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Do the cables matter?

Also found this interesting interview with Galen Gareis a retired senior engineer with Beldin cables and now works for Blue Jean Cables.
 
IowAudio said:
Also found this interesting interview with Galen Gareis a retired senior engineer with Beldin cables and now works for Blue Jean Cables.
Click to expand...
That company has been discussed here. Huckster, and a particularly sad one.
 
That hoser! I remember calling someone who BS'ed a lot a hoser, and the person BS'ed was said to have gotten hosed off.
 
What I get from that exchange is that geoffkate (Machina Dynamica) is not a big fan of @Sean Olive and seems to allude that Harman Kardon is run by mr. Olive.

Blind test results and DBT results can be flawed just as subjective tests. Get the amplitude difference slightly wrong and wrong conclusions are easily drawn.
 
Its also cheaper and easier to be subjective than objective. My gut tells me many of these audio companies want to keep it that way for obvious reasons. Think how much money it would save other industries if they only had to be subjective.... I think things are changing though. I think a combination of the two is the sweet spot. Like many other thing humans enjoys technology can make it better when implemented accordingly.
 
 
 
Balle Clorin said:
The mutual influence of speakers, amplifiers and cables - Alpha Audio
Click to expand...
In our tests it is about values of sometimes 0.5 dBu. That is audible.
Click to expand...
None of these measurements show a 0.5 dB difference in the audible range. The differences between cables are mostly .1 dB at best. The difference in the damping factor-related swing is much higher than this (which the cable adds to). Based on this, there is still no reason to spend any serious money on cables.
 
BeeKay said:
Won’t click. What’s it about?
Click to expand...
it is a link to a article in pdf , some extracts of it here
www.hifisentralen.no

Balles kladdebok

Skurret- mener du sibilianter som gjengis tzzsx? , er visst på alle versoner, Er ikke hjemme og kan ikke sjekke… tydelig sibilianter ved 1;03 på utube
www.hifisentralen.no www.hifisentralen.no

You can google it yourself by using these keywords
1741690851048.png



I did the same measurements myself and found larger effects- when measuring at the speaker input at the end of the cable with speaker connected, but I have to redo them to make sure I did not mess up,, I invite people to di what Alfa Audio did, I user REW to to it
 
Last edited:
Balle Clorin said:
more blind vs seeing cognitive bias
Click to expand...
So the conclusions are:
While technical specifications and objective measurements are crucial, the subjective experience of sound quality is heavily influenced by cognitive bias.
Click to expand...
The research emphasizes the tangible effects of cognitive bias and expectations on the auditory experience, as well as the importance of utilizing blind conditions when there is reason to mitigate such effects.
Click to expand...
In the hi-fi enthusiast’s debate regarding the role of audio cables, this study serves as a valuable addition, providing evidence for both the lack of discernibility between audio cables, and for perceivable differences, albeit driven by cognitive mechanisms.
Click to expand...

Fortunately nothing we did not know already. Perceived differences between very similar performing cables are not of technical nature but because of 'knowing' what cable is being used which sets a bias. Proper (and there is the crux) blind testing is needed if one wants to eliminate that bias and want good results.

For the audiophile and audiophool industry it is very important to not test blind but test sighted because then there are perceived differences, they just aren't caused by the cables but the mindset of the users.

Of course, testing (speaker) cables with substantial measurable differences will likely also show detectable differences in both blind as well as sighted testing but might not be described in the same way because of added bias.
 
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