akg_ca 12-30-2015 4:35pm+1.
The sonic performance effect of one’s cables (that means all of ICs, speaker, and power) is:
(a) entirely directly (emphasis added) audio system dependent in the first part; and,
(b) the effects are further significantly influenced by the unique characteristics of one’s unique listening arena with all of those strengths, limitations, and warts to boot.
As examples of point (a), in this thread from about three years ago I cited the following examples of how a comparison between two cables can yield exactly opposite sonic results depending on the circumstances:
Example 1:
If an interconnect having relatively high capacitance is compared with one having relatively low capacitance, and if everything else is equal, the higher capacitance cable will produce a duller and more sluggish response in the upper treble region if used as a line-level interconnect (especially if it is driven by a component having high output impedance), due to the interaction of cable capacitance and component output impedance; while the exact opposite result will occur if those same two cables are compared in a phono cable application and driven by a moving magnet cartridge, due to the interaction of cable capacitance and cartridge inductance.Example 2:
It is easily possible for digital cable "A" to outperform digital cable "B" in a given system when both cables are of a certain length, and for cable "B" to outperform cable "A" in that same system if both cables are of some other length. The happenstance of the relationships between cable length, signal risetimes and falltimes, cable propagation velocity, component susceptibility to ground loop-related noise, and the happenstance of how closely the impedances of both components and the cable match, all figure into that.Regards,
-- Al