Cables more hype than value?

Measurements do prove differences in cabling exists. There has been some real research done with things like current bunching & skin effect. Also characteristic impedance of cabling which involves series resistance and series inductance, shunt capacitance, shunt conductance, etc. Learn about the latest cable research if ya need some cable science so badly.

Baloney. Current bunching? Skin effect is irrelevant at audio frequencies. You seem to be learning "science" from cable product marketing material.

Waxwaves, Thanks for the kind words.
Don't let 'em get you down.

All the best,
Nonoise

****....(and) "What a miracle it is that someone can reproduce something that is capable of touching our emotions" - Frogman.
My nomination for the Nobel Prize!!!!****. - Isochronism

Damn!! I am speechless; for a change. :-)

But not for long....

Oftentimes, when trying to understand a posters point of view, I find value in looking for patterns in a poster's over-all posting history. As with most things, not just audio, I like to read between the lines. This approach is hardly "scientific" and not applicable in all cases; but still, it can tell me a lot about a poster's priorities and viewpoint.

I have been trying very hard to understand Irv's stubbornness re the position of the overwhelming majority of posters in this thread on the subject of cables. While his stance is fairly clear, there are also some inconsistencies and a convenient "out" when he leans on the idea that his premise is based on the "fact" that cables that are "properly designed for a given application" will sound the same. But, I don't want to revisit all that. In looking at his posting history, I notice two significant things. For me, one in particular speakes volumes about where a person's head is at.

-This is far from Irv's only thread where he has taken the minority position of trying to debunk others' opinions about the audibility of differences in cables, and tweaks in general.

- Even more importantly (for me) is that unlike the posting history of the overwhelming majority of other contributors to this discussion, he has not made a single contribution nor comment on the subject of music; not a one.

Draw your own conclusions.

No doubt for me cables can and often do sound different. But not always. No rule says they will or must. I think there are probably ways to quantify how they might in electrical terms to back it up. Almarg, an experienced EE with an interest, is the best I have seen here at doing that based on principles of EE.

IS there a scientific study that supports this? Maybe but I have not seen one. Still the theory is consistent with what I hear so I can accept it.

Also no doubt that vendors hype their products based on the supposed "fact" that wires CAN sound different. Each has their own science or pseudo-science or perhaps "fantasy" to explain how their unique "innovation" works. Some are more plausible, some are less.

In the end, when one is able to predict resulting sound based on its design, and the predictions can be statistically or mathematically demonstrated as being better than if done randomly, we will have something to sink our teeth into. We could have a long wit though. Meanwhile, may the better ears win.