Audio Cables: All the Same?


My patience has worn thin reading numerous postings by individuals who proclaim that anyone who spends more than, say, $30 on a cable is an “audiophool” and that the manufacturers who sell cables priced above that price are snake oil dealers. These people base their claims on two factors: (1) they can’t hear the difference between a cheap cable and an extremely expensive one; and (2) all cables of any quality whatsoever measure the same when tested.


I believe that these individuals have blinders on. Allow me to set forth a useful analogy – eggs Benedict. The recipe for them is simple: toast an English muffin; sauté a couple of slices of Canadian bacon; poach two eggs; and prepare Hollandaise sauce. After those ingredients are ready, put the Canadian bacon on the English muffin, stack the eggs on the bacon, pour Hollandaise sauce over the eggs (and possibly sprinkle a pinch of hot paprika over the sauce), and serve. Voila! Now, take two preparers – one of whom doesn’t give a damn how his eggs Benedict turns and tastes as long as he gets his $17.50/hour pay; and the other a supremely talented chef renowned for his exquisite preparation of egg dishes. I am willing to venture a guess that one of them will taste terrific, perhaps being the memorable highlight of a marvelous breakfast, and the other will be an awful mess, perhaps a composition of barely toasted and soggy English muffin, Canadian bacon so overcooked that the meat is like shoe leather, poached eggs like hockey pucks, and a severely curdled muck of a sauce poured over everything, followed by far too much paprika. That serving will also be memorable, but for a far different reason.


Now, here comes the chemist to test and measure both versions of eggs Benedict. He confirms that, upon his testing of the two dishes, he is able to state unequivocally that they are identical because both contain exactly the same ingredients and provide the same nutritional value. The fact that one serving is nearly inedible and the other is altogether delicious is irrelevant. After all, there is no science-based test for taste.


I propose the same is true for cables – there is no scientific test for what we hear.
Let me end my soliloquy by relating my recent experience with cables. A couple of months ago, I upgraded my digital system by acquiring a new SACD transport and a new DAC. Both components are widely considered to be extremely high end pieces of equipment (and priced stratospherically, too). At the time I did not replace the cables I had been using previously – an Audioquest Cimarron Ethernet cable between my 24 port network switch and my DAC, and Monster Cable M1000 analog interconnects between my DAC and my preamp. Frankly, I was dismayed by what I heard when I began streaming (Qobuz) music through my new DAC. The magic I had heard at its demonstration at AXPONA 2024 was non-existent. Maybe it was a bit better than my old DAC, but certainly not by much. One of the local audio dealers with whom I shared my disappointment suggested I try a really good Ethernet cable, handing me a Shunyata Sigma V2. This Shunyata cable contains two filters (one for EMI/RFI and one for common-mode interference) as well as several differentiators in how it is constructed. I really despise the expression oft-used by reviewers – “like a veil was lifted” – but that is what happened. The magic had returned. However, now I had another problem. Voices seemed to come only from a singer’s mouth and not also from the chest. With instrumentals, a certain fundamental (bass) element was missing. Overall, it was as if the entire frequency spectrum was tilted – lifting the treble and lowering the bass. I went back to this dealer. He recommended I try a pair of DH Labs Air Matrix Cryo analog interconnects between my DAC and my preamp. All I can say is “Wow!” The frequency spectrum had returned to its proper equilibrium.


I have now been using these new cables for a month. Their impacts are not the result of a placebo effect. Moreover, the last thing in the world I had wanted was to spend a couple of thousand dollars more for cables after I had already spent far more than I had planned on the SACD transport and the DAC. However, they had addressed and solved two very real problems. The Shunyata cable filtered out noise coming from the network switch; the DH Labs cable eliminated a frequency distortion inherent with the Monster Cable cable (which evidently had been masked by the predecessor DAC).


Before this experience, I had never believed that cables could be so important an element of an audio system. I always spent between $100 and $200 on them because, on the one hand I did not want to “chintz” and shortchange myself sonically, but on the other hand I was very skeptical that even spending that amount was fully money-for-incremental-value.


Since then, I tried replacing another Audioquest Cimarron Ethernet cable between my Nucleus+ and my network switch with a $500 Ethernet cable of another well-regarded cable manufacturer. I could not detect a shred of sonic difference between them. Thus, it has become clear to me that every cable implementation is unique; sometimes there is a discernable improvement provided by one over the other, and other times there isn’t.


In summary, having a preconceived notion about the value of cables (or lack thereof) disserves oneself. In some cases, but not all, there is a cable out there that will truly improve the sound of one’s audio system. It may be immeasurable, but it is, nevertheless, very real. 
 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xjmeyers

Ask Milhorn if cable makes a difference? He will give you the accurate answers.

I can afford any cable I want. However, I prefer well designed cables that sound great at reasonable prices. I’ve been messing about in audio since my first good sounding system in 1970 or so (KLH Model 20?), and discovered "better" cables when I tried a very early pair of twisted AQ cables maybe 35 years ago. Heard a serious improvement in my then Vandersteen 1B/Adcom system. I recently needed longer cables for my (Vastly mo bettah) rig and noticed adds for an improved version of Kimber 8PR cables to replace a pair of AQ Type 8 and Morrow SP4s, both of which sounded great. AQ Rocket 33s are also part of my "cable museum." The Kimbers sound amazingly good or I should say they don’t "sound" like anything. Just the way I like it. 500 bucks? Oh yeah...10 AWG per input leg makes them a great choice for longer runs.

So, I would like to weigh in on this conundrum. 1st off I was tired of reading reviews knowing that people who knew nothing of this, like me gladly weighed in with their opinion knowing nothing of what they speak, they just proved how stupid they were and muddied the truth to all of this.  I however, recently had a unique opportunity to demo in my home, on my system, with my music, the entire Nordost Supreme line, Vahalla 2 – Odin 1 – Odin 2,  power cords, interconnects, and speaker cables, and yes even had the opportunity to listen to Odin Golds the entire Gold line.  Full disclosure I was one of those that believed cables made zero difference and was a total waste of money.

I purchased an entire new system everything amps, pre-amps, speakers, cables, conditioners, blah blah blah.  I then entered the whole conundrum myself, not wanting to have a weak link to my system, I was talked into Nordost Red Dawn cables, again power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables, along with a Nordost q- base iii, this Red Dawn investment was approximately $12,000.00. In the end other than knowing I had much superior cables from the original OEM, I gained nothing out of these cables in terms of sound improvement. The dealer and manufacture gladly took my $12K, and in return I gained nothing.

I recently had a unique opportunity to demo the entire Nordost Supreme line from Vahalla 2 to Odin 1 to Odin 2 both power - interconnects, speaker cables. Once I started this laborious process, switching to Vahalla 2 power cords made an eye-opening experience I would say a 30%-40% overall sound improvement at every level possible,  switching  again from Vahalla 2 to Odin 1, 10% gain noticeable but not near as large of a gain, switching again from Odin 1 to Odin 2 again maybe a 5% - 10% gain over the Odin 1cables.

So, what did I learn from it, power cables, is the ($$$) they can and will make a largest difference, of course all of this depends on the manufacture and their cables… interconnect cables-  noticeable but  very minimal 5%-10% at most.

Here is the rub, I only had demo cables from Nordost Vahalla 2 - Odin 1 - Odin 2. I too wonder with all these other manufactures claiming the claims you hear, or read in the adds or reviews, would I experience the same results, more than likely the truthful answer is (I Don’t Know). The only way to know for sure is to demo them yourself on your system, in your home, with your music source you are familiar with. Many dealers have these programs. Doing so in an audio store is a loser guarantee the amps – pre-amps – digital source, or vinyl, all of what you may have in your home the equipment will be different, the speakers different, the room is totally designed for reflections and refractions, it will sound no-where near what most of us have at home.

So, in the end my power cables were $12,500 per and Interconnect were $16,700 per, I have 4 power cables and 2 sets of interconnects. In the end is it worth $83,000 the truth is NO; it does not justify what these cable companies charge us for premium Supreme cables. I ended up not using any of the Supreme line speaker cables, which start at $29,999.00  and go up, it just filtered too much of what my ears liked. Can you depending on what you use, gain a sound you will never be able to acquire without cables, the answer is yes. It was worth it to me to make this investment, as the tonality gain at ever level was amazing, was it worth $83K the long and short answer is the gain does not justify the value…….the Odin 1 cables purchased were the 3rd least expensive of their supreme line and the prices to Odin 2 or Odin Golds, you will need a very large bank account with a lot of 00000 at the end of it.

I hope this helps, I know there are many of you like my friends and I who just want the truth, regardless of its outcome…. I wish people who do not know would just shut up with their opinions, but that will never happen. For those of you out there who want to tell me how stupid I am for spending $83,000 save your comments, I don’t care what you think.

 

I've been out of the audio market 50 years, and my hearing isn't what it used to be, but I can see my 1977 vintage speaker foam surrounds are blown out, not worth repairing [again].  So while shopping speakers, wondering if I should change out the lamp cord for 'better cables.'  

What happened to measuring the frequency response curve, capacitance, inductance, resistance, and shielding of cables?  

Good idea sstraus, why don’t you do that and let us know what you find.