I used to think pricey interconnects were snake oil...

 

newbee

4,587 posts

08-11-2023 at 06:18pm 

……..

BTW I think the value of A/B testing is flawed, not so much in the theory but in the execution, and of little real value. FWIW.

100%. And not just for cables. For components as well. To properly assess the changes you need to have several listening sessions 3-4 days in a row each day with a new component only. Let everything settle including your initial reaction. Then go back to old component or cables. Whatever it is you’re evaluating. 
How I know this? I’ve made plenty of bad rush decisions only to realize days later that what I heard was different but not necessarily better. 

So to @newbee ’s point, A/B testing, blind or not, is bull 💩. 

Wire is just jewelry. A more honest assessment is like jewelry you like the look and feel - buy it!

Looks maybe, but kinda weird you'd be buying cables because you like how they feel.

The more I read of some of the things people believe the more I'm convinced that audiophilia is tantamount to religion. You can't prove things with facts or objectivity so you have to have faith. "I know what I hear." 😐

Ear sensitivity, critical listening focus and perception, personal sonic preferences, etc all add up to a sound system add, say a new interconnect, being an upgrade to one person, a downgrade to another person and not discerned at all by yet another person. This is why for this discussion there are interconnects at almost all price points that will sound good or great to one person and potentially horrible to another person. Trust your own ears because the listening experience in your listening space should primarily only be for you, not what someone tells you you should like. Also, whether naysayers like jasonborne or kenjit want to believe it or not, every single element within a sound system impact the sonics in some way whether it’s very subtle or glaring.

Cables make a difference, and you can tweak the sound with different cables like tube rolling to some extent, depending how resolving your system is. But in my experience equipment and speakers come first; must get that right first.