WHY CABLES MATTER!

@tonywinga

Very nice setup you have. Bet it sounds great.

Thanks for the responses.

facten

Thanks for the info. After reading about the cables that Nordost sells I found a section about how the cables are better after "burn in" because the cable outgasses, and they claim the insulation charges up. Most things out gas but I don’t understand how that would affect the quality of sound. The article goes on to say "The diode effect of the conductor will be more pronounced after a minimum of 150 hours.. They also claim that small impurities in the conductor act as diodes, allowing the signal to flow better in one direction making the cable directional." That in particular was my reason for asking about purity of the copper. At 4-9s purity it is difficult for me to see how those could contribute.

I presented this article to a colleague who has a PHD, is a Professor and researcher for the local University. After reading the article he just smiled and said it seems like some fluff to support their view. I cannot speak to that but I am skeptical of some of the claims.

Anyway, thanks for your information.

All the best.

Stay skeptical.

A little science if you dare:

Vinyl outgasses. Vinyl is actually a very brittle plastic. You know that film on the windshield of a new car? Yea the rather toxic oils used to "plasticize" the vinyl.  PP or PE do not outgas much compared to vinyl and they are both far better dielectrics. PTFE even better and more stable.   The process of outgassing is not hours in your system, but time and temperature from manufacturing. Vinyl starts immediately and lasts years. ( split dashboards!)  PP takes decades to even measure any change. In a laboratory, I do expect plasticizer outgassing to change the dielectric. Audible?  Well we try not to use vinyl anyway. GOOGLE about plasticizers ad you will find most of the research is involving exposure to solvents. Yea, why the fuel line on your chain saw keeps cracking!  I did a lot of laboratory testing on this subject as it relates to "O-rings" in various solvents. Different use case, same chemistry. 

Now, after 150 hours what is the difference?  Your BRAIN has re-mapped to convince you it is better. Our brain lies. Always. Humans are never objective.  If so, fine and money well sent because it is your perception and enjoyment even if there is no actual change.  Electrolytic caps do "form". Tubes do age.  Speaker suspensions change.  Not much else changes in modern electronics. 

Diodes making the cable directional?   Guess this prestige company has never heard audio is AC.  That alone should unmask the scam.  Only shield termination can make a cable useful in one orientation. The conductors don't know the difference. In actuality, an oxide layer or discontinuity in the crystal structure acts more like a back to back diose, not directional anyway. 

Maybe their cables sound fine. I hope so. Most do.  It is actually not hard. Their claims are total made up to sham the non-technical to spend a lot of money for their ego.  P.T. Barnum had a lot of wisdom. 

"Fluff" is a politically correct way of saying BS.  "Prestige" is the nice word for snake oil. 

Not mentioned as a place where interconnects may play a larger roll is with passive preamps feeding long high capacitance cables into low-ish impedance inputs.  You can do the math.  With a max attenuation making output impedance as low as 5K, and some inputs as low as 10K, it does not take too many "puffs" to roll off the top end.  My advice would be to drive cables much longer than a meter with an active stage rather than searching for magic cables.  Hint:  Pro audio used high current higher voltage balanced lines to overcome this limitation. ( xlr cables)  Well understood. Science and engineering, not "fluff" 

@ernstmach - I can’t speak to the provenance of their statements. That said, I think you also need to take into consideration that your colleague nor you have heard the cables over a time period. Are you really in a  position to say/conclude that what they stated doesn’t occur?  If you are skeptical maybe find a retailer that offers a trial period and listen and evaluate for yourself. Personally, I don’t get caught up in all of the "science" I’m more interested in the result of what I hear. BTW I have (Tchernov) or have had (e.g. Silnote) interconnect cables from manufacturers that have directional arrows and just connect accordingly could care less about the why.

tvrgeek

Your BRAIN has re-mapped to convince you it is better. Our brain lies. Always.

I am beginning to think there is indeed one remapped brain here. And it lies. Always.

Facten,

appreciate what you are saying. " I realize the science end has fewer proponents.

"Are you really in a position to say/conclude that what they stated doesn’t occur?"

Not saying it doesn't happen. I do know that my work with pulling deep vacuum says anything will out gas just cannot say it means anything hence the ongoing questionnaire. As far as contaminates in 4-9s pure wire I find it hard to believe that contaminant size has enough mass to be of consequence.

I'm far more inclined to believe the words of someone that has the credentials earned towards this subject. 

Has anyone considered that the wire might sound even more different due to cold working ot the wire? 

Thanks for the responses!