Yes they do. I’m not here to advocate for any particular brand but I’ve heard a lot and they do matter. High Fidelity reveal cables, Kubala Sosna Elation and Clarity Cable Natural. I’m having a listening session where all of them is doing a great job. I’ve had cables that were cheaper in my system but a nicely priced cable that matches your system is a must. I’m not here to argue what I’m not hearing because I have a pretty good ear. I’m enjoying these three brands today and each is presenting the music differently but very nicely. Those who say cables don’t matter. Get your ears checked. I have a system that’s worth about 30 to 35k retail. Now all of these brands are above 1k and up but they really are performing! What are your thoughts.
How do Bose do it? They started here as a mail order business with extravagant sound quality claims and now everyone has heard of them, right up there with JBL. Yet also in the UK hardly anyone has heard of (let alone seen) anything from such respected US audiophile brands such as Klipsch, Magnepan, Thiel, McIntosh etc.
I guess their main opposition will come from stuff like Amazon Echo, Apple Homepod, Google Home, Sonos etc.
The loss of Steve Jobs might also have been a big loss for audio. Apple transformed the audio scene, but if Steve (the audiophile?) was still around, who knows what we might be seeing by now?
Still, it's great to see some of the current big guns taking an interest. Especially as sound quality is always mentioned in reviews.
WireWorld designer actually understands the physics and electrical properties that separates sonically great cables from the masses of mediocre cables, regardless of their pricing
iTunes Rez is 1/2 CD quality! In other words, it sucks. Steve Jobs? No. Tidal or Deezer is far better. Cables do make a difference in a system where you can discern a difference. Fidelity must be at a certain level to hear changes in Q. Bottom line is explore and have fun till you hit the sweet spot where all you care about is listening to the music and NOT the gear.
tweak1 WireWorld designer actually understands the physics and electrical properties that separates sonically great cables from the masses of mediocre cables, regardless of their pricing.
For a person to state that someone else knows all the physics, or knows the physics better than everyone else, you know, the players, he ( the person making the statement) would ALSO have to know all the physics, no? Otherwise he’s just being gullible or perhaps a....you know... (whisper) shill 🤭
As a manufacturer of Bionic Cables, there are still issues in cables none of us know how to solve. There are also issues that the fix for, causes worse problems elsewhere which a few high end cables do anyway probably because the designer is so transfixed on fixing that issue that they are blind to the other problems being caused.
Unfortunately there are some manufacturers that can't hear big differences unless it is speakers so they go for cool looking cables.
IMHO there are only half a dozen real engineers designing cables and a few more companies making good cables by augmenting the designs of these engineers.
Fired up my Rift Cherry Signatures this morning with new MIT Matrix HD 36 Proline IC’s and HD38 speaker cables...wowzer!! So warm, liquid and dynamic with tremendous bass weight and midrange fullness. Not even broken in...amazing. Makes me appreciate my Krell Vanguard and Yamaha Reference CDP even more. So involving and most of all they transport me to another place:))
I think I may have commented on this before. I really do hear a difference in phono interconnects. I have a medium priced set of Verastar Silver Stream phono interconnects and can definitely hear a difference between them and say a generic brand by MCM electronics. I use xlr cables every where else. They go under my floor, over the river and through the woods. Question: I have many feet of xlr cables between my preamps and power amps. If I switch to a higher quality, do you think I will hear a difference? Subjective question I know. I am using a set of Transparent MusicLink Supers, but have a simple extension, to increase their length. I’ve read that when using balanced cables, quality doesn’t come into play that much. What say you?
In another thread, you mentioned that you live in an apartment and that you move every 10 years.
On your history alone, that’s quite a bit of changes to have a quantitative opinion on any one device in the audio chain. Most of us live with our components/room for our lifetime. This is a basis for a recommendation that holds "more water".
BTW, I have always thought that your moniker is a personal familial way of honoring a close family relation.
I would certainly expect that there would be a significant difference changing from cables such as your Transparents, which incorporate a network of unknown design, to just about any non-networked cables. Especially given the considerable length that is involved. I would not want to speculate, though, as to whether that difference is likely to be for the better or for the worse, regardless of the cost of the replacements.
Also, I noticed that you mentioned in a recent thread that you use an Aesthetix Calypso Signature preamp. Stereophile had measured the balanced output impedance of the non-Signature version of the Calypso as being 112 ohms at mid and high frequencies, and 3900 ohms at 20 Hz. The doubled capacitance of the output coupling capacitors in the Signature version will reduce that 3900 ohms by approximately a factor of 2, while the output impedance at higher frequencies is low for a tube-based design even in the non-Signature version. I would expect those impedances to result in less sensitivity to differences among long balanced cables than many other tube-based designs. But there are of course other unknown component-dependent variables involved (for example, whether the cable shields are connected to circuit ground or to chassis ground in the preamp and the amp, and how those grounds are interconnected within the components), and so I wouldn’t want to speculate beyond that.
@almarg I will have to take a meter reading between the outer connector and chassis ground. When, I don’t know, but will try to let you know. One thing I know, I have no hum at all, with the gain turned up 3/4 of the way. I made a new set of phono interconnects, using two conductor with shield and at first thought I missed the boat somehow. Upon looking closer, I realized my ground wire from that TT, was loose. Reconnected it and have bliss. 👍
For line-level balanced interconnections, ground-related factors that will act in the direction of reducing sensitivity to cable differences are:
(a) Pin 1 of the XLR connectors on each component (which is the pin that is used to connect the cable shield) is connected directly to chassis (i.e., via essentially zero ohms), and therefore presumably also to AC safety ground.
You may need a flashlight and a magnifying glass to be able to see the numbers adjacent to the pins of the XLR connectors.
(b) Circuit ground, which is presumably present on the ground shell of RCA connectors, is **not** connected directly to chassis/AC safety ground, but instead is connected to chassis/AC safety ground via a resistance of at least 10 ohms (and perhaps much more).
If and when you make these measurements, be sure that all interconnects are disconnected from the component being measured, or the results may be misleading.
@Elizabeth: I recently made a set of phono interconnects using two conductor/with mesh ground. I can hear no difference, between direction. I have a set of Veristar Silverstream and my home made cables rate right up there with them. I listen for hum and general frequencies. As I said, I run Transparent Silverlink Plus, with an extension for footage, on my preamps to main amps Do you think the generic extension detracts from my quality? I have done A/B tests and can’t tell the difference. I’ve read when using balanced cables, it doesn’t effect the sound that much, when using balanced cables. I see you spent a boat load on xlr cables. Did you try generics for the long run first? I have not joined the ranks of aftermarket power cables yet. I tried some Tranparent power cables, but just couldn’t hear the difference,
I upgraded my IC's to Audience SX. I am hearing things I didn't know were on the recordings before. Cables do make a difference. You get what you pay for. The problem is, you have to pay a lot more for it. I went about 2.5 times over the price of the original cables. If you want improvements you have to pay.
If cables do indeed make a difference, then am I to assume they all sound differently? If there was a level playing field blind listening test with say 5 high end cables. Would anyone be able to say what make of cable is playing?
Of course they make a difference. Or else there wouldn’t be a cable industry. My question is, What are the makers of $12,000 cables doing that the $2,000 cable makers are not? The differences are certainly not in materials, the materials used are not that exotic. Is it not possible to buy a $12,000 pair of cables and reverse engineer them? And mass produce them for $2K? I wonder?
@gawdbless, if you wanted to be really naughty you could also throw in a straightened coat hanger, some $1 per metre oxygen free cable and then see what happens.
Strangely enough, no high end cable manufacturer ever seems game for the challenge. Not now, not yesterday, not tomorrow.
@nonoise, seriously, it's time we moved on to types of connector, banana v bare wire v spade, spring clips v screw threaded binding posts, tightness of connection, and perhaps going the whole hog and rewiring the entire domestic audio chain with $250,000 of wire.
I get nightmares when I recall the cheap spaghetti like wiring loom at the back of the mixers and under the desk at this studio where I worked some 20 years. And yet, guess what? We got some lovely sounds coming out of that setup. At least until we switched from vinyl, minidisc and CD to PC based Mp3 files.
Never did find out the bitrate but I doubt whether they were over 128kbps. Perhaps not even that. They seemed more concerned with using Audacity to tidy up recorded broadcasts.
I think some of us are our own worst enemy and won't take components (including cables) seriously unless they cost a certain amount. The manufacturers know that and price stuff accordingly.
Strangely enough, no high end cable manufacturer ever seems game for the challenge. Not now, not yesterday, not tomorrow.
Your knowledge of the future is no better than your knowledge of the present or past. For example, Wireworld not only encourages cable evaluations - including blind evaluations - but it makes its own comparator just for that purpose. You might want to try such an experiment sometime.
I bet the coat hanger would get a thumbs up by someone....lol
I think its good that cable makers make cheaper all the way up to mega expensive cables. It means that the cheaper cables will be usually of high standard to satisfy us plebs who are on minimum wage, but love our music just as much as the rich folk do. IMO.
Pick what works for your system. I would not pay for cables more than my components but I think 10 to 15% of the amount your total system costs is reasonable. It has worked for me but it’s all system specific
Maybe it would be easier if I told the story of my first truly high end system. New baby, new house and of course I convinced my wife we needed a proper stereo system! $40k later, I came home with Levinson separates and Dunlavy SC-5’s, all connected with Transparent Ultra cabling. After a week of break in time, the system sounded awesome....should have stopped there actually! At some point I thought, there must be a cheaper cable that can deliver just as good a sound so I could use the profit to try and upgrade my systems components (which were already Reference caliber). Well, what a mistake that was...couldn’t listen anymore, it was that bad. Many years later and much audio money exchanged to try various gear and alternative cables, what do ya think I learned? Some cables can make or break a great system. Secondly, if you have great gear you should probably keep it and resist the urge to try other so called, improved gear...at the top, it’s all pretty great stuff! As for the most rewarding listening experiences I’ve had, I would say that my systems always sounded the most like live music when either Transparent or MIT cables were used. Everything else, to various degrees, may have sounded ok on short sessions, but over time the ear can detect subtle anomalies that can cause you to realize that wire really is wire! Unless of course the cables are truly dealing with aspects of signal transmission that degrade the sound. The difference is quite dramatic and involving.
Seriously when you consider all the various switches, diodes, components that the signal has to pass through on it's way from the DAC (or cartridge) to the delicate voice coil wires of the loudspeaker, isn't it a bit like changing the last 6 inches of your cold water pipe and expecting an improvement in taste?
I myself have tried cables from Linn (k20), Naim (NAC A5), Chord (Odyssey 2- silver plated), solid core lighting flex (it was once all the rage here thanks to Jimmy Hughes - legendary tweaker), and finally oxygen free copper. To this day I have no idea which was the best, or the worst.
Thankfully many serious manufacturers have resisted the urge to chase the quick buck by diving into this exploitation business. Sony, B&W, ATC, Harbeth, Spendor, Arcam, Marantz, Tannoy etc.
A ready made market there for the taking! You can imagine how simple it would be for them to start their own line of cables. These companies however are in it for the long term and wish to preserve their credibility and reputation.
One of the things I find extremely curious about much of the commentary on topics like these, is that the lack of first hand experience with much of what is discussed is shocking. It’s easy to be smug and resolute, or satisfied in ones own ignorance when your experience is limited. It is not helpful to expound on topics if ones experience is using zip cord and then going hog wild by trying Audioquest or Kimber. That’s meant in jest of course, but really folks...if you haven’t lived with a good cross section of what’s available then you have very little understanding of what can be achieved. I have owned a ridiculously large number of cable designs over the last 30 years, and yes, I even had Fulton Gold Speaker Cables (look those up boys and girls)! Can someone be happy with conventional cable designs that offer slight differences in their ability to alter the frequency response you hear? Of course, people love affordable bland products (usually high in salt). To gain a truly realistic experience however, requires innovation, combined with a love of music and an understanding of audio reproduction. A lot of what is peddled in the realm of cables is nonsense indeed. Cryo treatments, hyper pure metal, various ways to align the conductors and insulation materials etc... Do they all make a difference? Sure, but only minor deviations in the resultant experience and definitely not worth the money. As it turns out, the original big High End cable companies were on to something that could significantly enhance the audio listening experience. Ironically, they would become the whipping posts for most of the next gen cable companies that evolved and expanded following the newly tapped “Money Trail” that was discovered! The only real significant ground being blazed today is in wireless or digital technology. For me, MIT and Transparent cables still perform to a higher standard under most conditions in most systems. Of course, as is the case with Homo Sapiens, your perspective may vary.
Point blank the ones that say they can’t hear the difference don’t usually have resolving systems and don’t try upper market cables. What they call great sound is just ok sound to most of us with highly resolving systems
For budget minded folks in these uncertain economic times there are many ways to improve the performance of what you already have. Check for directionality, send cables/power cords to cryo lab or freeze two days in home freezer, apply PWB Cream Electret (free on request from PWB - hel-loo!) to cables, clean and apply contact enhancer like the new Graphene stuff, suspend cables and cords to avoid seismic vibration and static electric fields. You are the creator! Create a Giant Killer!
There is only one thing out there that is an actual counterpoint to wire. The only thing that really shows you for the first time, what wire sounds like.
As... a fundamental difference, that this ’other’ possesses... is required for you to see or ’hear’ it. To finally stand far enough way from wire to really 'frame' it.
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