Cable curmudgeon


I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman.  Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc.  After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel.  He complemented me on my "good ear."  Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference.  However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft.  Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido).  Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz.  But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I  liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.

 

exflute

@bruce19 -

B.) I am not aware of cables being overly significant in other mission critical electronics such as in the medical field or aeronautics or telecommunications. There is a justification in all of these areas for a well built, properly specked wire, but none of the hocus pocus that only seems prevalent among us audio hobbyists. 

      Just another for-instance (click on, "Letter From NASA"):

                        https://homeaudio.analysis.plus/knowledge-base/

 

                                

                                 

bruce19: +1. Your post came in while I was writing mine; I wouldn't have bothered had I read yours first.

bruce is the Boss!

Long time ago Sterophile used to interview musicians about their audio systems. Some examples, John Lee Hooker with a Technics midi, Charlie Haden with Linn and Naim, John Lurie with entry Luxman integrated, Yamaha CD changer, double cassette deck and B&W entry bookshelf speakers.

Completely different approaches and involvement so being a musician does not automatically support the will for a better system.

I believe all the above have good experience with live sound.

I gotta give an attaboy to @soix  for his 1st 2 posts anyway. Succinct *& to the point.

@teo_audio They have moderators and I have been told that they really look at the posts before deletion. But I know better just because of how things go down. All one has to do is to click the "report this" link at the bottom of every post and the mod will just delete it because the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I doubt they have any clue about how far downhill this forum has gone. This used to be among the absolute best forum. Now its a food fight filled with newbies who are no more audiophile than my 7 yr old niece. But they know it all, like I did when I was 17-18.