Does a weave of cables really make a difference?

The manufacturer will tell you for sure you must use all cables by his brand for best results.  Many people have read and believed this. they will repeat it in this thread.  

I believe good cables are good cables.

Jerry

All manner of rationalizing comes with using a loom from one brand that I could never wrap my ears around. Reviewers claim you should go with a house sound and avoid going down the rabbit hole as different makes will sound different. Well...duh.

 I just don't see one make getting it correct in all aspects. It's intellectually lazy. I can see sticking with the same brand for ICs and SCs but everything else just doesn't make sense. Just my $0.02.

All the best,
Nonoise

In my direct experiences, moving to a single brand matched array / loom of cables MAY ( emphasis added) provide an audio performance improvement and synergy.

BUT … I only found it mattered on limited circumstances contributing factors:

(1) only in high-end pricepoint strata brands ( for me, CARDAS & NORDOST) …think CARDAS CLEAR …

(2) It is ENTIRELY system dependent and there is no one-size-fits-all general rule. I have four 2-channel systems ranging from $1500 to $50,000. . Only in the my “A” system did It matter. In lesser build and lesser pricepoint systems …. Nope. … nada perceived differences.

The added synergy and ethereal audio performance was definitely there , but it was on the subtle or “softer’ side instead of any “AHa!” Or “ Jesus” moment. For example , adding a final piece with a matched speaker cable in a sequential cables CARDAS CLEAR arrray upgrade from NORDOST FREYs, finally tamed an ethereal “brightness” or “digital edge” that still existed until the NORDOST speaker cables were removed as the final link.

Choose wisely

You don’t have to use a full loom of one particular cable brand and line. It’s all about perfectly seasoning your musical steak and sometimes using a full loom is too much of a good thing. Trust your ears and use what works for you. 

@deadhead1000 

I think that the term is a loom of cables, and I think that blending brands is fine from my experience, as long as you like the final result.

The assumption with using a full loom of cables is that all of the cables get everything right and fit perfectly with your components’ and speakers’ intrinsic sound. It just doesn’t work that way. There’s a dearth of cable manufacturers that have achieved this level of refinement. Still, it’s likely that a particular listener or their chosen components will beg for particular qualities that are usually found by mixing more than one brand of high quality cables.

This is really just a different way of saying what’s already been said. This topic really deserves a dedicated book, but I don’t think any experienced system builder wants to write it because of how many unique variables there are in a given system.

Also, I've never seen @audphile1 share a bad take; the previous comment included.

Remember the wiring inside each of your components is not the same from one component to the next in the chain.  The theory of a perfect loom is fractured anyhow. Therefore I don't "buy in" that all cables must be the same brand, level. 

Having intermixed many brands and compared to full looms of the same brand end to end, results can vary enough in order to simply try different combinations.  Pick what sounds best to your ears for your system. Good enough can be okay too.  

@roxy54 

Yep, you're right! Although I try to keep the wires I have organized, I think for me a weave is probably a better description! Thanks for the correction.

I appreciate all the info and opinions. I think I'll stick with what I have. There doesn't seem to be anyone who went from a mis-mash to a full Loom and found any real benefit. 

Does a weave of cables really make a difference?

No, no they don't.

Thanks @gladmo 

For me it did

+1 @carlsbad2 

I have Synergistic Research throughout the system. However, these cables are between 10-13 years old, in those days they were between $200-$500 depending on length, so somewhat affordable then. I started with One and it made a huge difference so I gradually changed them one at a time so I could determine if it made an improvement. in every single case it did. However I do realize that if I were to do the same today it would be cost prohibitive. I don't think it answered your question! but maybe it did! It always helps if you have a dealer who could lend you the cables or have them exchanged if you don't hear a significant improvement. Best of luck and enjoy the music!  

You gotta have a loom to feast on its fruit. 

I am 88% one brand and model of cable, couple odd ball power cords. 

Remember the wiring inside each of your components is not the same from one component to the next in the chain. The theory of a perfect loom is fractured anyhow. Therefore I don’t "buy in" that all cables must be the same brand, level.

@decooney

you haven’t opened up every component you own and changed out internal wiring to all be same????

and i thought you were a serious dedicated audiophile.... shame on you!

😂🤣

No.

But a simple twisted pair, or braided cable like the unimposing Kimber PBJ can be superior to any coaxially shielded cable except where there is serious RF  interference. When that the twisted pair is pure solid core silver soft temper wire in Teflon there is nothing at any price that can provide greater resolution and transparency of an audio signal.

Twisted wire has a self shielding property. Steve Lampen at Belden Wire has been saying for a very long time that a shield is not necessary for digital and line level analog audio as long as the wires are tightly twisted. Not having a shield does not pass noise as long as the cable is kept a few inches away from power cables or crossed at about a 90° angle if necessary for minimal exposure.

But not having a shield does give the cable a lower capacitance, resulting in greater transparency, detail, and high-frequency extension.

... from the blog at  https://silversolids.com

@decooney you haven’t opened up every component you own and changed out internal wiring to all be same???? and i thought you were a serious dedicated audiophile.... shame on you! 😂🤣

@jjss49 its funny you bring this up, tonight I met up with a new audio member who picked up a set of interconnects from me to make his loom all the same, and yet I’m doing this myself again with a hope it imparts more of the same character.

So am I now at 80% there with a consistent loom, and 20% not there with a mish-mash wiring inside all my components. hmmm, kinda like different type pieces of pineapple on a perfect pepperoni pizza, hahah, maybe so LOL 🤣

FWIW, about a year ago, I finally got serious about cables. I’m a mid-fi guy who basks in the wide range of knowledge in forums like this…but I’m not compelled to chase listening perfection at the cost of running a string of polo ponies LOL.

Because of my other life-long interests in radio broadcasting, recording and large venue live production, I decided to look for the place where pro audio and home audio crossed. Digging around on-line, I stumbled into a gaggle of smallish companies that serve the recording industry and live music productions and liked what I found.

Long story short (I know, too late :) these shops sell monitor level cable and IC stuff in a variety of configurations and lengths at about 10-15% of the cost of home audio vendors! Digging deeper, the weapons of choice for wires were clearly Mogami and Canare. Soooo, in answer to your question, I’m a happy camper being “half in” on this idea. My total cable investment is under $400 inclusive, using various Mogami products for speaker cable and most ICs…and one longish Canare coax digital spec IC from an unpowered analog pre-amp switch to my amp.

I follow the good advice here about avoiding side by side parallel runs and crossing high current cables at right angles, etc as possible. I agree with the logic shared here that there is no “unified brand magic” - but using an allied industry for guidance on connectivity quality, my sound is noticeably better for small dollars.

There aren't many "absolutes" we can reference in high performance audio.  But, I think we can introduce one, with a high level of certainty.

Cable manufacturers design and evaluate THEIR cables using THEIR cables.  There may be an instance where Nordost may use a Cardas interconnect with Audioquest digital with Mogami power cord as a final "quality check" to make sure nothing unexpected happens in the field.  But, if we want to hear what they heard when those cables got the green light for production, we'd have to duplicate their cable set up to get there.  Yes, I know, we don't have the same gear, or the same room, or the same source material, etc. but we can make the assumption (pretty accurately?) that their "weave" of cables was a single brand.

As one poster suggested, taking a one-brand approach may be "lazy". but IMHO it will get you to the finish line with predictable outcomes.

And, yes, as another poster added, internal wiring matters, and the chances are close to zero that it's the same cable you're using to connect your components.  I wrote a post" "Thinking Inside the Box", which drilled down pretty deep into this.

No appreciation in audiophile land for my “fruit of the loom” joke…..😢

We still appreciate you @mapman.

No appreciation in audiophile land for my “fruit of the loom” joke…..😢