Yet another comparison. First I put Purist Audio Dominus Rev B power cord on PS Audio regenerator and Purist Aquila on VAC amp and then reversed it. The difference was big, with Dominus on VAC and Aquila on the regenerator it was much better in every respect.

My ears don't deceive me, as far as I know. I asked another non-audiophile person to listen to all these changes as well. Same conclusions.

My system is modest but very sensitive to any changes. However, once I had some fun with comparing Wywires Diamond, that's their top of the line $2700 RCA cables, and older Gabriel Gold Infusion RCAs. I was using my trusted Nakamichi 682ZX deck as a source and VAC Avatar integrated amp. Damn, they were so close, but at the third go I did hear slight differences, not better/worse but differences. They both sounded great and I use then both. In higher resolution system the differences might be more pronounced, I don't, know. Wywires is a little more balanced and Gabriel Gold more engaging. I bought them both used, Diamond for $1150 and Gold for $200. For most recordings, especially acoustic music, I actually prefer Gabriel Gold a little.

steakster

Jack’s science and physicist background gave him the understanding about negative effects of quantum noise

 

Truly impressed by this new pseudo-science terminology "quantum noise". I have no doubt their cables would make a startlingly significant improvement.

Later

I seriously wonder about a blind test for a 2K and 20K streamer.

 

@ dill ... The only test that matters is the person doing the listening, in their own system with their own music. Theories and opinions by others are irrelevant.

Yep...pretty much sums up most audio discussions.

IMHO, it’s important to try things even if you don’t immediately hear a difference.  Every situation is unique.   Many times it’s a small step in the right direction. It can take time to recognize, plus it can clear the path for the next little upgrade....they add up. It’d be a shame for someone to not try any upgrade because you read here that someone else didn’t hear a difference. Keep plugging...your system might improve. Doing nothing assures that it won’t.

 

spenav

... Read the article ...

Why? It’s from 1996, so there can’t be anything "new" in it and it's w-a-y too long. If you’re interested in reading more about cables, feel free to explore the links I already shared. There are thousands of posts in those threads.

@cleeds
And again and again, and round and round.

The author of the article didn’t say that cables don’t matter. His company actually sells cables. What he’s saying is that a lot of expensive ones don’t justify the price tag and a correctly designed one should not be overpriced because it’s not hard to design a good cable because we are dealing with known theories. Read the article, it makes sense.

It’s not that complicated. Don’t buy complete junk that’s going to be a weak link, and don’t spend more than about 5% of your system cost on cables because you can probably get more improvements elsewhere. Then forget about it and enjoy. 

@roadcykler

Good article! Long, but it makes sense. I have used these RadioShack interconnects that he is talking about some decades ago and can attest that they were first rates (although they did subscribe to the notion that the signal was directional). Bottom lines, one should be honest with oneself: at the end of the day, it might be cheaper.

The OP's source a 28 year old test that only tested differences between wire gauges. The only test that matters is the person doing the listening, in their own system with their own music. Theories and opinions by others are irrelevant. 

Here we go again.  The question of whether cables make a difference or not.  If you're a person that, after all these years, still don't believe that cables make a difference, fine.  You just go ahead and stick with your bulk, Monster, speaker cables, just like we did 40, 50, years ago before we knew any better.  Really, who cares?

Not this $hit again....give it a rest already.

No. My ears do not deceive me.

Just because you can't afford it, doesn't mean I can't hear it.

Grow up.

Why so defensive? If cables actually do make a difference, price shouldn't matter. Also, who said anything about affordability? 

@cleeds indeed I'm not a cable denier.  but when I hear a cable review that sounds like a wine review complete with overtones of anis an sage, by BS meter pegs.

Hearing the “difference” is only part of the equation. Determining that the “difference” is also “improvement”. Heck, the change in SQ could be further from truth, not necessarily closer. 
 

Like hitting a golf ball perfectly without watching to see where it lands. 

Not this $hit again....give it a rest already.

No. My ears do not deceive me.

Just because you can't afford it, doesn't mean I can't hear it.

Grow up.

+10 @mitch2 

Confirmation bias is real. But some cables do make a difference. If you can’t hear it you either have the wrong cables, an insufficient system, an inability to hear those differences or confirmation bias against cables. 

+1 @zlone

@steakster

Disagree with the OP about what? Are you saying that they disagree with him about the problems with blind testing? How are we supposed to know that they disagree just because you show us that they are all educated?

@knotscott

It’s kinda funny....I’ve wanted every single set of cables I’ve ever installed in my system to sound like "The Ones", yet several sets hang on the wall of my basement shop, got passed on my boys, or got resold, because once all the excitement and expectation bias wore off, they just weren’t what I had hoped they’d be.

That pretty much describes the audiophile condition I have observed, participated in (for years), and read about here and on other forums, and even in professional review publications, over the past 25+ years.  Everyone is looking for The One great thing that will clarify, tonally densify, and totally transform their system.  

I have read countless posts and reviews about about cables, fuses, Class D amps, and all sorts of small filter boxes, and testimonials from early adopters about the latest and greatest missing link they added to create their final perfect system…until the next latest, greatest thing came out.  Many of us have boxes of cables, footers, and electrical do-dads that came in with a bang and went out with a whimper.  Yes, I agree there are (subtitle) differences to be heard but IME the lasting effect is usually far less than the hype.  Black, red, blue, orange, purple, and pink, the one thing all of this stuff has had in common these past 25 years is dollar$.  The folks selling this still are mostly selling hope.

These engineers would disagree with the OP.

_ _ _ _ _

Bybee Technologies – Founded by Jack Bybee – Physicist

 

Jack Bybee's did research in cable/circuit design for military use.

Bybee’s first commercial products emerged from Cold War-era military-industrial research. The stealthy shadow contest of nuclear submarine detection, location and evasion demanded ever-quieter circuits, lower electronic noise and greater signal-to-noise ratios. Practitioners summed up the problem as: “reducing 1/f noise, from DC to 2000hz”.  

Bybee’s technology involves exotic blends of rare-earth metals or their isotopes to reduce electronic noise in circuits. In the mid-1990s, Bybee’s AC filtering was among the first of its kind to use exotic doped materials instead of transformers or balanced power, which made it a novel concept at the time.

Jack’s science and physicist background gave him the understanding about negative effects of quantum noise. Link here.

 

Purist Audio Design – Founded by Jim Aud – EE & Physicist

From there, I earned my Electronics Engineering degree at Brescia University, and would later study Computer Science for almost two years at Westinghouse. Then I came to South Texas Nuclear, and studied what they’d call today nuclear physics. Link here.

 

Shunyata Research – Founded by Caelin Gabriel – Research Scientist

Caelin Gabriel is a former US military research scientist with a background in research and design of ultra-sensitive data acquisition systems.  These systems were designed to detect extremely low-level signals otherwise obscured by random noise, requiring years of intensive research into the sources and effects of signal and power-line noise interference.  Link here.

 

Silversmith Audio – Founded by Jeffrey Smith – Engineer

CEO/Designer Jeffrey Smith is a Wyoming native and graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering. He also earned a Master of Science Degree, With Distinction, in Defense and Strategic Studies. Link here.

 

MIT Cables – Founded by Bruce Brisson – awarded 20 USPTO engineering patents.

MIT Cables founder Bruce Brisson began purposely designing audio cables in the 1970’s after encountering the sonic problems inherent in cables typical of the day. Link here.

 

Audioquest – Garth Powell - Sr. Director of Engineering

Formerly with Furman Power for 12 years.

A truly blind test is when I change a cable or add a tweak unbeknownst to my spouse and the change is perceived immediately.

I think my bias is that I do expect a difference.Why else make a change? But it's not always positive or sometimes so subtle it's not a keeper.

 

It’s kinda funny....I’ve wanted every single set of cables I’ve ever installed in my system to sound like "The Ones", yet several sets hang on the wall of my basement shop, got passed on my boys, or got resold, because once all the excitement and expectation bias wore off, they just weren’t what I had hoped they’d be.  It can take quite a while to recognize all the subtle things going on.  

It’d sure be cheaper and less frustrating if I couldn’t hear the difference.

Confirmation bias is real. But some cables do make a difference. If you can’t hear it you either have the wrong cables, an insufficient system, an inability to hear those differences or confirmation bias against cables. 

carlsbad2

Confirmation bias is rampant.

Indeed. For example, if you’re convinced cables "don’t make a difference," that’s likely what you’ll hear if you demo them. It won’t matter whether the test is blind, or not.

"The first principal is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P Feynman, speaking to some of the most brilliant scientists in the world in 1974.  Confirmation bias is rampant.