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A hard look at the effect of cables

Hey guys
A fellow EE audionut directed me to these articles and I thought some of you might be very interested to read them too. Two arguably qualified engineers went through the pains to take high quality measurements of the effect of cables and their interation with a complex electrical load, such as a full range loudspeaker, and with a complex signal, such as music. The link below is to the final installment but be sure to also read parts 4 and 5 very carefully. Part 5's Figures 6.8 and 6.9 are really amazing. I had never seen such measurements and they definitely seem to correlate with what we hear. The cables lengths are longer than normal but I think the point is well made. Hope you enjoy this read as much as I did.

http://www.planetanalog.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202102592

Arthur
aball
psacanli
535 posts
 
Dennis, have you tried any newer MIT pcs?
waffle35
24 posts
 
LMAO. Shadorne, you're quite right. Integrated multi-amp matched componentry with minimal cable is theoretically better. Are you really John Meyer! You missed a big part in that a lot of the fun in audiophile is finding those "magical" pairings. Why else would some of us spend all this time trying to match "NOS" tubes and get excited over Hammond transformers.
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
hi Psacanli, nope, haven't tried those, but i've tried many that are well regarded. I"d think I'd hear something. Could be that my gear isn't sensitive, tho that doesn't seem likely as I've never heard any real difference between power cords.
gregm
3,405 posts
 
Is it really that difficult for a cable to carry a full range signal? I don't know much, but this is the first I"ve heard of this.
Of course not. The problem (if problem there is) is in the way that wire carries a wide-band signal; i.e. there may be attenuations & small phase anomalies in parts of the bandwidth...

But then, you can get similar anomalies just by using a single channel to amplify from dc to daylight AND expect a pair of passive boxes (speakers) to produce sound, accordingly from dc to daylight -- all of this in totally linear fashion. A tall order.
Just think about it! :)
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,584 posts
 
If the Meridian approach was a smashing commercial success, I guess it would be more popular among manufacturers. Market forces, whatever they may be, seem to dictate otherwise. I got a kick out of your analogy with the fashion industry - perhaps I have more in common with my wife than I thought...
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