A New Believer

Where's Randy and his million dollars??

I feel a responsibility to those who are just starting into audio and reading this. Pay close attention to Shadorne's comment above. Cables are passive. They should have no sound of their own. Cheap cables can impart a change in the signal. Well made cables of good quality should not. Whether you hear a difference is subjective. If the wire is extremely short, especially for speaker cables, the differences will be very small, if any. Best to pay attention to the components first, then experiment with wire. Another caveat- even though I am a skeptic I have been around long enough to know that current methods of measurement (and science in general) cannot explain perceived phenomena. The human ear can be an incredibly accurate instrument and we may not be able to measure differences scientifically that the human ear can detect. I am happy that the OP found joy and surprise with a new cable. That keeps the fun in this hobby. Lastly, let's not lose sight of the joy and satisfaction of listening to music. After all, isn't that the point?

I have always been amazed when folks argue about this subject. If you can't hear the difference, then no difference exists for you folks. Stick with lamp cord or whatever you seem to enjoy. Others that can hear a difference should continue to enjoy the "better" sounding cables they have settled on.

What is left to argue about? Some can't taste, see or smell differences as well as another. Seems we are really all uniquely made by our Creator.

Wire is no different than any other component or part a signal has to pass through. All these parts impact the final sound. Caps sound different. Transformers and wires sound different. Volume pots sound different etc... Some can hear it and some cannot.

We all love music and share this in common :-)

To be a skeptic you have to deny proof which is not available yet. How much cultural (as in audiophile culture) and personal bias (as in, "It doesn't seem logical, so I'm not going to try it") influence which proof is deemed impossible and wich is deemed unaccessible is an interesting topic.

I agree Grannyring, it isn't really important. What IS important is conveying to people that don't really have an opinion but are inquiring, maybe novices new to the hobby that there are two camps on this subject and to find out for yourself. Having said that I will say that it should NOT be anywhere close to the top of priorities in putting together a musically satisfying system, more like last. So far as power cords are concerned, DEAD last.

It really is an individual and personal endeavour for each to explore to the degree they see fit. Beyond that, it really isn't that important to me if folks don't believe it, I really don't care if they do or not.

Concerning the topic of price, which was never part of the original question, I don't believe it is relevant to this thread but it has surfaced. Since it has surfaced, to each his own, again listen with your own ears and you decide. It can get nuts, I agree but one man's nuts is another's nirvana. I wouldn't put it to myself to make any judgement on what one can or is willing to spend after all in the grand scheme of this hobby 95% of the rest of the world would consider us all nuts if they were let in on the details of our expenditures for this hobby, at least some of us! :)

Rok2id:

Funny in that reading your first posts here @ AA (which started all of 8 months ago) it is apparent that you did not know zip about Hi-fi.

Now (8 months later;-) are you implying that you do?