A New Believer

Talk is cheap. Rather than state that speaker cables are all the same or vastly different, why not actually try them? I used to be of the belief that the idea of differences in speaker cables, power cords and interconnects was snake oil.

However, there was a simple way to prove it. I contacted at least 9 different companies and they were willing to let me audition their respective cables in my home for 30 days. The only downside is that I had to pay shipping.

After experimenting with Wireworld, Straight Wire, Transparent, Home Grown, Signal Cable, MIT, Cardas, Acoustic Zen and Nordost I came to the conclusion that Wireworld Silver Eclipse was my personal favorite.

Does this mean that this particular cable is the end all be all? No, not at all. As they say - De gustibus non est disputandum. If you don't mind driving yourself insane and paying for shipping, I would bet that you would find that cables do indeed sound different. Is it worth the hours of changing out cables and spending time sampling and listening? Some people will love it and some people will dislike it.

The only downside is that after you select your favorite cable, it costs a pretty penny to purchase them for your system. Is it worth it? I believe it is. I feel a synergy to my system with all matching cables from one manufacturer. Am I crazy? Perhaps.

I would suggest, try it yourself and let your ears decide.

I believe there is a difference; it can be heard very easily by even the most untrained ear.

However, I also believe there is only a very tiny positive correlation between what a person finds most pleasing and price paid.

IMO

Not to mention, if you buy used, the cost of even "expensive" cables, ends up being quite small after you sell.

Certainly stirred up a hornets nest with that one!
Just to clarify, it was only the speaker cables that I changed, and the removed cables were very cheap (and nasty..). The cables I moved to were not uber-expensive, but the sound difference was real. Mceljo made a comment "were they junk ..." and yep - I'd agree the old ones were. Still, as a skeptic, I believed all cables send a signal, and can all do so effectively (a long as the guage is suitable) and any differences in sound between them were 'make believe'. Not true. I'm not even going to comment on my belief about i/c's and power cables...maybe one day I'll explore that too.

What's humorous is when the experience of hearing the difference is made so easily available, yet people will harp on its impossibility. I have little time for people who in their arrogance insist that efficacious changes in cables are impossible.

There will always be cable skeptics, since the ability to hear such changes is predicated upon the quality of the system, the room and hearing acuity.

The more I'm in this game the more I realize there are a LOT of guys who have bad ears; they have such diminishment of hearing that they'll never be able to discern such differences. That adds to the frustration of the ongoing discussion.

There are also a lot of guys who are so proud, so rock-headed that they will not try something unless it's their idea. The kind of man a woman laments being married to, the opposite of the users of the tweaks of questionable value. :)