Power cable tech talk and a little help for Amir at Audio Science Review

[PaleRider]

Why would one use solid 2.5mm wire/cable to connect an audio device to a mains socket ?

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

 

[Chrispy]

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

LOL.

 

[BDWoody]

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

Sounds very mysterious, but the obnoxious part isn't necessary. I don't think you will get many takers to just give it a try, so why not explain why you recommend it, or what the benefit will be.

 

[solderdude]

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

Your post is already jawdropping. The cable is not needed for that

 

[xaviescacs]

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

And if the subject's jaw doesn't move, would we try to understand why as well?

 

[DSJR]

Let's take a look at the Audiophile Rainbow. What's in there?



System not resolving enough

System not expensive enough

lack of listening experience

Listening for the wrong things

Not listening for the right things

You must be deaf

You must have never done a comparison

Respected professional reviewers all hear a difference

All those people can't be wrong

It costs a lot more, of course it's better!

You need to move up to the £XXXX price bracket to get an audible improvement

I don't need to blind test, I trust my ears

X has been in the audio industry for 30 years how can you say he's wrong?

Measurements won't tell you anything about how something sounds

Everything matters

Oh how effin' true that is. (I was in my youthful ignorance, guilty of making some of those accusations at one time a few decades back, for which I sincerely apologise, although I wasn't alone in the kind of dealerships I worked in).

I'm not shilling this guy at least not intentionally, but we have a very decent chap called Mark Grant in the UK who happens to make posh heavy duty mains cables which do the job supremely well. Prices are WELL under a hundred quid for a sensibly - and carefully - terminated (duraplug mains and standard IEC) heavy duty 37A rated posh looking cable which looks more along the gauge of the huge Krell ones shown earlier if not quite as 'overkill.' Works for me, feeding the distribution block I use

Mark Grant – DSP 2.5 Dual Screened power cable – Mark Grant Cables

markgrantcables.co.uk

Remember folks, peeps into cables, lifters and so on only seem to pay lip service to the music, this latter becoming the tool to 'listen to the gear/cables/accessories' with (poor souls ).

 

[DSJR]

Not only that but in addition to the boutique amplifier the speakers will be something absolutely diabolical, the speaker set up will be massively compromised and the room acoustics clearly terrible. But they reckon they can hear the 'sonic character'' of using different plugs on the same cable. Or distinguish the sonic character of different magic fuses.

I know it's another late reply - I do have something of a life away from all this -

One thing I finally learned after decades in this godforsaken industry and confirmed by joining and trying to learn here too is that a well set up system working optimally in a room liked by the speakers seriously DOESN'T NEED all these wanky accessories and snake-oil wires and 'tat' to sound great. A dealer and ex colleague pal of mine recently commented to me how bad most end-user's rooms are, how so many systems aren't set up right from turntable to gear-siting to the all important speaker placement, often in absolutely dire room acoustics environments. Said people so often rely on these aftermarket 'tweaks' to try to obtain the silk purse that'll never happen. I thought my main stereo was like - but instead it was my ears gone bad - and I bet this is why so many high end speakers sound so shrill and tizzy - to make up for the ageing high end buyer's hearing losses (not as bad as mine, but age related). Said buyer's wife probably hates the sound, but accepts that's what 'HiFi' should sound like!

Apologies for opening up another huge can of worms here...

 

[Leif]

we have a very decent chap called Mark Grant in the UK who happens to make posh heavy duty mains cables which do the job supremely well. Prices are WELL under a hundred quid for a sensibly - and carefully - terminated (duraplug mains and standard IEC) heavy duty 37A rated posh looking cable which looks more along the gauge of the huge Krell ones shown earlier if not quite as 'overkill.' Works for me, feeding the distribution block I use

Mark Grant – DSP 2.5 Dual Screened power cable – Mark Grant Cables

markgrantcables.co.uk

Remember folks, peeps into cables, lifters and so on only seem to pay lip service to the music, this latter becoming the tool to 'listen to the gear/cables/accessories' with (poor souls ).

£55 for a mains cable. No thank you.

I have a box of mains cables that came with computers, monitors and so on. They do the job perfectly.

Incidentally, people ignore the influence of tidal forces. After all, if the moon can lift the sea several meters, just imagine the damage it does to your cables. So I can proudly announce that I am creating a new brand of cables. I was going to call the brand Lunar Cables. However, some overpaid consultants said that’s not snappy enough, we need something shorter and catchier. So our brand will instead be called LunarC. Our flagship cable will be Grand LunarC and our value for money everyday range will be General LunarC. (1)

(1) If I posted this on HiFi Wigwam, I would get a stream of preorders. Guaranteed.

 

[DSJR]

£55 for a mains cable. No thank you.

I have a box of mains cables that came with computers, monitors and so on. They do the job perfectly.

So do I and they do the same good things for me although one or two were suspect in terms of gauge and internal materials and were recycled. Happy to use this one is used for the slightly heavier job of supplying the distribution block and he's what I feel to be a good guy and worth his labour charge to make it up (my fingers aren't so nimble these days which makes me terrified to fit a pickup cartridge now, something I did for much of my living all those years ago). I'm just suggesting that more expensive than this level is bloody ridiculous, that's all...

 

[TheBatsEar]

To buy it with the intent to run a bunch of tests and then return it?
I don't think that's a very honest approach.

"for any reason and without justification."
It measures bad is as good a reason as "it doesn't look nifty on my shelf".
Obviously there is fineprint that compensates the merchant for use of the article, shipping and so on.

 

[Cuniberti]

One of Danny's comments in the comments section of his video was,
"Amir took measurements on my cables and claimed a 20dB drop in noise compared to his other cable, and that was using them as an interconnect."

What is he referring to?

 

[Sined]

When a guy is testing speaker cables using them as antenna and looking at the strength meter of the receiver to see which one grabs the more RF signals... and worse, use this test to conclude which one is better shielded for audio.... OMG... there's a few things he didn't understood during his electronic training...

I also think that he doesn't understand fully how null testing works.

 

[fpitas]

When a guy is testing speaker cables using them as antenna and looking at the strength meter of the receiver to see which one grabs the more RF signals... and worse, use this test to conclude which one is better shielded for audio.... OMG... there's a few things he didn't understood during his electronic training...

I also think that he doesn't understand fully how null testing works.

He's a salesman and showman primarily, so he may not worry about little details like that.

 

[thegeton]

Forget cable-theories, try and listen first. Then after closing up you jawdrop we might try to understand why

I can't stop laughing. This should have been posted in the "A Call For Humor" section.

 

[PaleRider]

I can't stop laughing. This should have been posted in the "A Call For Humor" section.

Arrogance like this is one of the main reasons why you guys are still messing around in the cable jungle

 

[fpitas]

Arrogance like this is one of the main reasons why you guys are still messing around in the cable jungle

You laugh, but once those cables get their fangs in you, it hurts!

 

[thegeton]

Arrogance like this is one of the main reasons why you guys are still messing around in the cable jungle

Dunning-Kruger much?

 

[egellings]

This is one time where I want Amir to be the bigger person and not even reply to Danny.

You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink, convince the horse the water is real, or teach the horse about the properties of water.

And the horse, if it could, would do a facepalm.

 

[Chrispy]

Arrogance like this is one of the main reasons why you guys are still messing around in the cable jungle

RAOFLMAO.

 

[Doodski]

@PaleRider cables if sized properly do not make for a difference in sound quality. None at all.