'Expensive ' cables - Worth it ?

Justin said:
This.

Get yourself some Mark Grants, none of this 'Monster' and QED crap.
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And now that Mark Grant has his new interconnect range which are £75/m is he now perceived as a rip off artist and con-man whereas previously considered a fair and honest cable maker with good value products?

He would be one of the first guys to swear black and blue that cables of all types *can* make a difference under the right conditions (interconnects/speaker/mains). Basically anyone in the industry worth their salt knows this to be true.

It's true that there are a few of companies out there releasing crap products with huge markups though, ***cough*** QED/Monster but that's true of any industry.
 
marscay said:
Yours is a common misconception made by users who have never listened to good high end gear before.

BTW Monster aren't high end cables :o

For gaming forget about it, grab anything well made.
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No it's not, there isn't even any evidence outside of "well I can hear it so you are wrong" for that to be true.
 
The only arguments I've ever come across are similar to those for homoeopathy, 500quid induction kits for a 1.6 liter, and other ripoff things, "Well I noticed a difference so I'm happy with my purchase." :rolleyes:
 
gurusan said:
The only arguments I've ever come across are similar to those for homoeopathy, 500quid induction kits for a 1.6 liter, and other ripoff things, "Well I noticed a difference so I'm happy with my purchase." :rolleyes:
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And always fails the double-blind . . . . :D
 
Ive got one of the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO ones (phono > phono) that I use to connect my Xonar Essence to my amp. Think i paid £20 for it. The guy said it comes with a lifetime warrenty and no receipt needed because they are the only shop that sells cambridge audio stuff. Good enough for me that i will never have to buy another
 
kylew said:
No it's not, there isn't even any evidence outside of "well I can hear it so you are wrong" for that to be true.
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How is that any different to comparing plasmas, they're all doing the same thing but we can all appreciate that Pioneers are still the best .....there is no way of measuring that either apart from using your eyes.

I used to be a cable skeptic, but i never used to have a £10k system either :D ....when you don't have a revealing system you won't hear any differences between cables because they're not magic dust.
 
So I need to spend 10k on audio equipment to be able to spend another 10k on cables. yay it's all making sense :D
 
marscay said:
How is that any different to comparing plasmas, they're all doing the same thing but we can all appreciate that Pioneers are still the best .....there is no way of measuring that either apart from using your eyes.

I used to be a cable skeptic, but i never used to have a £10k system either :D ....when you don't have a revealing system you won't hear any differences between cables because they're not magic dust.
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You can't compare differences between two TVs to the "difference" cables make.

It's obvious why you think there is a difference now, I suspect you've spent around £1000 on cables so it's pretty obvious why you're convinced.

Next you'll be telling me that gold plated "high end" HDMI cables produce a better image than cheap non gold plated ones.

I bet you've got loads of gold plated toslink cables as well to tighten up the low end?
 
This topic pops up on a regular basis here, always with the same type of responses and the same people jumping on one band wagon or another and it always has the same outcome.
 
I am also at a loss about optical cables and how better quality ones can make so much of a difference.

My toslink cable is a premium brand and cost £30 (bought it cheap 2nd hand) and in one review of it on a proper hifi site slated the cable as there is a lack of bass. I am at a loss as to how this can be with an optical cable? Somebody who thinks better optical cables make a difference care to explain to me?

Btw I can't detect any lack of bass with my surround system and subwoofer. :confused:
 
gurusan said:
So I need to spend 10k on audio equipment to be able to spend another 10k on cables. yay it's all making sense :D
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Clearly you have nothing at all to add but childish comments, shame i always though you were more mature than that.


kylew said:
You can't compare differences between two TVs to the "difference" cables make.
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Are you finding the analogy hard to grasp? :D

Let me break it down for you - you say there is no scientific proof that cables make any difference ....so where is the documented proof that plasma A is better than plasma B?

Answer ....we look and we make a decision with our eyes ...exactly the same as we do with audio through our ears - so why all of a sudden do cable non believers always go back to this crux of 'scientfic proof' everytime? Because most ppl who say this either have crap ears/crap equipment or they are just trolls who have read a few pieces of crap on the internet and are suddenly audio aficionados.

kylew said:
It's obvious why you think there is a difference now, I suspect you've spent around £1000 on cables so it's pretty obvious why you're convinced.
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Take your magic 8 ball back to the store, i haven't spent anywhere near that amount on cables ...well done.:o

Like i have said elsewhere on this forum many times high prices does not automatically make a better product. I've never said high prices cables are the answer just that there are differences between cables and under certain circumstances (ie average equipment) these differences can be hard to hear .....like i have already said cables aren't pixie dust or a magic wand, they're the last thing to tinker with after amps/speakers/source to refine the end product.

All my cables were bought from places where i could return them if not satisfied, the only reason they are still connected is because they make a difference.

kylew said:
Next you'll be telling me that gold plated "high end" HDMI cables produce a better image than cheap non gold plated ones.
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No they are a con.....next!

kylew said:
I bet you've got loads of gold plated toslink cables as well to tighten up the low end?
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Why would gold plating make any difference? lol

And why bring up digital cables i haven't talked about them at all, sorry but anyone who genuinely doesn't believe analogue cables have different properties knows absolutely nothing about hifi.
 
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marscay said:
Let me break it down for you - you say there is no scientific proof that cables make any difference ....so where is the documented proof that plasma A is better than plasma B?

Answer ....we look and we make a decision with our eyes ...exactly the same as we do with audio through our ears - so why all of a sudden do cable non believers always go back to this crux of 'scientfic proof' everytime? Because most ppl who say this either have crap ears/crap equipment or they are just trolls who have read a few pieces of crap on the internet and are suddenly audio aficionados.
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Except that would be the difference between 2 different sets of headphones or 2 sets of speakers, NOT the difference between 2 panels.
Its completely different. You can compare cables to cables, but not cables to a TV screen. It just doesnt work. Sorry.
 
PhillyDee said:
Except that would be the difference between 2 different sets of headphones or 2 sets of speakers, NOT the difference between 2 panels.
Its completely different. You can compare cables to cables, but not cables to a TV screen. It just doesnt work. Sorry.
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It's called an analogy, what level of education did you get? I think you missed the point of it entirely.

Let me explain it again but in a different way - So it's perfectly acceptable that we can use our eyes to determine one product is better than another but when it comes to audio some ppl point to lack of scientific proof to attempt to prove a point.
 
marscay said:
Let me break it down for you - you say there is no scientific proof that cables make any difference ....so where is the documented proof that plasma A is better than plasma B?
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reviews, lab testing ect. its quite easy to find an absolutely black figure and find a plot showing say a pioneer 5090's gamma tracking abilities. can you do the same with cables?

you dont really want to be questioning people's eduction when you yourself just made such a fundamental error, marscay.
 
And people make this purchase decision based upon a graph for gamma do they?

And where is the measurement of motion blur when watching sports etc? or the measurement of black level at 2:30pm in a typical living room with the bay window open?

Gimme a break james, ppl make decisions based on what they see with their eyes ....for those that actually give a **** about PQ. And yes the only way to measure audio is with your ears but that is conveniently overlooked by some.

Would you buy a Panasonic Plasma if it had a better stat sheet than a Pio even though you knew the Pio to provide a better picture to your eyes??? No i didn't think so.......
 
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marscay said:
And people make this purchase decision based upon a graph for gamma do they?
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what does it matter what people make their decisions based on? they could choose a tv based on the stand for all i care. you asked if there was proof that one panel was better than another - of course there is, its right there for you to go and find. what does that have to do with why people go and buy tv's?

And where is the measurement of motion blur when watching sports etc?
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Hate to break this to you but that's right there as well, it's called motion resolution. any review worth its salt will measure these factors. Here is such a review http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p42v10-tx-p50v10-20090602153.htm


I'm sorry marscay, but you've well and truely lost that argument.
 
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james.miller said:
what does it matter what people make their decisions based on? they could choose a tv based on the stand for all i care. you asked if there was proof that one panel was better than another - of course there is, its right there for you to go and find. what does that have to do with why people go and buy tv's?


Hate to break this to you but that's right there as well, it's called motion resolution. any review worth its salt will measure these factors.


I'm sorry marscay, but you've well and truely lost that argument.
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So you buy a TV purely on what the spec sheet says and you pay no observation to the actual picture????

lol

you still don't get the point i was making either btw - a TV review is primarily a summary of what one sees ....not what the spec sheet says. the spec sheet can say whatever it likes ....1000000:1 contrast but the eyes see what the eyes see.

just like the ears :)
 
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marscay said:
It's called an analogy, what level of education did you get? I think you missed the point of it entirely.

Let me explain it again but in a different way - So it's perfectly acceptable that we can use our eyes to determine one product is better than another but when it comes to audio some ppl point to lack of scientific proof to attempt to prove a point.
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Lol. It is still a wrong analogy. I did get what you meant. Even though it was wrong ;)
 
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