Why Do Cables Matter?

@yoyoyaya As a serious answer with the 2nd law in mind it would mean that at the smallest point of information flow in the signal path would be the limiting factor. If digital (which is usually the problem these days) the smallest sample rate is the limiting factor in analog you can just turn up the signal creating noise.This is why 48khz is still the norm, could have recorded many movies at 96khz but there would be a particular piece of equipment that couldn't deal with it so 96khz never caught on for movies. In music analog front ends (mixers) then recorded to 192khz ProTools is about as good as it gets in my opinion, yes it's a little noisier in the front end (same idea as tube amps) but the signal is digital in the mix and can be changed any way you want without losing fidelity. Many audiophiles speak of cables in such stellar ways if you don't use expensive cables not having them creates a bottleneck in both the analog and digital world. in analog bad cables are very easy to hear if you have experience with the system and microphones (tube mics are harder) usually a bad mic cable crackles very very loudly because the ground is broken and 48v phantom power rips your head off, in the digital world cables that don't pass the proper 1s and 0s don't work at all. Great engineers whom I've learned from felt a lot of responsibility to the original recording and the format in which that recording was preserved for posterity, no one considered that AI will easily put together the missing pieces in the future. AI will be the added information in the 2nd law definition in the near future. 

@johnk Gold should be used on connectors not because gold is a good conductor but because there is 0 residue, in 1000 years there will be no oxide on gold connectors maybe dust but no oxide. 

@nonoise You are full of blather but short on direct answers to your religion of cables.

It's easy to throw out put downs, you can do better than that.

Why are expensive cables so important:

"When everyone is special no one is special" 
 

@donavabdear -

        #1-    I never said, "bad cables".     A, "bad" cable (in my lexicon) would be a cable that doesn't convey ANY signal.

        'Crappy' would include the sort that come with most equipment, or: those that utilize dielectrics such as PVC, or other cheap-out constructions*, that are detrimental to audio signals.

               *Admittedly: even some cheap, after-market cables perform better than the manufacturer-provided garbage.

         #2: 

 You are wrong about DSP not making up for problems in the signal. 

          What I said was your digital gyrations (whatever form that may take) can never recover information LOST along a signal pathway.

           Of course: the sound of a system can be tweaked with regards to a plethora of parameters, via DSP (which my TacT RCS 2.2X pre provides in spades), BUT: if critical components of the ORIGINAL signal are lost, there isn't a device manufactured that can recreate those, at any cost. 

            Again, for many of us: an accurate simulacrum of performers and their performances in a particular venue, is the desire/goal.

            That requires maintaining the original signal, in as unaltered a state, as possible.

                                    The common term: transparency.

             How anyone else chooses to listen to their music, or: manipulate their signals, in their own listening environs, is strictly their own affair.

              Even when in the business of designing and building systems for others; I never tried to change a customer's aural palette, though many viewed listening to my demo systems an awakening.

                        My credo was, "The customer always thinks they're right!"

               The problem I have in these threads is the number that go about trying to dissuade others, from experimenting with their own systems.

                                             As I often aver: 

     No one can tell you whether/how your system, room and/or ears will respond to some new addition.   There are simply too many variables.

     LIKEWISE: no one can possibly know whether a new addition (ie: some kind of disc, crystal, fuse, interconnect, speaker cable, etc)  will make a difference, in their system and room, with their media and to their ears, without trying them for themselves.   

     Some companies offer a 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, so- those that are actually interested, have absolutely nothing to lose, by trying (experimenting with) such.     

                                               Happy listening!

@donavabdear 

Just like with your legion of straw men arguments and appeals to authority, meant to deflect from the actual subject (which is your wont), projection is another of your ploys, accusing others of some religious fervor when it's you trying your level best to convert with all manner of nonsense arguments. 

All you do is proselytize and then end you mini rant with some lame proverb of sorts meant to make one think of oneself as placing themselves above others. You need help.

All the best,
Nonoise