AUDIO SCIENCE REVIEW and $50 to spend.........

A lot of mental confetti being tossed around here.

Valentines Day.  Zip ties.

Nah, not going to go there.

@prof

I enjoyed reading your well-founded comments and considerations.

While I am a strong advocate of premium cables (I didn’t just drink the KoolAide, I chugged the entire pitcher), I can support your argument that highly satisfying musical results can be achieved with "good quality" cables. If all the stars line up -- excellent gear, well-recorded sources, correctly designed acoustical treatments, etc., the results can be quite impressive -- even to "audiophile" ears. Would certainly beat expensive cables in a small and reflective room.

Coming from the perspective of speaker designer/nerd and one who is currently involved in audio performance upgrades, I’ve come to identify a couple of performance factors: Errors of commission. And, errors of ommission. The first involves the phenomena where something in the audio chain is generating sounds that shouldn’t be there. This can be sutle to sledgehammer, but usually audible (and, measurable). The second is simply where a component acts as a "filter" where certain sounds, as well as spacial queques, etc are attenuated, or missing all together. In this sense, it’s possible to introduce a component in the audio stream that "doesn’t sound bad" but merely missing information. In many cases, the listener is not aware what is missing, because there is no reference. I would inject here, that the "right" premium cables WILL provide an additional level of detail and transparency to your system.

I understand your position with Nordost. They do some things well, but not everything. If your opinion of "high end" cables is with this reference, I’d suggest you try something else. Audioquest has never let me down. fyi- my first experience with pizza was one my dad made with Limberger cheese. I thought ALL pizza smelled and tasted like this. It took, me years to give pizza another try. Now, it its a weekly staple to our "diet."

If I recall correctly, I believe it was Geffen who rewired their studio with "audiophile-grade" cables and made something of a big deal about it.

I’ve wondered for years: "If Dark Side of the Moon was recorded in a studio using audiophile cables, would the enhancement in sound quality result in more, or less, mood-altering drugs being used to enjoy it?"

Ozzy,

I'm working on brevity.  It's a work in progress.

@prof @ozzy @dabel

Thanks for the nudge to move in the brevity direction.

As a direct result of your input, I taken the following actions:

Replaced the premium power cord on my iMac with the standard OEM. It has decreased the dynamics of my writing substantially, and hidden the bulk of the details. The lower noise floor has decreased my anxiety and lowered my urge to ramble on.

Bolaro has been shelved and replaced with Let’s Get Drunk and Screw on date night. Again, a highly effective remedy for shortening the duration of events.

It’s been life changing. I can’t thank you guys enough.

@prof 

Well played!