I need to tell a story with an "audiophile" cable with ferrite filter that I bought from Amazon.
I've bought the cable some time ago and was very pleased with the sound because I actually think that there is an audible difference to the cable that I've used before that.
Then I bought a new amp and a new streamer. A Billie MKII amp and an Auralic streamer. The sound of this combination was outstanding. I've also experimented a bit with different cables. For whatever reason I had the impression that the ferrite filter cable sounded best.
Then a weird phenomenon occurred and I did spend days to figure out where it was coming from. Using the Billie remote control it suddenly had a weird, pretty hefty volume bump up when I was trying to change the volume. No matter if I was turning the volume up or down. First I thought it was the remote, then the Auralic remote learning function, then the tubes, then the specific input, then the power conditioner, etc. I went down a rabbit hole for days and could not figure out what had happened. I already contacted Auralic and Heaven 11, the manufacturer of the Billie amp. They both tried to help me, but we couldn't find out what was causing the problem.
I was already thinking of sending the Billie amp back for repair - and then I suddenly had the idea that it was neither the amp nor the streamer - and that I might have maybe connected the cable in the wrong way. There are little arrows on the ferrite filter which show the supposed signal flow. I actually found out that I had connected it facing into the wrong direction.
Then I switched the direction - and the whole annoying volume bump problem was gone. I have no idea how that is possible, but that's what happened.
Maybe someone can explain this behavior to me...