Crystal infused audio cables costing thousands of dollars

[Surfrat]

You could have asked him, after a few minute break, to plug one cable in and than ask the crowd which one there listening to. That might open some audiance eyes. Even better, you do the switch and have him tell you which one.

As I was new to the group I thought I would just observe...

 

[Curvature]

As I was new to the group I thought I would just observe...

There's a lot of social pressure in these situations. Don't worry.

Once I was in a demo of a small bookshelf speaker with a few other people in a small hotel room, and the room modes lined up with the seating position well enough to suggest that the speaker had an incredible amount of bass. The presenter was gushing and going on, and I didn't have the heart to argue.

 

[DonH56]

You might be amused reading about his journey of discover - or not:

About Ramsey | Handcrafted Audio Cables by Alchemist Wires

Meet Ramsey, the craftsman behind Alchemist Wires. Listening-led, hand-built audiophile cables with mineral-crystal noise control from South Africa.

alchemistwires.com

You owe me five minutes of my life I really want back.

 

[Redacted]

Twin and earth works just fine. But it's ugly and hard to bend.

 

[Ruediger]

You might be amused reading about his journey of discover - or not:

About Ramsey | Handcrafted Audio Cables by Alchemist Wires

Meet Ramsey, the craftsman behind Alchemist Wires. Listening-led, hand-built audiophile cables with mineral-crystal noise control from South Africa.

alchemistwires.com

To me that makes the cable manufacturers that just overengineer, dress up and multiply price by 20 kind of lame. They lack a good story and divine intervention.

 

[fpitas]

I'm starting to think I need more crystals to completely surround my Mini 300, for the best sound.

 

[Roland68]

I haven't heard of any.

I think your anecdote is interesting with 80% of the room hearing a difference, though. I think it's actually shockingly easy to get people to hear a big difference in sound quality simply by suggesting there ought to be one. I've done it myself. Why this fact doesn't snap people out of the subjectivist mindset, I don't know.

That figure of 80% (or even over 90%) aligns very closely with my own real-world experiences.

Throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s, I frequently attended demonstrations and showcases hosted by dealers and manufacturers for CD players, DACs, cables, and amplifiers.
I always felt a bit awkward at these events. While most other attendees claimed to be able to hear the differences being described, that was rarely the case for me.
At one point, I suggested that they demonstrate the equipment without revealing which device was playing and let the participants decide. Suddenly, none of the others could hear the differences either.
After doing this a few times, I was no longer a welcome guest at such events; for a while, I was even actively disinvited or barred from attending altogether.

 

[Roland68]

On the weekend I was at a presentation on crystal infused audio RCA interconnects, USB cables and power cables. They seem to be well made with good quality components. On speaking to the creator he mentioned things like "buttery sound" etc. I asked to look at an unterminated cable to see inside and was told "No, it's a secret". I told him I was an engineer and sceptical about his claims, and he said I should trust my ears.


He then proceeded to do a demo of two USB cables he had made, the only difference being the type of solder paste used on one connector. Each demo was about a minute long with a gap between them, so no instantaneous switching, and he narrated what to listen for both before and during each pass. He knew I was a sceptic, so he asked me specifically if I could hear a difference and I said no. He then asked for a show of hands, 80% said they could hear a difference, the rest said they were not sure, and I was alone with my "no".


Throughout the afternoon my bullshit meter was in the red. We left on good terms and agreed to disagree, with a few well-meant jabs at each other. The great part is, he had an awesome sound system.


The question from me is: has anyone here managed to get a cable manufacturer, making claims like these, to produce actual measurements, or to agree to a properly level-matched ABX test? And if so, what happened?

This concept isn't new—take tourmalines, for instance, which are used to fill cables, absorbers, racks, filters, filter housings, and so on.
It’s also no secret that this particular manufacturer simply fills the void between the cable and the jacket with these crystals (hopefully using spacers).

Almost all these manufacturers tout the same effect: that they reduce not only external interference but also the noise floor itself.
Whenever I asked—at a demonstration or a trade show booth—how they managed to distinguish noise from the music while reducing it, I was asked to leave.