New OPEN SOURCE method for testing speaker cables

[giampierovecchio]

Dear group members, audio enthusiasts, technicians, and industry professionals,

I am thrilled to share a project I've been working on: the SIMPEST+ method—an open-source method for objectively evaluating the performance of audio power cables when passing "complex" signals, such as actual musical signals.

What it offers:
* Composite measurement of Transfer Losses (TL) for both single and mixed signals | Uses music programs under real listening conditions.
* Measurement of "Circuit Noise" (CN)
* Definition of an Integrated Quality Index (IQI)
* Open schematics and Gerber PCB files to build your own test instrument

Everything is available for free for personal and hobbyist use:
* Complete documentation: https://keysilence.com/en/simpest-audio-cables-test-made-simple-en/
* Tool Documentation: https://github.com/giampierovecchio/simpest-plus_method_CCL

My goal is for the community and anyone interested to benefit from it, replicate the measurements, and contribute to its improvement.

For technical questions or in-depth discussions, I am available here and on the Key Silence YouTube channel in the "comments" section of the dedicated SIMPEST+ video:


P.S. If you like this initiative, subscribe to the channel and share it with your contacts with a like!

#AudioScience #DIYAudio #OpenSource #HighEndAudio #TransferLosses #SIMPEST+ #keysilence

 

[Beave]

This is gonna be good!

 

[amirm]

This is nothing in the video on what the test is about. On github, there seems to just be a buffer/comparator???

Please explain what the test is about here. What you have post so far lacks any useful information.

 

[giampierovecchio]

I apologize for misunderstanding, the method documentation is available at the first link in the post.

SIMPEST+ Method: A Novel Approach for Assessing Audio Cable Signal Integrity Under Real Musical Load Conditions

This study introduces the SIMPEST+ method, a groundbreaking measurement tool and methodology designed to evaluate audio cable performance beyond traditional frequency-response analysis. By focusing on differential measurements under real musical load conditions, it quantifies Transfer Losses (TL) and Composite Noise (CN)—parameters previously overlooked in conventional cable testing.

The research demonstrates that cable construction, installation conditions, and material properties significantly impact signal integrity, validating subjective listening experiences with measurable data. The work includes full open-source hardware specifications, measurement protocols, and results ranking cables via an Integrated Quality Index (IQI). Released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, this study aims to foster transparent, reproducible research in audio engineering.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16989827

Per. Ind. Giampiero Vecchio
Alias Juan Del Vecchio

Please find the file herein attached, I remain at your disposition for any other information you might need

 

[voodooless]

Why convert real-world measurements with proper units into scores with some magical formula? They say nothing and cannot be properly compared.

As for measuring and comparing noise, you can't really do that without a perfectly controlled noise source and replicable conditions. Coiling the cable differently can already make a world of difference with these things.

 

[Beave]

Welp, I sped-read through the document, and then noticed that at the end, the first two references cited were from Milind Kunchur.

 

[giampierovecchio]

Welp, I sped-read through the document, and then noticed that at the end, the first two references cited were from Milind Kunchur.

Yes, I tried to study all the available literature while I conducted my experiments and I found - among the documents I viewed - the research of Milind Kunchur very thorough with indexes that encouraged me to continue my research.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

'Milind Kunchur'

May 24, 2016

Has his work on 'time smearing' been discredited , I vaguely remember reading an article somewhere,
http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~kunchur/papers/HIFI-Critic-article-by-George-Foster.pdf

Keith

• Purité Audio
• Replies: 62
• Forum: Psychoacoustics: Science of How We Hear

• 

 

[giampierovecchio]

This is nothing in the video on what the test is about. On github, there seems to just be a buffer/comparator???

Please explain what the test is about here. What you have post so far lacks any useful information.

I'd like to thank you for approving this post and my publication. I hope to be able to answer any inquiries that may arise. I also hope you'll forgive any delays in providing feedback. Best regards, and keep up the good work.

 

[JSmith]

Milind Kunchur

Oh no...


JSmith

 

[giampierovecchio]

'Milind Kunchur'

May 24, 2016

Has his work on 'time smearing' been discredited , I vaguely remember reading an article somewhere,
http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~kunchur/papers/HIFI-Critic-article-by-George-Foster.pdf

Keith

• Purité Audio
• Replies: 62
• Forum: Psychoacoustics: Science of How We Hear

• 

Thank you very much for sharing these informations. I will do my best to study about

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

subjective listening experiences

Properly controlled?

 

[Grotti]

Since you obviously build and sell expensive loudspeakers (without any measurement it seems and a lot of marketing buzz words) I am curious to see some measurements.

I may quote you about a "new" critical parameter to evaluate the quality of a loudspeaker:

"Finally, the mechanical stability ratio is the ratio between the weight of the speaker and the weight of the speaker membrane and represents the speaker’s ability to annihilate both internal and external spurious vibrations caused by the speakers during their operation."

No measurements to back up this claim.

So can you provide any relevant data or is this just a kind of marketing?

 

[Beave]

More Kunchur discussion from ASR:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rements-of-rca-cables-by-kunchur-video.36800/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/milind-kunchur-blind-cable-test.32335/

 

[boxerfan88]

The PDF document looks like technical marketing material for "SIGNAL PATH OVERTURE" cable.

 

[giampierovecchio]

Properly controlled?

Thank you for your question. First, I'd like to reiterate that this is experimental research. Speaking of individual listening experiences, I'd like to share some experiments we conducted on-site with an audience of about 12 people seated in three rows of four chairs, slightly staggered. Using a sinusoidal signal generator, we administered—in several steps—a gradually increasing frequency over a range of 75–86 dBa, and asked each person to raise their hand at the precise moment they could no longer hear any sound. Some reached 12 kHz, while many stopped much earlier. We noted each person's cutoff frequency and then repeated the experiment with each of them. We discovered that by administering their own cutoff frequency, turning their face slightly to the right or left, or even up or down, even briefly, they could hear the signal again, which they had previously lost with their head in a different position! We have thus been able to ascertain that even a slight movement of the head in any direction can alter the limiting frequency we are able to hear, and thus, when we listen to music, it can radically alter the listening experience, precisely because the limit and the related harmonic content can vary greatly. For this reason, I have also deduced that double-blind tests are to be considered insignificant, because even a small movement of the head between one session and the next can change the result regardless of the equipment and tools used. Returning to SIMPEST+, it is a differential instrument capable of detecting the differences at the beginning and end of the cable used during real-world operation with music, and this is what allows us to identify the differences between one cable and another at an instrumental level. Kind regards, and at your disposal for a further comparison that can only help us understand more about this fantastic world.

 

[suttondesign]

Wow. I post about my $1 book summarizing the wolfram physics theory and get deleted, but this OP stays up?

 

[Mnyb]

Wow. I post about my $1 book summarizing the wolfram physics theory and get deleted, but this OP stays up?

for now... use the report button

 

[giampierovecchio]

for now... use the report button

Thank you sir!

 

[Mnyb]

"the performance of audio power cables when passing "complex" signals, such as actual musical signals."

Since when do we transfer signals trough the power cables