• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, PART II

Status
Not open for further replies.

Chluke

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2021
Messages
7
Likes
2
Our story so far can be found in Part I under the same title. Anyway:

The new cables sounded different, yes, but did they sound better? Not really. Unlike audio reviewers everywhere, I can't notice a six decibel drop in the 200 hertz range. The music just didn't sound as good. Kinda muffled.

So I called my southern amp salesman, who by now had been promoted to all-around guru. Very generous, very knowledgeable. But not without a few blind spots. Like his response to this call. "Brand new cables? They have to be burnt-in. All cables have to burn-in."

This was a bridge too far. Burning in cables? What next, crop circles?

But the music really didn't sound so great. And burn-in didn't cost anything, so . . . I put a CD in, put it on repeat, and left it playing for about 36 hours. Vampire Weekend. Love the band but enough is enough, even with blankets thrown over the speakers.

Readers of the story so far can guess the result. Again, this wasn't a faint change in a background bit of electronica, it was a real difference.

By now, the existential crisis is going full tilt. Burning in cables? Who am I? What have I become?

Months go by. As I live with these new cables, I'm not completely happy. A reviewer would say that the system is a little bright. In years past, I might have turned the treble down a touch. But I've moved far enough upscale that I no longer have bass and treble knobs. And I'd prefer those knobs instead of the infinitesimal improvement in distortion that I supposedly have instead.

Then a stroke of something like genius: Maybe I can use this voodoo for my own purposes. I searched the reviews and found warnings that the Q Acoustics cables are a bit bright. (I'm sure I could have found warnings that they cause food poisoning but let's not go there.) Unlike, say, these Twisted Pair cables that are the personal recipe of DIY guru and Audio Asylum moderator Jon Risch. Turns out, there's a whole subculture of guys that build custom cables. Who knew?

(As a writer, the freedom to use male pronouns is a relief. No "he/she," no "his or her." Women are too smart for this stuff.)

I can pick up some used Twisted Pairs for 50 bucks. They're already burnt in and they sound great. Now there's no stopping me. I line the inside of my CD player with Dynamat and get new interconnects. (Mogambi from Amazon for $40. Circumstance and a lingering sense of skepticism prevent me from paying serious money for this stuff.)

These last two tweaks do fall into the subtle, careful listening category. But it's there. Bill Evans and trio sound different Live at Shelly's Manne Hole (a nototious gay bar?) than they used to. Critics have always said that Bill can swing when he wants and now those statements make sense.

So where has all this left me? Another poster wrote of my "new found belief." But I don't have one. That's the problem. I used to have beliefs, probably ones in the main of ASR thinking. Now first hand experience tells me that those beliefs are wrong. And, like the title says, I don't know what to make of it. I'm lost. I'm questioning what I unquestionably heard. I'm clinging to an iceberg that's floating far from either shore.

I have no doubt that many people on this site will have off-the-cuff explanations for my experiences. I'm not perceiving things correctly, this or that bit of psychology is at work. Maybe so. But If I am having perception problems, I've had more of them in the last six months, just where my stereo is concerned, than I've had about the whole world in the last 50 years.
 

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,944
Location
Michigan
I suggest watching a McGurk Effect video to understand better how deeply flawed auditory perception is. It is not really comparable to other perception in this regard.

And maybe read something less erotic to help your prose as well. :D
 

Helicopter

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 13, 2020
Messages
2,693
Likes
3,944
Location
Michigan
Read enough sexy Harry Potter fan fic and it will change your prose. Facts.:D
 

Wes

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
3,843
Likes
3,788
congrats on burning in your neurons!

I suggest the Twisted Sister Pairs, esp. the high end Twins edition
 

escksu

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
965
Likes
397
Oh there is a part II now?? lol....

You are posting in the wrong forum.
 

David Harper

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2019
Messages
359
Likes
434
Nothing but another idiot troll. Everything he's posted is made up.
Moderator please ban him.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom