Kimber KS 1036 Silver RCA Cable Review

[voodooless]

Anecdotal evidence of many dupes on a forum is not very scientific. The marketing is obviously bad. But ASR collectively seems to believe it's a big systemic problem, that regulators may need to step in. Frankly, there's a whiff of hysteria that is not objective nor based in good evidence. I'm only suggesting that more data can be collected to gauge the extent of the supposed duplicity. Amir is already receiving a sample from a person that bought an outrageous product. Is it too much to ask one question about that purchase?

The audio cable market is quite large. About half of that can be attributed to high-end cables. That’s about 2.5 billion USD and growing fast. Year over year growth rate is amore than 7%. It accounts for about 10 to 25% of the total high-end audio market, more if you only look at the super premium market. So yeah, this is a massive market, so it does matter! But maybe these people don’t care about sound quality differences? They all buy it because they look nice? You really think so? We have a massive industry push telling us we need to buy these cables because they sound so good… they wouldn’t not be telling that if it didn’t work, would they?

The notion that there is only anecdotal evidence is silly at best.

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

The audio cable market is quite large. About half of that can be attributed to high-end cables. That’s about 2.5 billion USD and growing fast. Year over year growth rate is amore than 7%. It accounts for about 10 to 25% of the total high-end audio market, more if you only look at the super premium market. So yeah, this is a massive market, so it does matter! But maybe these people don’t care about sound quality differences? They all buy it because they look nice? You really think so? We have a massive industry push telling us we need to buy these cables because they sound so good… they wouldn’t not be telling that if it didn’t work, would they?

The notion that there is only anecdotal evidence is silly at best.

I appreciate the sincere reply and citation to a report, but the numbers are likely phony

https://www.reddit.com/r/Marketresearch/comments/1elwzm9/is_dataintelo_reliable_for_market_research_report

My spam folder is 90% cold-calls from Indian analysis firms like Dataintelo. I know! ...anecdotal evidence...

 

[voodooless]

I appreciate the sincere reply and citation to a report, but the numbers are likely phony

https://www.reddit.com/r/Marketresearch/comments/1elwzm9/is_dataintelo_reliable_for_market_research_report

My spam folder is 90% cold-calls from Indian analysis firms like Dataintelo. I know! ...anecdotal evidence...

Fair enough. It seems to be not easy to get any decent overall objective data on the market size.

But all signals still indicate it is significant. Cables are a very popular accessory. They are very high margin for the retailers. The incentive to sell that stuff is massive.

Monster in 2012 already had 1 billion USD in revenues according to a 2018 SEC filing tied to litigation. That would be 1.42 billion in today’s money, and that is only one company. But to be fair, much of this would be Beats, not cables. But it shows that the numbers I posted earlier aren’t so wild.

 

[Jinjuku]

Reminds me of the time at Polk Audio forums where someone was concerned that the Audioquest cables they purchased were counterfeit. Audioquest had a web page on the tell-tale signs that you didn't have legit product.

I pointed out you should be able to hear the difference.

Same goes their dielectric biasing system with the indicator light to tell when the batteries died. You should be able the hear the difference.

You can't have a rational conversation with the irrational

 

[egellings]

Don't harsh my mellow, man

UNICORNS ARE REAL !!!

View attachment 521106

A unicorn can exist. Knock one of the horns off a bull, and there you are!

 

[101geo]

A unicorn can exist. Knock one of the horns off a bull, and there you are!

Something tells me you've never seen a Unicorn.

 

[Robin L]

Something tells me you've never seen a Unicorn.

Yeah, but these folks claimed that taking one budding horn off a goatlette and moving the other one to the center will produce one. If you've ever been around goats you'd understand.

Not AI:

 

[amirm]

It would be really enlightening to survey the owners who provide these types of devices (cables, conditioners, etc.) for testing, and ask them one simple question: at the time of purchase, what percentage of the decision did you attribute to an expectation of improved sound quality, and confirm that the remaining percentage is attributed to other non-sound factors (look, feel, brand).

The profile of people who send them is mostly them being told they have to purchase these things or their system is not complete. Some have done ad-hoc testing and found no difference with cheap cables. Some have not. Another category is people who bought these things cheap and not because of their marketeing.

The real, die-hard users have not sent any in. They are naturally dismissive of any objective analysis to the point of getting angry if you even mention it to them! A local audiophile with one of the most expensive systems around, has threatened that no audio analyzer can be brought within a mile of his home!

 

[Chrispy]

Anecdotal evidence of many dupes on a forum is not very scientific. The marketing is obviously bad. But ASR collectively seems to believe it's a big systemic problem, that regulators may need to step in. Frankly, there's a whiff of hysteria that is not objective nor based in good evidence. I'm only suggesting that more data can be collected to gauge the extent of the supposed duplicity. Amir is already receiving a sample from a person that bought an outrageous product. Is it too much to ask one question about that purchase?

The only kind of regulator action I would think necessary is as was (is) done in the UK with a standards authority as to advertising claims (I remember seeing one taking task to some claims by Naim). Here in the US that would be up the very lame FTC (Federal Trade Commission), tho, especially under current administration/funding. I assume they are buying nonsense cabling because of claims, shilling by reviewers, etc....but people make bad consuming decisions all the time otoh. If it's aesthetics, well whatever.

 

[Mnyb]

It would be really enlightening to survey the owners who provide these types of devices (cables, conditioners, etc.) for testing, and ask them one simple question: at the time of purchase, what percentage of the decision did you attribute to an expectation of improved sound quality, and confirm that the remaining percentage is attributed to other non-sound factors (look, feel, brand).

So much of the discourse involves accusations of fraud, dishonesty, and unethical practices. But if a cable buyer attributes 1% of the price ($40) to electrical performance, I'm ok with that. $40 is a reasonable price for cables and I have no business judging the $3960 spent on fashion choices.

That's not to diminish Amir's test. I believe it's still valuable for its educational aspect. But it would be a greater public service to include this survey information. We're under no impression that buyers of luxury cars and handbags are deluded that those products technically perform better.

I think much of the argument here is because we just don't know to what extent cable buyers are deluded.

O yeas they absolutely believe the marketing they even “listen” to cables in the hifi shop and “upgrades” to even more expensive cables all the time .

 

[Descartes]

Yeah, but these folks claimed that taking one budding horn off a goatlette and moving the other one to the center will produce one. If you've ever been around goats you'd understand.

Not AI:



View attachment 521492

Merlin is now a woman

 

[Robin L]

Merlin is now a woman

Half of a couple, pretty well-known figures in neo-pagan circles—Oberon Zell and Morning Glory with Lancelot:

 

[tineared]

Half of a couple, pretty well-known figures in neo-pagan circles—Oberon Zell and Morning Glory with Lancelot:

View attachment 521526

I am a cultural infidel

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

no audio analyzer can be brought within a mile of his home

Perfect use case for the ADE 651!

(where really fraudulent tech gets people killed)

 

[egellings]

Something tells me you've never seen a Unicorn.

Outside of caricatures of them, nope.

 

[Acton Eric]

You need to use magic pebbles with those cables: https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

 

[Robin L]

You need to use magic pebbles with those cables: https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

Here's "Magic Beans Audio", doesn't seem to have anything to do with attaching beans to cables:

Magic Beans Audio - Experience Audio Magic

magicbeansaudio.com

 

[Endibol]

For example the DAC reviews, when amir reviews a DAC with basically flawless performance there is always at least one giving it the lowest ranking regardless .

Yeh, the same one or two guys have been doing this for years.. it’s some kind of a mental problem.

 

[Endibol]

No, surprised at the outrage, which seems strong and widespread. And that it's all aimed at AQ. To my knowledge no one so far has mentioned any other cable maker. It seems like a fixation. Or piling on.

I guess it’s because AQ is ubiquitous. It’s the best known snake oil manufacturer.

 

[Johnkeizer]

Here in Aus I think Monster is the most recognised cable brand.
It was a set of Monster 300 that I used to replace the included free junk ones in a cd player that showed cables can make a difference.
Unfortunately any bought after that did not seem to make any improvement, including Cardas and Aq.
Basic properly made cables seem to do the job nicely.
But don’t give you bragging rights among your fellow audiophiles.