hifi Delusion at it's greatest?

One of the reason better cables improve audio is reduction in EMI, EMI directly effect the sonic performance of the component so anything to reduce EMI will improve the sound.

Typically on an amplifier the source input, and the mains input are sometimes less then 30 cm apart, my studio monitors this distance is 16cm.

An unshielded mains cable will leak EMI into the source side of the amplifiers electronics. The Kimber cable has 4 twisted pairs, when cable is twisted at 45 degrees this reduces stray magnetic fields. The Van Damm silver interconnects have an extra metal shield to reject EMI. It's not just EMI, the Van Damme Silvers are low capacitance and have a low high frequency roll off that helps prevent details from the audio source being lost.

The power cable is not the last 1 meter, it's the first 1 meter from the component. The local current and EMI from other local components such as your computer is what cause EMI.

I don’t blame anybody for being sceptical about better cables. Apparently lots of people who have actually bought better cables seem to think they work.
 
Armageus said:
Seemingly though no one able to do any scientific testing has ever bought one though
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Agreed.

Frequencies in the audio range are easily measured and visualised with basic equipment.
Any 'noise reduction' would be clearly visible / measurable.
You can easily inject noise into the mains supply and measure the effect under load and in both the AC and DC of a power supply.

That all the marketing is based on the 'ear' and without any quantifiable data tells me all I need to know.


If the effect of the cable was so great at noise reduction, would a 5m or 10m cable reduce noise more than a 2m cable.... I just wouldn't be happy with a tiny 2m cable if I really valued my audio... feels like I would be cheating myself.
Of course the who effect can be spoiled if you don't invest in matching Hifi fuses. https://www.futureshop.co.uk/synergistic-research-orange-high-end-slow-blow-fuse

Amplified Studio montiors. I'd bet these have a swiched mode power supply and are Class D to manage the heat output. Nuff said.
 
Armageus said:
Seemingly though no one able to do any scientific testing has ever bought one though
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I've just recorded a background noise test between a Maplins Premium RCA and a Van Damme Silver Lo-Cap 55.

To highlight the EMF I've set the monitor gain to +6 db and the high frequency to +1 db. Normally I run the monitor at -6 db gain, and a high frequency to -1 db. So I'm +12 gain from what I normally use.

You need to compare the Maplins audible noise background at 25 seconds to the time before and after that is the Van Damme, it's clear evidence the Van Damme cable reduces EMF over the Maplins Premium cable.

And finally I set the monitor settings back to -6 db gain and -1 HF db where EMF is not audible and I also play some music over the speaker. I do this to prove this is how I normally play music from the speaker. Also I'm doing this with one hand, the thuds you can hear are the RCA cables dropping onto my desk as I pull them out to switch them.

 
Armageus said:
Not sure what you are proving? That a cheap nasty cable is subject to interference when run at extreme levels?
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Do you accept that the Van Damme cable has less noise then the Maplins Premium cable in that video?

And the noise from the Maplins cable does effect the sound at normal levels when sitting in the room, I just exaggerated the noise so it was more audible for the video.
 
JasonM said:
Do you accept that the Van Damme cable has less noise then the Maplins Premium cable in that video?
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Yes - however that's in your particularly environment (maybe you are subject to lots of EMI for whatever reason), equally a slightly better cable than the Maplin cable may also have the same effect (rather than assuming you need a fairy dust infused audiophile cable).

It's entirely possible that the Maplin Premium cable might not be subject to the same interference in someone else's home.

As with most things analogue, it comes down to whether the cable is "good enough" or not (clearly in this instance the Maplin isn't). Once you get to the "good enough" level, adding pseudo marketing buzzwords to the cable design simply can't "create additional detail", or make it "sound warmer" etc.
 
Armageus said:
Yes - however that's in your particularly environment (maybe you are subject to lots of EMI for whatever reason), equally a slightly better cable than the Maplin cable may also have the same effect (rather than assuming you need a fairy dust infused audiophile cable).
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It's still proof that the Van Damme cable rejects more EMI than the Maplin's cable. Up until I posted that video, people on this post were claiming cables made no difference at all, i've just dis-proved this.

The Van Damme cable retains more detail in the sound and is more musical than the Maplins cable, or any other budget cables I've tried. This is because the cable is low capacitance and it's established low capacitance cables have less high end roll off. Van Damme provide full specs for this cable.

I run the Van Damme cables on my stereo system downstairs and have the same results.

Those Van Damme Lo-Capp cables can be purchased for £30 for 1 meter including interconnects on eBay, don't group that cable with the audiophile cables costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
 
JasonM said:
Up until I posted that video, people on this post were claiming cables made no difference at all, i've just dis-proved this.
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I doubt anyone here would claim that cables don't make a difference to interference (as you have proved - and which can easily be proved even on an electrical level), the issue most myself included is when cables are claimed to make the sound "better", "warmer", "more detailed", and other such unquantifiable nonsense.

JasonM said:
The Van Damme cable retains more detail in the sound and is more musical than the Maplins cable, or any other budget cables I've tried.
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Didn't take long before the pseudo nonsense appeared :rolleyes:
 
Armageus said:
the issue most myself included is when cables are claimed to make the sound "better", "warmer", "more detailed", and other such unquantifiable nonsense.
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The budget / cheap cables degrade the sound, the better cables such as this Van Damme degrade the sound less.
 
visibleman said:
Why are you using unbalanced connections?
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I made a second video to show you why you don't necessary need balanced connections. The reason balanced cables first existed is for studios running lots of audio cables, if your running a single unbalanced cable from the source there not that necessary.

I'm also showing you can have clean audio from a computer sound card. Lets look at the chain of components.

Asus Essence STX II
Seasonic Titanium PSU (that's giving clean power to the STX II on it's own power cable)
Van Damme Lo-Cap 55's, that are shielded more then a cheap / budget cable.
There is some Tacima CS497 power filter strips in use.
Finally some Russ Andrews cable's, these are the least important part of everything, however they still made a subtle difference. And before someone questions what I paid, I got the Russ Andrews cables pre-owned from £40 a cable on eBay.
Finally the 2 Prodipe Pro 5 V3's, on stands and on isolation foam of course.

The video shows the speakers are silent when not playing. The noise you do hear is from computer fans 6 foot away, note the camera phone is sometimes 5mm away from the drivers but the noise never changes, that's because it's not from the speaker.

The reason for this low noise floor is due to the chain of items I have listed above.

Also make a note to how low the frequencies go from New Orders Blue Monday track, I mention this to prove you don't always need a sub.

 
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