Is ICONOCLAST cable a "better" cable?

[Daverz]

Wow. Will never buy from BJC again. Thanks!

Well, who else makes good Canare + locking banana speaker wire? I see some Amazon sellers making some, but I don't trust them like I trust BJC based on my own experiences with them (and despite their gouging of the gullible).

 

[mansr]

Well, who else makes good Canare + locking banana speaker wire?

If that's what I wanted, I'd make it myself.

 

[DonH56]

There are two conductors, supply and return, folks are some times sloppy about that detail and quote only the resistance of one side while both are in series with the speaker. The L an C by necessity must include both.

Typo Scott? R doubles, series L doubles, but C (and mutual inductance and shunt conductance if specified) between the conductors does not double when considering both wires, yes?

 

[Chrispy]

He won’t be very successful because he publishers all the data vs the outrageous claims.

Still, for the price the folk that buy the charlatan stuff tend I think to just look at price and judge the more expensive the better, and where they're priced it's just silly. $460 for a pair of 3 ft (and no shorter) xlr cables, seriously? What a joke.

 

[JSmith]

For 74 mins of my day this person would need to actually pay me... video fail.



JSmith

 

[Cuniberti]

It’s amazing to me that a video I posted here that sheds good information on cable design produced so much negative comments. Most of you freely admit to not watching it but feel free to cast your opinions.

Still, for the price the folk that buy the charlatan stuff tend I think to just look at price and judge the more expensive the better, and where they're priced it's just silly. $460 for a pair of 3 ft (and no shorter) xlr cables, seriously? What a joke.

if the published data provides the spec you want what’s the issue? No one is trying to sell you something you don’t want. If what you have is good enough for you that’s great.

 

[Cuniberti]

For 74 mins of my day this person would need to actually pay me... video fail.



JSmith

Then your opinion isn’t being asked for is it?

 

[Chrispy]

It’s amazing to me that a video I posted here that sheds good information on cable design produced so much negative comments. Most of you freely admit to not watching it but feel free to cast your opinions.

if the published data provides the spec you want what’s the issue? No one is trying to sell you something you don’t want. If what you have is good enough for you that’s great.

Why don't you summarize the salient points of why this cable from Iconocrap is better or worth the price?

 

[GDK]

It’s amazing to me that a video I posted here that sheds good information on cable design produced so much negative comments. Most of you freely admit to not watching it but feel free to cast your opinions.

This is the third thread here that has posted this video (although this one has got the most attention). On top of that, if you search ASR threads with “cable” in the title, you will find 10 pages of them. These sorts of discussions aren’t new here.

With that as a backdrop, it may make more sense why people are not jumping at the chance to watch a 75 minute video about some awesome cables.

 

[JSmith]

Then your opinion isn’t being asked for is it?

What are you on about champ? The video is stupidly long... do you want to summarise?

Of course cable construction is important, but people don't need to buy very expensive cables to achieve this.



JSmith

 

[scott wurcer]

Typo Scott? R doubles, series L doubles, but C (and mutual inductance and shunt conductance if specified) between the conductors does not double when considering both wires, yes?

No, L and C of one conductor have no meaning, that was the point.

 

[DonH56]

No, L and C of one conductor have no meaning, that was the point.

Ah, misinterpreted your post, sorry.

 

[Chrispy]

It’s amazing to me that a video I posted here that sheds good information on cable design produced so much negative comments. Most of you freely admit to not watching it but feel free to cast your opinions.

if the published data provides the spec you want what’s the issue? No one is trying to sell you something you don’t want. If what you have is good enough for you that’s great.

It's just that it's far easier to find it for much less $.....no reason to support a new cable charlatan....do you seriously buy this stuff for your studio?

 

[Descartes]

April Fools day! When I saw the length of the video I saved myself 74 minutes and went to the end!

 

[richard12511]

This seems like a bad move for BJC to me.

 

[HiFidFan]

Seriously, if the vid was more like 15 min, I'd be much more inclined to give it a go. 74 is a non starter.

 

[DonH56]

No one is trying to sell you something you don’t want. If what you have is good enough for you that’s great.

This is not directed at you, Cuniberti, though it will probably come across that way and I am sorry about that. I considered just posting without quoting because these are statements I see "all the time" but figured without the disclaimer you might take offense anyway. This post (rant) is directed at marketing, and it happens all the time, and not just in audio. Nor is this about this particular video; we could be talking almost anything where marketing exceeds engineering and perhaps practicality (jewelry is nice but recognizably a luxury; too often marketing seems to focus on making you think luxuries are necessities). Having well-built gear that exceeds the basic demands of necessity or practicality is often worthwhile; build quality and such counts for something. Claiming benefits beyond what is scientifically reasonable is where I have issues.

The thing that rubs me wrongly about these sort of marketing statements is that:

• They are trying to convince me that I need something I may or may not want a priori; the goal is to make me want it, whatever it is, by whatever means necessary. The goal is to make me want what they have to sell, yes?
• I have had a number of bad sales experiences over the years that started from "if it's good enough for you"... The implication always seems to be that what "you" think is "good enough" is a reflection of your poor taste, bad hearing, lousy system, low budget, etc. so somehow what you have is not acceptable to "the elite". I can't help but think of a haughty salesman from the 70's who would dismiss lesser beings and their stereos with a sniff and a quasi-sneer thing going on that clearly implied "you" were not worthy if you did not buy into the marketing or sales pitch.

Luxury marketing has sort of always been that way, at least in my experience, but in audio as well as many other things it seems to be pushing down to the mass market to convince folk to go "upscale" whether the benefits are real or not. Among what I find particularly egregious (no idea if appropriate to this video) are science-based claims that are true in one application but totally inapplicable to the application being sold. Dielectric hysteresis and skin effect in audio cables comes to mind; real enough, and vitally important in some areas, but insignificant at audio frequencies and typical consumer cable runs. The current debate about the audible impact of Ethernet switches is another, particularly the assertion that "regular" switches are "not designed for data integrity". Huh?

Switching gears, trumpet bell material and its impact on the sound is a popular debate on the trumpet forum I help moderate. Bell material does have an effect, a very small one, but is used as a selling point all the time. The biggest change is due to the shape (flare) of the bell, and that is usually glossed over if mentioned at all. Magnets attached to gas lines on automobiles do in fact cause molecular perturbations in the flow; but they are completely insignificant at the macro level and have zero effect on fuel economy, engine power, and so forth. In all these cases marketing depends upon convincing the consumer of the perception of improvement and worth irrespective of the actual benefits.

Disclaimer: As an engineer I depend upon marketing to sell products, but have the typical disdain for marketing that ignores engineering. Personal bias works both ways and I am certainly not immune.

FWIWFM - Don

 

[Chrispy]

Having sold to the luxury market before, quality/engineering has little to do with it. IME/IMO.

 

[JSmith]

If what you have is good enough for you that’s great.

So are you implying that there is something better than a well made cable? Even averagely constructed cables perform fine, although may not last as long if being unplugged all the time.

From what I've read here the advertised cables (and that's what this video seems to be, an advertisement) are quite expensive and unnecessarily so.

At this point it's starting to look like you're a shill for the company... it's almost like you created this account a few weeks ago in preparation for this video. Not saying you are... just looks like it atm, maybe you can clarify.



JSmith

 

[Cuniberti]

So are you implying that there is something better than a well made cable? Even averagely constructed cables perform fine, although may not last as long if being unplugged all the time.

From what I've read here the advertised cables (and that's what this video seems to be, an advertisement) are quite expensive and unnecessarily so.

At this point it's starting to look like you're a shill for the company... it's almost like you created this account a few weeks ago in preparation for this video. Not saying you are... just looks like it atm, maybe you can clarify.



JSmith

Wow