Cables are both additive and subtractive. Additive in that as a piece of wire it act as an antenna and pick up noise and add it to the signal chain. Cables are also subtractive because they have a resistance. The fact that resistance is different for different frequencies cables act as tone device. The dielectric material being polarized back and forth as the signal varies tend to dull or smear the sound, that could be also considered to be additive.
Are cables additive or subtractive?
There’s lots of debates here about the effectiveness of cables. Let’s please keep that elsewhere so we can have a DIFFERENT discussion about cables.
Let’s assume for argument’s sake that yes, cables make a difference and that it’s worth paying for that difference.
Lets assume that is true, then lets ask the question:
- Do cables ADD or SUBTRACT from the signal?
Again, for this thread, assume cables change something audible.
What do you think and what are your experiences?
Also, let's try to avoid sweeping generalities and try to focus on what happens along this axis: Subtraction or addition.