Attention Scientists, Engineers and Na-s


Isn't it funny how timing works. With all the different discussions on proving this, show me fact on that and the psycho acoustical potential of the other thing an article comes along with the same topics and some REAL potential answers. I received my newest copy of "The Audiophile Voice" Vol.7, Issue1 today and on page 16 is an article written by David Blair and Bill Eisen titled "In The Matter Of Noise". The article focuses on disturbance noise but has some reference to thermal noise, low frequency noise and shot noise, and our ability to measure these noises with the equipment of today. We have measured noise as low as 6x10 to the power of -5, or approximately a few cycles per day. We have also found through laboratory testing that the human brain is stimulated with frequencies from just above 0Hz to just below 50kHz. U.S. Department of Defense documents also show studies of low frequency activity below measurable levels and there various affects.
The article then begins to talk about out of band (hearing) noise and in band noise produced by our electronic equipment and the potential of these noises effecting our sound system. The assumptions are that "disturbance noises rob our systems of dynamics, low-level information, tonal purity and stage depth". These effects are for the most part overlooked and misunderstood by the scientific communities. They say they think that our speakers being hit with "massive quantities of R.F.I. are affected" A very good quote referring to power filters was "Effective noise control imposes no sonic tradeoffs or downside." How often have the discussions here on Audiogon focused on what they are doing? A very interesting comment was that Teflon is capable of carrying 40-Kilovolts static charge, and the industry is touting this as a great insulator for audio signals, that's scarey!
Now I bring this to light because I believe the view of the "Scientists and Engineers" here on Audiogon is so narrow that they are failing to see the exciting challenges in front of them. If all these noises do exist, which they do, and they can be transmitted and received through our systems, isn't possible, just maybe feasible that the insulation of our wires, the casing of our dedicated lines the size and shape of the conductor could, just maybe effect the sound? Isn't it even possible that forces set off by electrical components could be interfering in some so far unmeasured and inaudible way affecting the sound. Do you all test within the full spectrum of 0Hz to 50Khz for every possible situation? Or is it possible, just ever so small of a chance that you are overlooking a whole new science yet unexplored. Doesn't that, even slightly excite your little scientific fossils?
Man if I was younger, healthier and wanted a challenge. This is a career if you'd just climb out from behind you oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzer and see the world is indeed still spinning, and yes, it is 2001. Remember how 30 years ago 2001 was going to be so exciting. What the hell have the Scientist, Engineers and Na-sayers who tote there stuff here on Audiogon done for the advancement of science. Anyone, have any of you really broken through! J.D.
128x128jadem6

Showing 6 responses by dudleydog63

JD: "The claim of audible difference is not just psychological, and science has a way to prove it." This is what's known as assuming your conclusion. The claim of audible difference may indeed be "just psychological." Your requirement that Steve accept that you hear "a tangible, physical, measurable difference" makes no sense, since you haven't even demonstrated that there's a measurable difference here, let alone an audible one.
Detlof: For a good bibliography of the DBT field, check out www.oakland.edu/~djcarlst/abx.htm. Good DBTs are designed to maximize the likelihood of a positive result, although golden ears must deny this.
Detlof: We can all trust our ears up to a point. The trick is to know what that point is.
Sorry about the speaker cable thing, Paul. My brain must have gone on the fritz for a second, there. As for what explains the differences you hear among similar cables, your presumption of difference is definitely a factor, but it's not the only one. Connection quality may be an issue, as well as levels. And as those ABX results show, it takes a very small difference in levels to make an audible difference (and at those levels, you won't even notice that one is louder than the other).
I think the key to this lies in the 2nd and 3rd sentences of Jadem's post. The former starts, "The assumptions..." The latter starts, "These effects..." That's quite a lot of scientific progress in the space of a single sentence. Yes, assumptions can get you into trouble. And the biggest trouble they can get you into is to treat them as more than just assumptions. That's why scientists talk about the properties of cables that have been demonstrated to affect currents passing through them, while others assume that there must be something else involved. Scientists aren't the ones doing the assuming here.
Paulwp: First of all, the ABX results posted for speaker cables did not use headphones. Granted, most of these sorts of tests use small samples, and it's possible that they just used people with "untrained" ears. But often (including those cable tests, I believe) the subjects were people who at least *thought* they were experienced listeners. At any rate, there is nothing stopping anyone from assembling a panel of the most accomplished audiophiles in the world and conducting a similar test that will demonstrate, once and for all, that one 12-gauge copper wire does not sound like another. Note, however, that no one has done so yet.

As for your own experience, please remember that no one claims that all wires sound alike. (That is a canard foisted on us objective types by people who can't seem to muster arguments against the statements we do make.) So it's quite possible that in the cases where you do hear differences, the cables themselves (and not, say, the barometric pressure) are really delivering a different sound.

Detlof: Of course I do, but the feeling usually passes after 24 hours or so. That's when my wife gives me back my credit cards.