An interesting read on cables and their effect on audio

[james.miller]

I came across this just now, thought you guys might like to pick it apart and get stuck in. make yourself a tea or coffee while you're at it, its quite in depth. take a read:

http://sound.westhost.com/cables.htm

When it comes to cable constructions, everything makes a difference. Most (but not all) of these differences are measurable. What is at issue is whether these differences are audible ... or not, when tested properly using a blind A-B test. Sighted tests are at best unreliable, and at worst cause people to believe things that are simply untrue. The vast majority of all cable claims have no basis in reality, and rely on the placebo effect.

It is interesting that in a relatively non-demanding application such as an interconnect, a material such as aluminium would likely be sneered at by any audiophile, yet this very same material is used regularly in loudspeaker voice coils. I am reasonably sure that sonic performance of an aluminium interconnect would be deemed to fall way short of excellence, yet I hear (or read) no highly critical comments about using it in a voice coil. This is an extremely demanding role, and the performance of aluminium is (or can be) audibly and measurably worse than copper. *

re speaker cables:
Summary
Essentially, the main offenders in speaker leads are resistance and inductance. Of these, inductance is the hardest to minimise, and although usually small, it may still cause problems with some loads (see update, below). Many construction methods have been used, from multiple CAT-5 data cables, with the wires interconnected (usually all the coloured leads are deemed the +ve conductor, and all the white wires - the "mates" - are used as the negative). Because of the tight twist, the inductance is minimised, but at the expense of capacitance. In some cases, the capacitance may be high enough to cause instability in the amplifier, which not only does awful things to the sound, but can damage the amp.

here's a link to a blind ABX on a few different speaker cables: http://www.provide.net/~djcarlst/abx_wire.htm

 

[james.miller]

come on guys i want some feedback on this, especially from the more experienced members here

 

[Dr.EM]

Rod Elliott has a great deal of experience in audio/electronic design. He knows enough about the subject to comment in depth about the various scientific properties and effects of cables, what he says is fact. In any well designed cable (achieveable for under £5 parts cost in an interconnect) there is no measurable difference in its performance in the intended use when compared to more expensive cables. People are however perfectly welcome to believe they can hear differences, the products wouldn't be made otherwise.

 

[9designs2]

Would seem to be some reasonable comments in there.... I tend not to take much notice of what materials are used, as any indication of them being better or worse. All my cables, Linn's own, are Copper of various levels of purity I guess.

That said cables can and do change the sound or balance of the system. BUT it's pot luck to which ones improve or help. So I'd say forget cost, buy what works best.

Not sure I follow the logic in comparing an interconnect with a voice coil, they are do different jobs, and have different requirements. Seems oversimplified and flawed argument.

Re CAT5, on a pure listen experience. I've never been so obsessed to start measuring my cables )
I don't go with the trend of using it. For me it was hard, edgy on the top end, and lean/bass shy. Put that on a system what has woolly bass, and muted top end, and wowww it's so much better ..bla bla bla....nothing more than system matching, and hiding problems else where.
That said, my multi room system is done using CAT5 cables as a High level Balanced analogue "interconnect" ... and sounds dam good !

 

[divuk83]

Well, I'm on my second coffee and I have only got through half of it, though I am at work at the mo so keep getting called away to do things.

Am I correct in reading that the ABX tests were only done on a few people? I don't see how any kind of conclusion can be made from such a small amount of data.

As for expensive interconnects etc, as long as you are happy with the money your spending and like the way your hi fi sounds then thats all that matters. Hi-Fi magazine ratings etc are pretty meaningless if you buy them and don't like the way something sounds. Everyone is different and has there own musical tastes and idea of what they want to be hearing. The only way to know is to demo something. As the article says, most shops would thing you a bit mad if you wanted to demo a 30 squid lead and it would be pretty pointless anyway as it would need to be using exactly the same kit as you had at home for it to be a fair comparison. As long as your happy with the result and the price your paying then I think thats all that matters, placebo effect or not. If your not happy then you could always take it back or even borrow some of the stores leads to test before purchasing. I'm sure any decent hi-fi dealer would be prepared to let you do this.

Dave

 

[jellybeard999]

This guy needs to read this : http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=646149

in fact their are over £12000 in cables on this system

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Cables don't really need to be treated any differently between an OK and a good CDP. Both have the same functionality, chances are that both measure very similarly, yet somehow CDPs can be made to sound better.
However, it is often personal preference and quite subjective.

My belief is that cables DO make a difference. My suggestion is that people borrow or buy on a "returns if not impressed" basis. That way it's simply not a big deal if you don't think the improvement is worth the dosh.

 

[kidloco]

exactly, I have always demod any cables before I buy them outright. And I always test back to back with what im replacing it with, if I dont hear a noticable improvement I just hand the back, simple.

Iv even asked the opion of the missus on the more then one occasion, I hooked up 1 speaker with my old QED bronze cable (£2.50 a metre) and the other with Chord Rumour II (£10 a metre), then played various tracks, fading in one speaker then the other, the differance was night and day, so quite how some people insist there is no difference and we are all wasting our cash is beyond me.