Have you measured any of these cables? If not, then please do us a favor, go back to a workbench, measure them and kindly report the results. Thank you in advance.
Cable Survey
The idea for this thread came from @sautan 904 op titled “Who thinks $ Speaker cable really better than generic 14awg cable?
My reply:
From op:
SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?
Some are, some are definitely not. It really is a matter of discovering what brands out there (and there a lot) offer the best performance for your money. Some are really worth the money and clearly they offer a big increase in sound quality. It seems the dealers you used were not very discriminating about what brands they carry. This does not surprise me since I have found many are not well informed. You really need to seek out somebody who has compared different makes of cable and really believes in what they are selling.
So I thought it a good idea to pool knowledge on this subject and make a list of what people are using and why. This is my current preferences:
Speaker: Hi Diamond 7
IC XLR: Hi Diamond XLR 3
USB: Vovox
Ethernet: AQVOX, Vovox
Power: Belden
The Hi Diamond speaker cable was so much better than other cables I have tried to date. The increase in musicality, depth and detail in bass, increased sound stage and cleaner more detailed top where some of the benefits I had with this cable. The same can be said of their XLR interconnect.
The Vovox I have only been able to compare with some generic cables, and it is much clearer than those. I intend trying some other brands in the near future and I will post my findings.
Ethernet cables I find make a difference and I am currently using both Vovox and AQVOX, compared to various generic makes and the blue Meicord these are both much preferred, opening the sound stage and lowering the noise floor.
Power cables I haven’t so far experimented with a great deal, I’m using heavy Belden cables that are part of a dedicated mains spur arrangement, so that each individual piece of equipment has its own spur. In order to test cable types I will need to introduce a mains block (Shunyata?).
My reply:
From op:
SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?
Some are, some are definitely not. It really is a matter of discovering what brands out there (and there a lot) offer the best performance for your money. Some are really worth the money and clearly they offer a big increase in sound quality. It seems the dealers you used were not very discriminating about what brands they carry. This does not surprise me since I have found many are not well informed. You really need to seek out somebody who has compared different makes of cable and really believes in what they are selling.
So I thought it a good idea to pool knowledge on this subject and make a list of what people are using and why. This is my current preferences:
Speaker: Hi Diamond 7
IC XLR: Hi Diamond XLR 3
USB: Vovox
Ethernet: AQVOX, Vovox
Power: Belden
The Hi Diamond speaker cable was so much better than other cables I have tried to date. The increase in musicality, depth and detail in bass, increased sound stage and cleaner more detailed top where some of the benefits I had with this cable. The same can be said of their XLR interconnect.
The Vovox I have only been able to compare with some generic cables, and it is much clearer than those. I intend trying some other brands in the near future and I will post my findings.
Ethernet cables I find make a difference and I am currently using both Vovox and AQVOX, compared to various generic makes and the blue Meicord these are both much preferred, opening the sound stage and lowering the noise floor.
Power cables I haven’t so far experimented with a great deal, I’m using heavy Belden cables that are part of a dedicated mains spur arrangement, so that each individual piece of equipment has its own spur. In order to test cable types I will need to introduce a mains block (Shunyata?).
Showing 7 responses by mmrkaic
@ toddverrone It is a good first step. Now, if you could please measure the resistance, capacitance and inductance as a function of frequency, we will have a much more complete picture. |
Sorry, did not want to subject you to any Inquisition, let alone Spanish. :)) But I think that you yourself have asked the key question -- why so many manufacturers don't provide those numbers? I use 12 AWG speaker cables that I bought on Amazon for~$15 and the power cables that came with my amplifier. If I paid more, I would feel really stupid and exploited. Now, I have a Ms in physics and know a bit or two about electrical circuits, conductivity, electrodynamics etc., so bold claims about "the sound of cables" don't impress me too much. |
Whoa! Appeal to Authority Alert! Big time! 🤔 My dear friend, there is no appeal to authority here, just an explanation why I don't fall for pseudo-scientific BS that is peddled by many in the audio community. Incidentally, the actual logical fallacy that you insinuate is more accurately called "appeal to improper(!) authority". Having an advanced degree in physics is not an improper source of authority, when we discuss physical phenomena, such as electric conductivity. |
@geoffkait Several points here. 1. I stated my credentials simply to elucidate why I reject the pseudo scientific narratives about "the sound of cables". There was not argument from you or anyone else that needed to be refuted on its merits. So, no argument from authority happened here. 2. But, let's make this exchange interesting. Do you want to discuss cables? Fine, lets do that. a) As a starting point -- what proof do you have that different cables result in different sound? Have you conducted any blind tests and recorded the results? Can you demonstrate statistically significant results that support the claim that cables influence sound? Can you show me your data, the conditions of the experiment/test and your statistical analysis? b) Have you measured the voltage at the speaker's terminals when you used different cables? What differences have you found? Have you listened to the same cables in a blind test? What statistically significant differences in the subjective perception have you found? Show me your data, the conditions of the experiment/test and your statistical analysis. c) Have you correlated the price and the subjective performance of different cables in a blind experiment? What have you found? d) Does it matter? I will not convince you and you will not convince me. :)) |