Best interconnects & speaker cable? I don't get it

I suppose I didn't make myself clear enough Jmcgrogan. I didn't say the cables I am currently using are not themselves tone controls, after all every audio component in some matter offers degrees of digression from the recording and the event itself, I'm not that naive. I should have made clear just less so than others IME. Things are only as good as to what one's experience and taste is as you have made quite clear. I totally agree with your comments.

Very reasonable observations here. Concerning cables, I just don't obsess over them after going through the "process" years back when I was looking for something that "worked" in my set-up. I settled for some quite expensive cabling that provided what I needed and ended the desire to keep looking, that until quite recently when I changed speakers and a few other things, but basically the same set-up.

Broadstone I agree completely that if you can't discern a difference, it just doesn't exist. Which is to say that you more than likely haven't had in your system cabling that offers a subjectively qualifiable difference. You certainly have a system that can differentiate between cables. Comparing cabling in a given system can be an exhausting endeavor as many offer little or no substantive improvement over long term listening, at least in my experience.

The way I audition cabling is two fold. First I listen short term, back and forth to determine if I can hear a difference. If there seems to be a difference is it a qualitative improvement or is it just different? If it seems to be a slight improvement then I will leave it in the system for several weeks. After time you kind of get used to things as they are and wonder if indeed you are kidding yourself into believing that things have improved. Then you go back to what you were listening to previously to see what happens. Did you lose/gain anything? Are the differences worth what it will cost?

I remember listening to a set of ics in my system years back that clearly, I mean to anyone with average hearing, could hear the difference. Everyone there (4 people) clearly could. The clarity was just astounding yet conversely they were the most amusical cables I've ever listened to and quite expensive. Each ic I added to the system increased the clarity and added to my irritation. I never could figure out what was going on. Cabling is one of the most nebulous components of an audio system. I agree with Elizabeth. On a final note cabling should not be a tone control but often I suppose thats what most of them are. There are quantum elements of an electrical signal as well as the other known factors of inductance/capacitance that will affect what we hear. Of that I am convinced but what IS going on? What I have discovered most recently are cables that have revealed to me what is possible in that they offer a coherence to the presentation that I had previously never before heard. Is this to say they are better than my long term reference. In one very important way, yes in that they are the first cable I have listened to where there is a clearer more natural detail without the tonal coloration I was hearing. Music seems to be happening in real time more like you hear live on the best recordings. I would say that it is on the order of a component change. I feel quite confident that you would certainly hear it too. I "discovered" these cables when I heard them in a friend's system so profound was the improvement. Our systems couldn't be more different yet the similarities in what these cables yielded in his system and mine were just unmistakable. Funny thing I just recently invited him over and "tricked" him. I put one pair of my old reference ics in the system to replace the new ones and he IMMEDIATELY picked up on it when he walked in the door.

It isn't a secret Schubert but I didn't want to make it into a "my cable is better than yours" thread and stay on point to the op's observation. I just like them a lot and they CLEARLY do what other cables have not in my system, offer a clearer more natural path to the music with less obvious coloration. Actually the cables have been around awhile but there have been very few comments concerning them in this forum, Omega Micro line. The Mapleshade cables (Parent company) offer similar characteristics but miss many of the elements that the OMs offer. They are also fragile and fussy so maybe not a good option for some.

Audiolabyrinth, I don't think this thread is about Taralabs, OM or any specific cable but the subjectivity of what we we each as individuals hear and prioritize not to mention our individual experiences and exposure to different equipment. The options in this hobby and the choices of combinations border on the infinite not to even mention adding in to that equation the personal objectives in what one is trying to achieve. I hear you Broadstone as many of us do, there is nor will there EVER be a definitive resolution to this perplexing dilemma, only what satisfies us individually. What is ALWAYS remarkable to me is how two systems can sound equally satisfying yet sound so different. What is real and what is an illusion? Live is real and reproduced is an illusion regardless of how we each try to reconcile it.

Audiolabyrinth you didn't offend me in the least, neither did Jmcgrogan, there is no need for any apology whatsoever.

It seems the thread started off on the issue of Broadstone not being able to discern differences in cabling. The thread turned in a different direction as often happens when audiophiles discuss their experiences. My last comment was directed as much towards Broadstone's previous post not to you per se. I totally agree with you, I was ALSO where he is years back, didn't believe cables made a difference at all until that epiphany moment when it became quite clear that I was mistaken and greatly so. You are so right, at that point there is no turning back. Interestingly enough that moment arrived with Tara Lab ic's that a friend brought over for me to "hear". I reluctantly conceded and my journey into cabling and more serious audio began. Fine tuning an audio system to acquire a desired result is the REAL education. There are no shortcuts to the learning process. What I have learned is that it is best to leave preconceived ideas at the door and always trust the finest tool you have at your disposal, your ears, it accelerates the learning curve.

How long am I going to continue this trial and error?

I would only say this Tbg, as long as you feel necessary. You really made my point "trusting your ears is trial and error", and work. How much time one is willing to expend in the "trial and error" process to get satisfaction. Satisfaction itself is often times temporary, depends on the individual. You see, this is what makes us audiophiles instead of just being satisfied with the status quo, the remaining 99% that aren't inclined or should I say "wired" the way we are. And in that 1%, the audiophiles, some are wired tighter than others. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with anything more than some are more compulsive than others. After all, the industry depends on that, but it also propels progress in my estimation.