Cable Controversy

The Cable Company is a great resource if you want to borrow a variety of cable types from their lending library to see what clicks with your particular system.

devilboy says "For example, in the amplifier/speaker relationship, if you really want to hear what your amplifier sounds like, your speaker cable should be exactly the same wire that is inside of your amp going to its binding posts. Right?"

Uh wrong.  I have read much in the ongoing discussion of the role of cables in an audio system, but I don't recall ever hearing that argument before.  Open up your power amplifier and look around a bit.  You will find several different types/gauges of wire in there geared to a specific task that wire is designed to accomplish.  The wire going to your binding posts is just one of that many designed for a specific purpose.  Is that wire important?  You bet.  After breaking a binding post on my amp, I took it to an audio designer who also repairs and modifies equipment.  When he saw the cable in my amp, he recommended that he replace it with a cable with a purer conductor and superior dialectric that would more faithfully and effortlessly transport the signal (music) to the new binding posts.  I followed his advice.  Did he send 16 feet of that same wire home with me to be used as speaker cables?  Of course not.  That wire was not designed to faithfully transport the music signal for such a distance.  

All I have been trying to accomplish with the wires in my system is to faithfully transport the music signal from one place to another with as little negative impact as possible.  I do agree with you that different cables do alter the resulting sound of a system.  And cables can't create something that isn't already there in the music, but.... they can, do to their relative quality of transporting a signal, preserve more or less of that music signal's integrity.

"found a cable that gets out of the way of the music". Give me a break. 
I guess I can't give you a break after you made the statement quoted above.  That is EXACTLY what the goal of all the cables in a system should be.  Get out of the way and let the music flow!

So devilboy... according to your position there is no faithful reproduction of music.  It will be colored by the very microphone and microphone cables as it is recorded.  No argument about that from me.  My point is all we can do in this endeavor of ours is to minimize the damage to the musical signal as it passes from one component to another and then ultimately to the transducers to which we listen.  Heck, many would argue that even hearing a performance live in a music hall of some sort is colored by the acoustics of the hall and your relationship to the hall based on where your seats are located within that venue.  This is on my mind as I just purchased tickets for a live show last evening and was thinking about how our location in that hall will impact our listening experience.

@devilboy  - This conversation takes me back to the "original" audio press argument over whether or not something called "The Absolute Sound" existed.  Back when Harry Pearson was at the helm of TAS he asserted that "the absolute sound" of a musical event as reproduced by our systems was what the audiophile quest was all about.  I think we are both in agreement that there is no "absolute sound".  The most we might, as audiophiles and music lovers hope for, is to put together a sound system that reproduces music that sounds as much like the real thing as our ears are capable of perceiving.  

As much as I think I am close to that realization, I am certain I could find plenty of audiophiles who would find my system "colored" in some way as their perception of reality or "good sound" is different.  Example...I have been embracing the Vandersteen sound for the past 30 years.  My ears like the version of reality that RV employs in his designs.  I know audiophiles who embrace the electrostatic sound of Martin Logan speakers.  While I hear many virtues in the sound those speakers produce, my ears don't connect that sound with what I hear when listening to live unamplified music.  My Treo CT speakers do that for ME, but it certainly is not "the absolute sound".

@andrei_nz
regarding your 4 points.... 1) yes  2) yes...if the purity of the conductors is comparable and both employ the same type dielectric.  3) yes...only if , as you said, the DIYer knows what they're doing  4) don't disagree, but... the "magic ingredient" argument can be made about any component.  Every designer seems to have their "thing".

@jafant   My system is listed here on AGON. 

Here comes another old, classic debate...to double-blind or not double-blind?  No sarcasm randy-11.  

@devilboy  If you are advocating a double blind cable test of, let's say interconnects in YOUR system where you, the listener get to judge what sounds best to you in your system and setting, then I am all in with ya.  As many people have been quick to note here, the sound a cable brings to a system depends on that system.  I would love to have someone like The Cable Company bring a half dozen interconnects and speaker cables of the same length but of varying designs and costs to do such a test on my system to see what sounds best on it.  If only...

@psag   I would encourage you to rethink your last post.  Look at manufacturer's systems that they set up at audio expos...they use the same gear from show to show and that does include cables.  From their own extensive research they have assembled a synergistic system that they believe shows their products in the best light.  In fact, the system components used by the same designer at shows can vary from one product in their line to another.  They know there is no "absolute sound".  They are looking for components that play the best together for the particular product they are endeavoring to showcase.

@dave_b When you mention "flexible designs" can we assume you have owned a variety of cables over time all manufactured my MIT?

Then you are all set!  There is a certain sense of satisfaction and certainty once you find what works for you and how you perceive sound.  I supposed I am there with speakers more so than cables as I have owned and own Vandersteen speakers for 30+ years now.  The Treo CTs that I recently purchased are by far the greatest realization for me of Richard Vandersteen's design prowess.  What sounds like music to him sounds so to me as well.  Couldn't be happier.