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?).

toetapaudio
Whoa! Another excellent example of Appeal to Authority. Once I read, "I have 40+ Years in the business" all the errors in the screed suddenly made sense. For example, just one of many errors, high end cable manufacturers don’t get their wire from China, they get it from Japan. Geez, everybody knows that. Oh, by the way, your spell checker is kaput.

Note to self: How come these loud vociferous newcomers threaten everyone with blind tests? Didn't they get the memo that blind tests don't mean anything?


mmrkaic
@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.

>>>>By pseudo scientific narratives I assume you mean explanations or claims you disagree with. Nice touch.

2. But, let’s make this exchange interesting. Do you want to discuss cables? Fine, lets do that.

>>>>No, I don’t want to discuss cables. What would be the point?

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?

>>>>>I have no proof. I do not conduct blind tests nor do I believe results of blind tests are conclusive of anything.

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.

>>>>No, I have not measured the voltage of cables. I have not measured capacitance or inductance, either. I generally make up my mind over a period of time for just about everything, including cables. Snap decisions, like blind tests, are meaninglessness to me.

c) Have you correlated the price and the subjective performance of different cables in a blind experiment? What have you found?

>>>>No, I haven’t correlated price and performance of cables. I generally survey available cables including used cables that fit my budget then flip a coin.

d) Does it matter? I will not convince you and you will not convince me. :))

>>>I never try to convince someone of anything who’s already made his mind up. 😬



@toddverrone, Hope you're recovering quickly from the crash.
Thanks, I'll  compare hyperflex to cotton on the next IC project. Data would be interesting and could be useful but don't necessarily speak to differences we hear in individual systems.
To be clear, I put the cotton insulated silver inside the hyperflex. The hyperflex is mostly there to protect the signal from kinks and maintain even spacing of the neutral away from the signal. I used the hyperflex in place of the solid teflon or PET tubing used in most DIY IC designs. It's more flexible and doesn't kink when bent.
@geoffkait

>>>>By pseudo scientific narratives I assume you mean explanations or claims you disagree with. Nice touch.

No, I mean claims without any empirical support. You know, the boring stuff that engineers and scientists do, like measurements, blind tests etc. In one word: proof.