Cable Snake Oil Antidote

If you think you can hear the difference between $300 and $3000 cables, fine , buy them. I have the $300 speaker cables. I put the extra $2700 into my speakers. I could easily hear that difference.

The last time I was wrong was back in 1985. The last time you were wrong was the last time your lips moved. 🗣

I don't understand why ppl. Think it's snake oil  
 $300.. Or less.  Might get
Smeared voices. Or no decay, no stage depth.  Many More problems.  
 Let's not bring politics into this.  Don't go by feelings use the ear's 
    Thank you 

I, for one, like snake oil. In fact I prefer it. Snakes don't seem to care for it much though. This may sound ridiculous but no more than this thread and countless others like it. We should officially drop this subject from Audiogon as a huge waste of time.

twochannel, you're right politics and audio don't mix or at least they shouldn't.

People believe what they want to believe based on all kinds of factors. Take religion, lots of intelligent people take comfort in faith even though most scientists consider religion complete nonsense. We are emotionally persuaded by products in every aspect of our lives, adding accessories like tweaks/cables for the audio enthusiast makes sense to me.

If you believe in religion you can’t a meaningful opinion against people who believe they hear differences in cables.

seidman
People believe what they want to believe based on all kinds of factors. Take religion, lots of intelligent people take comfort in faith even though most scientists consider religion complete nonsense. We are emotionally persuaded by products in every aspect of our lives, adding accessories like tweaks/cables for the audio enthusiast makes sense to me.

>>>I am positive your statements are false. If you are speaking for yourself that’s a horse of a different color. 🦓 Snake oil is an excellent lubricant and greases the tracks for wheels of audiophile progress. 🚂 Toot, toot!

Prediction: Snakes will be NO shows at the AXPONA Show!

However, the oil presser events scheduled at the Schaumberg Convention Center are a GO.

My take on this:

Audiofools
noun
Those who believe that $3,500 cables let them hear the audio more clearly, when the music was originally created with $25 cables.

Actually good microphones and their associated cables are very expensive. 

@ngen33r

Thanks for the much needed chuckle!

You may be missing something though. "Audiofools" may want the $3500 cables so they can hear the "errors" that were produced by the original $25 cables.  It's a way of achieving greater (dare I say "master") authenticity....A true "audiofool" must never let ANYTHING get in the way of what the original studio engineers and performers "intended"....blah blah blah...

Carry on and thanks again for the laugh....it's always nice to encounter a little sense of humor now and then...

" Actually good microphones and their associated cables are very expensive. An auspicious first post for you, sir. " - geoffkait

Oops...did I pop in on the wrong thread? I thought this thread was about expensive cables - not expensive microphones.....

Let's go back and check.....Nope, it WAS about cables. Oh, that's right, it's geoffkait doing what he does best once again - making stuff up as an excuse to heap criticism on another poster.

Take a chill pill geoff - it's only an audio hobby, right? Have a laugh....

The good studios use expensive cables. You know, like high end studios. Mid Fi studios use Mogami or whatever. Case solved. Now I’m laughing. 😀

That Dueland wire that you can buy in bulk has oil on it,
Is it the same as the snake oil that some folks are talking about.

Kenny.

Actually, I appreciate the incessant dribble, from the cable neigh-sayers(as in donkey-speak).  The snorts of derision, keep my sinuses clear.

Heimdalls changed my life. Interconnects that is.

My take on this:

Audiofools
noun
Those who believe that $3,500 cables let them hear the audio more clearly, when the music was originally created with $25 cables.

Many of my contemporaries carried specialized microphones, pre-amps, cables, amps and speakers to achieve the best possible recordings.The more revealing a system is, the better. Albums I mixed 30+ years ago get better as each layer of fog is removed from the playback system.

We installed studios where the cable budget was many 10's of thousands.

Price is irrelevant. Performance is what counts.

“Price is irrelevant. Performance is what counts.”

I totally agree prove is in listening.


Kenny.

price is VERY relevant.
it determines weather a wire is covered with snake oil or not.
any price in excess of $5...6 per linear foot is snake oil.

Why not $0.50 or $0.60 / ft?

Some like 22ga zip @ $0.08 / ft. It's entirely possible their system is incapable of resolving anything better or 22ga zip gives the most musical representation in THAT SYSTEM.

Other than snake oil and dishonesty, there are many parameters that determine cost. Whether these parameters are a positive depends on the system.

That is, paint each end of the cable. Don't want to waste expensive snake oil.

They have made a difference in my systems for 20 years, since an older hi fi enthusiast lent me some wires he made for himself.

Everything matters. Especially the music.

Directionality of wire, cryogenics, burn in, demagnetization, ionization, elevation of cables, care and feeding of electrical contacts, all of these things are important to the performance. Ignore them at your peril.

“The worst problem is handling recordings.. No hands...
Tough to figure out. But I am working on it.”

The only thing that I know how to deal with this major issue,is to have a well balanced system the best that you can and enjoy all your recordings for what they are.

After 40 yrs in this hobby that would be my best advice.

Enjoy,
Kenny.

I like that snake oil because it gives my equipment a fresh clean smell,Definitely wife approval off the charts,and I get more Listening time in.

Kenny.

Snake oil is a two for one. It’s a lubricant for the wheels of audiophile progress and a banana peel for naysayers and others stuck in the mud. 💩

@ geoffkait

Nice one....

I am not sure why I bother posting. 45 + years in this hobby, and I have learned to use, and trust, my ears. I never needed anyone to " sell me " on anything.  The naysayers and trolls continue to do what they do, but most of them never have experimented ( using this term specifically ) with cables, fuses, green pens, etc., so really have little to no personal experience in the matter. This is what I find the most annoying with these threads, but at the same time, laughable. I find everything, and I mean everything, to make a difference in the sound, and it is for me, and only me, to determine if it is an improvement to get my system 1 step closer to that holy grail, to my holy grail. On a similar thread, I have invited ( challenged ) kosst to roll a bit of painters tape around the glass of his fuses, having him hear the benefits of reducing the resonance and vibration of the fuses, and in fact, the fuse holders, and he laughed. This is my biggest complaint with the naysayers and trolls. This is inexpensive and not dangerous. There is a level of equipment, room acoustics, ears, etc., that is required to hear this difference. So, all of these trolls and naysayers can battle us " listeners " to whatever avail they may want. Makes no difference to me. I am in this for me, not them. MrD.

Mrdeceibel,

All I could add is “Right On”.

Enjoy your personal Holy Grail,I certainly do,
Kenny.

Wow! All I can say is WOW. Someone here actually thinks couscous is a real skeptic, someone who is one bit curious, who wishes to be convinced, someone who would risk becoming the laughing stock of the entire pseudo skeptic community. 😛 😬 😀 😛 😂

Whoever said that recording studios - including any that value high fidelity reproduction - use super expensive cabling is a liar. 

Sure they use adequately shielded cables, but most of the time it's the cheapest thing available that meets spec. 

"High end" power cables and fuses are two items you will NEVER see any reputable engineer (either EE or in the recording profession) use or recommend. Period. 

You've just called a few audio engineers here, liars, unless the use of "super" is taken literally. Studios have upgraded to expensive cabling when they could afford to.

All the best,
Nonoise

@ostensible_constituency - People spent multiple thousands per mic and thousands more having them rebuilt. Do you think they would do that and use the cheapest possible cable?

Some of the best recording studios were built by fanatical audiophiles. They didn't scrimp on anything!

24 posts as of 05-04-2018 5:40pm is at least one too many.

He must consume lots of fibre. 😄

Its the poor old snakes and snake wranglers I feel sorry for here........
Not easy getting all that oil out without being bitten you know!

This just in: it seems there's yet another studio that switched to better made cables. EASTSIDE SOUND RECORDING STUDIO INSTALLS NORDOST CABLES - Positive Feedback

What the recording engineer said is worth reading.
(don't worry, it's a short article)

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise  Thank you.