John Dunlavy On "Cable Nonsense"

Docwarnock - Some people view audio gear as a hobby or an obsession like modifying cards. A guy who puts a new $1,000 exhaust in his car to gain 1/10th of a second in the quarter mile (a statistically insignificant gain in power, according to you) might look crazy to some. A guy who puts a new $1,000 power cord to gain 1dB of improvement in some area might also look crazy. But both guys are trying to make their gear the best it can be, not fit into the pefectly average category.

Greg makes a good point, if someone moves a throw pillow to a different chair in my house, I would notice it, and say that it was a significant change (positive, or negative). If someone comes to my house, and is not very familiar with it , that person would not perceive anything wrong, or different. It is my complete familiarity with my room arranements that allows me to notice significant differences in what might be a subtle difference to someone else. Same with cables and systems. These tests don't prove or disprove much of anything, but if one person can hear differences 100% of the time,then anyone saying there is no difference is a fool.

Jay, I think that you may misunderstand what I said. In your example, the gain in power may be real and thereby detectable as "statistically significant". But it is the practical significance of such a trivial gain that is in question. And I agree with you that people who are willing to go to such great lengths, both financially and otherwise, to exact such trivial differences do indeed "look crazy" (your words), or at least a little neurotic.

Jaykapur, be real careful who you modifying cards with! Some guys get real angry when cards are marked. :-)

Gregm, I could not agree more. As my system evolved into the current collage of stuff, I tried different cables to achieve the sound that I desired. I have a mixture of silver plated and plain copper. What I use is not important to this discussion but the fact that they work in my system is. I have taken some cables to other systems and found the synergy is not there. I can clearly identify with the concept of matching cables to a system and the owner's taste.