Does creating a loom in cables in a system make a significant difference?


I use a mix of different cables for interconnect, speaker and digital cables.  I have no complaints. The music sounds great!   I seize upon good values for superior cables from Audiogon and Audiomart US.  I'm setting up a system in another room  and I'm wondering if I should stick with one brand of cable throughout or just keep buying high quality cables regardless of brand.  I'd appreciate your thoughts.

styleman

Showing 2 responses by yoyoyaya

The "loom" theory is very convenient for manufacturers to promote sales of their own cables. To the extent that cables impact on sound quality there is no more logic in suggesting that the same make of cables throughout a system has an exponential impact on sound quality than there is in suggesting that using components from the same manufacturer does so. I don't recall a "loom" theory being advanced in the latter regard to anything like the same degree as I do for cables.

I now have mostly the same make and model of cables in my system but to the extent that the sound quality of the system has improved, it's because the cables are better - not because they are from the same manufacturer.

I think the "loom" theory might "work" for certain listeners particularly where a cable manufacturer has a particular sonic signature (I would suggest Nordost, for example). In that case where a listener is particularly drawn to that kind of sound, then reinforcing it with more of the same might prove attractive.

 

@juanmanuelfangioli. For clarity, I was suggesting that it is convenient for manufacturers if that approach is promoted. I did not say by whom.

See below (after the next para) for two quotes from Hi Fi Plus reviews of Nordost cables. I recall that magazine's reviewers as being the foremost promoters of "loom" theory.

As per my original post, I've used mixes of cables and sets of cables from the same manufacturer and both have been successful.There is a predictability in terms of results in using cables from the same manufacturer but, to paraphrase a previous poster, it is not the only road to Rome - (or Asgard :)).

"I’ve shied away from the term ‘coherent cable loom’ here, but Nordost Valhalla 2 is the very model of coherence. It ties systems together in an holistic manner often sought, but rarely achieved."

"Yet, if there’s one thing that the Valhalla experience teaches you it is that we’ve grievously underestimated the importance of cables, both collectively and relative to each other. So, not only does the cable loom create the foundation on which system performance is built, but it starts not with the signal cables but at your wall sockets."