Stereophile cable review

[orangejello]

To be honest, there was a time when I thought I heard differences in cables. Thinking back on it it is almost surreal how intensely I and my audio buddies listened to WIRE! From a psychoacoustic point of view I think that all that was happening was that we were paying more attention than usual, and things sound more interesting and nuanced when you are focused. Having something to focus on like a gazillion dollar cable will get most people to pay keen attention. The more the cost, the greater the attention.

 

[Sal1950]

"You can only learn if something sounds pleasant to you, nothing more."

Like Harman, then? Who prefers unpleasant? I think you are being a little harsh here.

Not sure why you find that harsh. just a simple statement ?
I've no idea what Harman has to do with it?

 

[Emlin]

To be honest, there was a time when I thought I heard differences in cables. Thinking back on it it is almost surreal how intensely I and my audio buddies listened to WIRE! From a psychoacoustic point of view I think that all that was happening was that we were paying more attention than usual, and things sound more interesting and nuanced when you are focused. Having something to focus on like a gazillion dollar cable will get most people to pay keen attention. The more the cost, the greater the attention.

Indeed. Anyone can be suckered in that way, and most certainly not just in the field of audio. Everything, in fact. That's why we need objective ways of discovering the actual truth.

But it's early days for us chimpanzees.

 

[Emlin]

Not sure why you find that harsh. just a simple statement ?
I've no idea what Harman has to do with it?

Never heard of Harman preference scores and curves? It's where he finds out what most people find pleasant, as opposed to unpleasant.

 

[Sal1950]

Never heard of Harman preference scores and curves?

Sure, that's all about preference,
Isn't that what I've said?

 

[Emlin]

Sure, that's all about preference,
Isn't that what I've said?

And who prefers the unpleasant?

 

[MacCali]

Another quote from Herb Reichert in the same Stereophile review:

"Switching from Cardas's budget-priced, $125-per-meter Iridium to Cardas's $4250-per-meter Clear Beyond changed my system's sound character as much as changing phono cartridges or DACs: The Bartók DAC became more silent, grainless, full-spectrum, and beautiful-sounding than it had been with any of my other cables. Right away I wondered how much of this radical quiet was the result of the Cardas cable's extensive shielding."

One thing is for certain. Herb's imagination is far more developed than his hearing. I wonder how much impact this has had on his bank account over the decades? I dread to think.

Each to their own I suppose.

how much can I get paid to write up things like this? I'm all in, share the wealth herb XD

 

[Emlin]

Sure, that's all about preference,
Isn't that what I've said?

You replied to this:

"I think 'trust your ears' can work for a single individual listening to and liking something even if it's not lab standard. It just doesn't transfer to anyone else.'

With this:

Oh, I can't give you your original post, which I was replying to, because you've now edited it out of all recognition.

How unpleasant is that?

 

[MacCali]

And who prefers the unpleasant?

Honestly unpleasant, bad measuring garbage isn't as bad you think it is. If you never owned something that has a sinad of less than 40 db and accompanying junk equipment it's really hard to pass judgement on what you assume is bad or how much better the best truly is.

My main system is tip top, bottle neck would be my amp which is 96 db at lower volumes and max is 115 I believe or 110. Dac and Pre are both ~120, speakers are probably lower distortion than majority probably, via coupled cavity design. Source is dead silent.

Secondary system is just for kicks and background music, however even on "critical" listening this less than 250 dollar system with an amp that has a 38 db sinad, horrible distortion, and I'm certain everything else sucks too. Ironically doesn't sound that bad, not implying it sounds better than my main system at all. But found it a great surprise that prior to knowing how bad it was I did actually enjoy listening to it and even after finding out how bad it was I really started to wonder how much of difference is there. No way to give a definitive answer unfortunately

But as I keep asking people, do you really know how bad is bad?

This would also further imply that cables really dont mean crap, cause if something bad doesn't sound horrible how is a cable that basically cant do squat going to improve the sound

This leads me to realize three facts
1. Something that has a sinad of 70 and gets all this praise from reviewers and is "audiophile" like Hegel for example, which measures like poop to our standards, gets all that hype.
2. If those reviewers are unaware of what I just mentioned above I can give them a break whether their statements are accurate on personal opinion or a merely a paid review filled with lies to get people to buy it.
3. This is why all these subjective people show up to our forums and virtually bombard our threads with "I dont care if the measurements are bad this thing sounds amazing and all of us are idiots". Fairly consistent on every thread on here, especially the product reviews.

Lastly, I am not asking you to consider this as a fact, since it is my personal experience. But to really think about this.. there's no way to really say for certain how much better something that has measurement of 40db vs 120db. My statements in no way imply you should neglect measurements, I firmly believe in measurements and implementation

 

[Sal1950]

You replied to this:

"I think 'trust your ears' can work for a single individual listening to and liking something even if it's not lab standard. It just doesn't transfer to anyone else.'

With this:

Oh, I can't give you your original post, which I was replying to, because you've now edited it out of all recognition.

How unpleasant is that?

I only edited it because I initially thought I was responding to the first person, then I reallzed you had taken his place so I was responding to you both. The message was unchanged

 

[DMill]

But as I keep asking people, do you really know how bad is bad?i

Are you saying there is not much difference in bad sounding gear vs good measuring gear? My apologies if I misread this.

 

[curiouspeter]

I wonder how long these guys will take to realize music sounds much better when you listen to is in a room of pure nitrogen. I am sure reviewers will recognise the increased atmosphere of the music…

Music to die for.

 

[egellings]

Listen using scuba gear, then.

 

[ivayvr]

Another statement from the same author (Herb) not necessarily from the same article: ".....and the sound stage became endless..."
Isn't that what they call an oxymoron or is it just the oxy?

 

[fpitas]

I like to keep this chart in mind when I read Stereophile reviews:

 

[fpitas]

 

[Emlin]

I like to keep this chart in mind when I read Stereophile reviews:

View attachment 224943

They can't even spell separation.

 

[fpitas]

They can't even spell separation.

I'm sure it has a special audiophiliac significance we will never understand.

 

[egellings]

I loved reading Acxel's "The Audio Critic". He took no prisoners.

 

[MacCali]

Are you saying there is not much difference in bad sounding gear vs good measuring gear? My apologies if I misread this.

"Ironically doesn't sound that bad, not implying it sounds better than my main system at all"

My main system is state of the art. I am saying the difference isn't as much as you would think or could it be quantified. Nor would I say the horrible measuring system sounds bad. That's the question that makes me think, if this really bad measuring system doesn't sound bad to my ears what is bad really?

As mentioned everything in that system is bad objectively. Have had absolutely no urge to throw any of it out or choose not to listen to it. My secondary system has 3 amps, so I can basically choose what I want, not limited to this one poorly measuring amp.