@knownothing I hear you and understand what you are saying but no one who doesn't believe in very expensive cables advocates using poor or "leaky" cables. I use Kimber cables for speakers, AC and Canare star quad for interconnects definitely better than the average recording studio. I was the first person to ever be fully digital in my location recording system one of the reasons why it was so effective was because I bypassed cables all together being digital and wireless gave me exact signal continuity and I didn't have to worry about cables always causing a crackle or a hum at exactly the wrong time. I've thought a lot about cables in my career. I've been trying to understand why so many people are willing to spend so much money on cables, when no studio does, easy question really, 0 answers but plenty of attacking me and not the arguments. Best
Why Do Cables Matter?
To me, all you need is low L, C, and R. I run Mogami W3104 bi-wire from my McIntosh MAC7200 to my Martin Logan Theos. We all know that a chain is only as strong as its' weakest link - so I am honestly confused by all this cable discussion.
What kind of wiring goes from the transistor or tube to the amplifier speaker binding post inside the amplifier? It is usually plain old 16 ga or 14 ga copper. Then we are supposed to install 5 - 10' or so of wallet-emptying, pipe-sized pure CU or AG with "special configurations" to the speaker terminals?
What kind of wiring is inside the speaker from the terminals to the crossover, and from the crossover to the drivers? Usually plain old 16 ga or 14 ga copper.
So you have "weak links" inside the amplifier, and inside the speaker, so why bother with mega expensive cabling between the two? It doesn't make logical sense to me. It makes more sense to match the quality of your speaker wires with the existing wires in the signal path [inside the amplifier and inside the speaker].
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Well…. Try it or remain ignorant as most people with opinions.
In USA you can buy and return (30 days) from audio advisor. Try their Pangea cables made from Cardas copper. They charge a small fee and have a wide variety of cables to borrow for audition. So it’s no risk or little risk if you want the real answer.
Good luck! |
Have you ever been involved in a blind test comparing an array of, say, digital cables of different price points and quality rotated in a decent (not even SOTA) home sound system in a purpose built listening room and comparing across the same music tracks? Or with headphones and a decent headphone amplifier and source gear? Because, if you have done this, and you maintain that there is little to be gained in the sound quality coming out of your speakers (or should I more accurately say, much less being lost) by listening random through the price scale for offerings from reputable brands like say Nordost or Chord, then I can only surmise that you actually have tin ears. Seriously, the differences between at least some cables can be quite astonishing, and will make you laugh out loud at what lesser cables are masking or leaving out of what’s actually in your recordings and present to be unlocked by the inherent capabilities of your powered equipment. Frankly, the fact that you are stating you have a background in the recording industry and you cling this flat earth perspective on premium cables as a blanket accusation based on fundamentally misapplied principles and inept analogies without providing any evidence that you have actually done some serious blind testing with your own ears is really hard to understand or take seriously. Sure, some expensive cables probably are lousy, overpriced or at least a bad match in some systems. But when you get it right, it is really, really right and you will know it immediately. And you wont want to go back again. Good luck, kn PS - Kimber is generally good stuff. And they publish their cable specs, which I respect. |
@knownothing Thanks for your understanding you get what I’ve been saying. Yes I have been a recording engineer for many decades, I retired about 4 years ago and now have a studio in my listening room as well as a regular system just for fun. I have always been at the front end of making music doing live sound and recording dialog/sound for movies I haven’t been in the audiophile world long, I started in acoustics and putting in sound systems into churches and performing arts rooms mainly. I have tried a few speaker cables before my system wasn’t tuned in as well as it is now so my tests were meaningless. I just spoke with my dealer last week about upgrading cables because now my system is sounding as it should (it took so much longer than it should have). My mixing setup makes a lot more sense to me as far as accuracy all the speakers are internally powered and put together with Canare star quad cable. My professional system still needs work and I’m starting a movie tomorrow luckily it’s only 5.1 so it won’t matter that the rest of the speakers are not where they should be. In the professional world no one ever talks about cables, just speakers, preamps, microphones, room acoustics are the main details. When your making the product you don’t test it to see if it’s good the fact is you won’t get hired if your product isn’t worth the huge budgets of the movies and TV shows there is no room for error or poor quality. I know in the audiophile world cables are considered a component, I was a physics / engineering major in college and understood how cables could make a difference, audiophiles don’t understand that in the professional world making a difference only degrades the sound because you are making the original first recording everyday. Professional sound guys that I know don’t have good sound system in their homes the entertainment industry is incredibly grulling and generally takes 14 hours of the day then driving to the studio or location everyday leaves no time to listen to music. Here are my credits (some, just in the movie/TV industry)
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