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Benfits of upgraded connectors

I've been looking into upgrading/changing my ic's and of course have noticed that many mfg's offer and charge for "premium" connectors.
Is there a sonic benefit with these connectors? For example, will an upgraded Cardas connector sound better than a standard RCA connector on the same cable?
greh
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Can you hear the difference between silver and copper?
geoch's avatar
geoch
354 posts
 
Dear Schipo,
We can certainly hear the difference !
The point is that we have to climb over a certain level of performance first.
And this one demands commitment & tenacity, but most necessarily objectivity & integrity about our wrong choises & the courage to step back & perceive them as wrong.
Of course, money is a barrier but this is not an excuse :
It is one thing to say that you can't hear the difference, and another thing to say that "this upgrade is subtle but costly & I would prefer to change my CDP instead of buying plugs".
schipo
1,268 posts
 
ruGeoch: yes you can hear the difference? As long as your doing the changing of the guard. I have been involved maybe a much longer time then you? And I can say when someone else does the change what your perception once was now will change completley. Read Gordon Gow's Speaker Wire Listening Test results. Then say to yourself could I have heard a change over others? And please don't give me the objectivity & integrity bit.Gordon Gow was President of McIntosh Laboratory and I am sure if they heard a difference they would have reported so. They did not, and no one else did either. Unless the gauge was wrong depending on wire length. Also read Images Of the Consumer's Mind by Milton Rokeach. I am amazed on how many are waiting in the wings with daggers drawn when it comes to this topic...lol
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
You guys must practice this. ;-) I don't disagree that I can not hear any difference between chassis mounted connectors, and no doubt there is a lot of bullshit, over priced accessory items. There is benefit to buying the $5 set, rather than the $3.50 set only in that they grip a little tighter and don't corrode as fast. But on a cable? That, IME, is usually easy to hear because in the least the connector is a resistor in the path.

Try it yourself if you're into diy. You can make an IC from solid strand copper magnet wire, or silver. Also get a pair of copper and silver ends. Swap them around and see what you think.

Or, keep reading what someone else tells you to hear.
geoch's avatar
geoch
354 posts
 
Well Schipo, I am speechless! 'cause all of us we have so many vivid memories about testing especially speaker cables.
Maybe what this guy said is true about some McIntosh or perhaps a few more set-ups, or as I'm about to suspect, the whole thing depends of electrical charachteristics between components. But everything has a different idiosyncrasy because of this ! So, we have to explore it's matching abilities, trying to control them & bring some balance.
I really appreciate your thought about "changing the guide" and I'm greatful that you remind me this !
Thank you & I have to say that your post somehow acts as a break to my will to purchase some Oyaide 004 unless I can manage to A/B test them with the stock connectors.
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