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What Speaker Cables Taught Me About Audiophiles

Hold on tight because none of this story ends up where you think it will.

Ages ago I did a half-blind speaker cable test with friends in the building who loved Jazz. The amp was a Yamaha P2100 with Focal profile speakers. Cables were Mogami vs. Wireworld. Source was a CD player through a Theta Casanova preamp / processor (oh how i miss it).

I thought i was going to impress my friends with how great the Wireworld Silver 7s sounded. In particular the imaging I thought was so much better than through the Mogami Sound Runners.

To the surprise of many "scientists" here, my friends did in fact hear a noticeable difference between the two sets of cables. They absolutely preferred the Mogami.

I was a little shocked. I tried very hard to keep a poker face, and not guide them either way while switching. They could not see which cables were connected from their listening location.

What happened? Did they not understand how much better the imaging was with the Wireworld?

Well, actually they did and they didn’t care. Richard and his wife did notice that but felt that the loss of treble and beat was not worth it. Hands down for them the Mogami was the clear winner.

What this taught me was:

  1. Speaker cables can make a small but noticeable difference
  2. The improved imaging came at a cost of treble energy
  3. Most listeners wouldn’t make the trade. They’d rather have the tempo and foot tapping experience over my precious deep into the room imaging.

Over time of listening back and forth between my Wireworld collection and Mogami or DH Labs pure silver IC’s and Mogami speaker cables I’ve given that up. I think my neighbors were right. I’d rather have the beat and energy. It’s a fetish I was giving up far too much for.

I'm definitely not encouraging you to overhaul all your cables, but rather saying that we audiophiles need to be conscious that sometimes our preferences are unique to our culture and that the "normal" consumer may not share them at all. 

erik_squires
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,321 posts
 

Treble frequencies are most directional so how much will always affect imaging.

If you want to play with treble and its effects on imaging, DSP or similar EQ is a much more practical, cost effective and flexible way to do it rather than expensive wires that may happen to provide some kind of unique filter to the sound. 
 

Basic tone controls as well just not very flexible in most cases.  

I get good quality cost effective wires mostly off Amazon these days. Mogami is always a sound choice but not necessarily the most cost effective.

snilf's avatar
snilf
212 posts
 

Erik,

Thank you for this. It's a fine example of...well, of one of the very many manifestations of subjective bias in our common obsession.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours with a friend's superlative system. He has written many reviews and other things for Stereophile, built his beautiful home around the electrical and acoustic needs of his music system, and so on. Of the several very well heeled members of our local audio club, I like his system best. 

My intent yesterday was to hear a piece I love and have listened to at least weekly for a couple of years now: Arvo Pärt's "Te Deum" on ECM—a composition I've also heard live. On my system, the church acoustic is tangible (it was recorded in the Lohan Kirkko, Finland), the voices discernible as individuals within the choir. Transcendent!

Well, he wanted me first to hear...wait for it...Black Sabbath! Then we listened to "Descending," my favorite track on Tool's "Fear Inoculum." Peaks (and that album is highly compressed) were over 100 db, I'm sure. I know that stuff on my system as well; with a SPM, I've dared to get the ambient sound up to just under 100 db.

The verdict? His huge Martin Logan Renaissance electrostats in his purpose-built listening room projected a much larger sonic image. And they played at a soul-shaking volume that would have blown out my drivers. But.... The sound was harsh, and somehow "electronic." My system is "warmer," and even with the heavy metal, more compelling (except for the sheer volume). As for the Arvo Pärt, my system better captures the mystical feel of that often delicate devotional piece.

Sorry; I know this has nothing to do with speaker cables. But it has everything to do with comparative reproduction. It is all subjective? Maybe. But if I can derive just one lesson from this critical comparison, it's that cost is not the main parameter of compelling audio reproduction.

erik_squires OP
16,175 posts
 

But if I can derive just one lesson from this critical comparison, it's that cost is not the main parameter of compelling audio reproduction.

Agreed.

incorrigable
44 posts
 

10 gauge Belden finished by Blue Jeans is all I need.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,935 posts
 

@snilf nice deeply thoughtful experiential post.

i especially loved the embedded music recommendation…the ECM

Glad you have a SPL widget…. i view ears like turbochargers… as a consumable 

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