do it. Might come close but not really there.
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
You answered your own question.

An ideal wire should have 0 resistance, 0 capacitance and 0 inductance.
But that does not exist.

So, try and find one with the lowest capacitance.  All things being equal, the capacitance of the wire is probably the most influential at audio frequencies.  If you want to be really fanatical about it, separate the normally dual speaker wire into individual ones and place them away from each other.

But, this is an exaggeration.  Human ear will not perceive any difference on wires shorter than about 50 - 60 feet.
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