Do Fancy Audio Cables Make a Difference? (video)

[Holmz]

Those two camps are meaningful? Neither are particularly interesting or effective particularly.

I don’t now…
Where do you want to start?

Probably the metal camp, as it is imbued with crystal junctions in the metal as well as something to do with colour and the conductivity of the particular element.

I am not sure whether there are other camps, but those two kind of stick out.
At least the battery things are designed to fix a problem with the dielectric that cannot be measured.
Of course if they worked, I am sure that they would have provided some graphs.

 

[Chrispy]

I don’t now…
Where do you want to start?

Probably the metal camp, as it is imbued with crystal junctions in the metal as well as something to do with colour and the conductivity of the particular element.

I am not sure whether there are other camps, but those two kind of stick out.
At least the battery things are designed to fix a problem with the dielectric that cannot be measured.
Of course if they worked, I am sure that they would have provided some graphs.

LOL that's not a start, just some weird claim. Nonsense mostly.

 

[sonitus mirus]

I don’t now…
Where do you want to start?

Probably the metal camp, as it is imbued with crystal junctions in the metal as well as something to do with colour and the conductivity of the particular element.

I am not sure whether there are other camps, but those two kind of stick out.
At least the battery things are designed to fix a problem with the dielectric that cannot be measured.
Of course if they worked, I am sure that they would have provided some graphs.

Every audio "problem" can be measured, otherwise, how would any solution be designed?

 

[Holmz]

LOL that's not a start, just some weird claim. Nonsense mostly.

Whoa… don’t shoot the messenger.

You can read all sorts of stuff about the various metals making a difference.
All of it usually is without graphs/proof.

 

[AndyBell]

You can read all sorts of stuff about the various metals making a difference.

Change that to ‘read all sorts of claims…’

Anyone can claim anything. And they do.

As a general rule, if someone has rock solid evidence they present it. Claims not backed up with evidence lack credibility…

 

[Holmz]

Change that to ‘read all sorts of claims…’

Anyone can claim anything. And they do.

As a general rule, if someone has rock solid evidence they present it. Claims not backed up with evidence lack credibility…

Yes - you got it!

 

[Panelhead]

I accidentally did an unsighted cable test once for a group. Hosted a group from Texas Bottlehead. Wanted to show off my self modified Marantz SA-8260 disc player.
There was a selection of equipment brought by attendees. After a few hours I hooked up my stock 8260. Played a couple tracks.
Went to swap out with the unit with lots of parts swapped out. Someone had brought an AR brand interconnect, To demonstrate how this 15 - 20 USD interconnect was as good as needed. Used it.
Hooked up modified player, grabbed one of my homemade cables with 26ga solid core 6/9 wire, cotton dielectric insulation, and original Eichmann Bullet Plug RCA connectors.
Played the same tracks. The audience (20 people really into sound) all said my modified 8260 was several levels about the stock player. Sounded like a 10,000.00 Playback Designs or Meitner disc player. Did sound like a different animal.
Decided to swap out to allow someone with a 80.00 modified DVD player to hook up for the group to hear. Group asked if digital output from Marantz disc spinner could be used to feed to cheap DVD player My modified unit had a plug on digital output to terminate at 50 ohms.
When I went to remove, saw there was none. Somehow when swapping between 8260’s the stock unit was removed and put back in. We had listened to the stock unit twice.
The difference in playback was all generated from replacing the AR branded RCA cables with the homemade cabling.
Later I tried a gimme cable back upstairs in my system. The difference I heard from cable swap was huge. My modified SA-8260 was almost identical to the stock unit. All the capacitors, bypasses, physical dampening, clock change, and digital output termination made almost no difference.
For those who some who think either everything makes a difference AND the group who think nothing makes a difference, maybe an unsighted test is needed.
Many items do not make any difference. Some items do make a difference. We just need to listen to hear them. Not dismiss automatically.
I think RCA connector transmission is flawed. Both analog and digital. I was using Amphenol TWINAXIAL BNC connectors when building my own gear. BW is 4Ghz. Could go SE or balanced. True pieces of art in construction.
I think the superiority of proper XLR cables levels the playing field. When connected as designed the connector and cabling used are not really audible. Maybe measurable.

 

[RandomEar]

For those who some who think either everything makes a difference AND the group who think nothing makes a difference, maybe an unsighted test is needed.

But you specifically did not do that. At least as far as you explained in the post, you did change something and everybody listening to the setup knew that you changed something and expected to hear a difference (due to the mods in the player which then wasn't actually connected). You accidentally changed the wrong thing, but this test is still neither blind nor well controlled in any other way. This is a prime example of a biased test.

Also, the long switching time makes the comparison even less reliable, due to the very short echoic memory we have. Contrary to the belief held in audiophile circles that you need long listening sessions to hear small differences, the opposite is actually true and has been proven: You absolutely need the ability to switch extremely quickly (ideally <1 s). And in my experience in ABX testing, very short segments of only a couple of seconds offer the most reliable results once you have identified the actual differences.

So: Same flaws as in most others posts claiming to hear differences. I encourage you to actually try a real, well controlled blind test some time. I am sure you will be surprised by the results.