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Cables Are Crazy, what do you think?

I have been in several arguments with my best friends father on the subject of high end audio components and cables. He is a DR. of physics and mathmatics and always takes the stance that cables just transfer information and should show no effect on sound performance. He does stipulate that depending on the material used can change what information is transfered. He is no audiophile and I have tried to sit him down and show him what does happen when you do use different cables but he never seems to make the time to let me prove to him that different cables have different sounds. I know cable make a huge difference in a system, but does any one know how I can verbalize that to a DR. of physics with more intellegence then it just sounds different with different cables?
willypinecrest
rodman99999
6,102 posts
 
Sounds like a little piece of heaven to me(Harley, Kimber and a musical wife). Better watch it with the G-string jokes though: You might get your A__ in a crack! HMMM- Wonder if my girl would sound any more musical, tied up with my KS-1130's?
holygrailaudio
94 posts
 
Ask your brainy friend a few questions:
1. What does cable loss refer to?
2. What is meant by a wire's field effect
3. What is impedence?

All of these are recognized wire integrity issues affecting signal quality, how could it not affect high end sound?
narrod
1,064 posts
 
"All of these are recognized wire integrity issues affecting signal quality, how could it not affect high end sound?"

The question is how to prove that it effects the sound. Anecdotal testimony doesn't do it. What you hear I may not. That's why this is a question with no ultimate answer.
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
Checkout this study done on two different cables.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Checkout this study done on two different cables.

I did not check everything but several of the results are exactly what I would have expected based on physics. The zip cord is not as good and one of the wel known disadvantages of thicker wires versus many small wires will indeed be a slight roll off above 15 KHz (skin effect). This appears on the plots. Phase difference will also be expected to be higher due to the wire separation in the zip cord (the wires are close together in the Clarity 7) - again the results look intuitively correct.

Bear in mind that a 9 KHz square wave has frequencies well up into the 100 KHz range (as it is square) - so I am not sure of the relevance of this plot - or the one with resonance.

All in all I woudl support the claims that the Clarity 7 is better than the zipcord - although this is mainly true from 15 Khz to 400 KHz. As for me I can't hear above 15.5 KHz so I am not sure if I shall be switching from my monster cables ( basically zip cord or not different from zip cord ).
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