John Dunlavy On "Cable Nonsense"

Bear -

2 points:

First, while you're new to Audiogon I've followed some of the many discussions on rec.audio.high-end between you and folks such as Dick Pierce and JJ. If I recall correctly, there was quite a thread involving the topic of system resolution.

Your argument would be stronger were there a number (say, anything more than 1) of double-blind test showing differences between cables of similar electrical characteristics; surely not ALL of the test systems are so inadequate??? Incidently, I believe that these systems have in fact revealed differences if the cables have grossly different properties, so the systems used can't be hopeless.

Second, from your post can I assume that you don't object to the basic double-blind test methodology? If so, it might be interesting to try it out on your system using a pink noise source. Have you given this a try?

Cheers,
JHunter

John Dunlavy strikes me as revealing part of the truth, enough of it to outdo everyone else, only to legitmize himself so that he can now charge $200 for his interconnects and even more for his speaker cable. At least he shows us some math, more than any of the others, but still not much.

Sean, when I said i wanted to try this out "properly", I meant in a blind test, in my room, with my equipment. THAT'S what it will take to convince to 'upgrade' my cable. But that's just me. I would suggest you try a blind comparison also, let us know how it goes.
I can't dispute that cables can be engineered (allowing for in-line passive electronics too) to change the sound you get, but if "lamp cord" is electronicaly transparent where it matters to an audio signal, anything else would be coloration. Of course, who knows; I might just like the colored sound better.
If the effect is purely psychoacoustic, I'd rather upgrade my speakers or buy more music or something.
Re: Dunlavy's cables, the impresion I got is that he doesn't claim a sonic difference, only that he has tweaked and flatened electronic properties that don't have a discernable effect on the sound, pure specsmanship. It looks like he has no moral qualms about exploiting the market that cares about such things. At least he's not lying about it.

Lamp cord is not acoustically transparent. The quality of the copper must have an effect on signal transfer.The cable companies that offer the purest materials seem to garner the best reviews. Harmonic Technology's single crystal wire comes to mind.

... internal processing...

By internal processing I do not mean that familiarity leads to recognition - although there is an element of "ear training" that plays a role in how we all hear. The question is not familliarity as much as how much internal processing you are actually doing to have your mind say "ahhh I know what that is/means."

An example of this *sort* of thing is when you randomly tune your car radio to the middle of a song, one that you hear all the time, and it takes a few seconds to figure out which song it is, as you have tuned into a spot that is perhaps in the middle of a musical phrase, so you don't have the benefit of a "start" point (musically or lyrically) to guide you.

What I am speaking of is similar, but more subtle in that the clues that tell you where/what on a hi-fi system, and really give you the detailed tonal and spatial information are much more minute.

Perhaps one of the reasons that you can "hear" more on your own system is that you have given your brain an "algorithm" with which to quickly process the raw sound into intellegable information.

So, the test then is to be able to walk in "cold" (no pre-programming of your brain, just "natural" sound algorithms) and be able to *instantly* recognize all the sonic clues! Of course, this is not a constant, nor is it (as far as I know) measurable (yet), but if you think about what happens when you are out in the world everyday, or at a non amplified live performance, you don't have to strain or work at all, it all just *IS* <-- kind of a zen thing.

Hope that explains...

_-_-bear