I have used the Blu-ray version of Avatar as a reference disc to test the would-be improvements to the video side of our home theater. One of the scenes is when the helicopter is making a landing at a remote location. The grass is being blown and the whole area has a lot of movement. The increase in detail and coloration is stunning. I am using the Sony VPL-VW325ES 4K LCOS Projector and high-quality interconnects, screen etc.
My guess is that the power cord to the projector is one of the last things that people think about when trying to upgrade the picture. It sure has made a big difference in our system.
|
@brauser
I recently experimented with a SOTA power cable from Audio Magic replacing the stock cable and the improvement in picture quality was dramatic.
What kind of image quality improvements did you see? Are they obvious enough that you could take before and after pictures of the screen to demonstrate the difference? On my equipment I have seen the image quality occasionally go weird and had I taken a picture of it I'm sure I could have demonstrated it. In those cases I had to restart or reconnect something to get the picture back to it's normal excellence.
|
@teo_audio
the differences will be notably more huge, if one does transient and complex transients stacked and their harmonics, as a fundamental test.
I take it you must know of tests that have already shown this?
|
Everything matters even more if it isn't plugged in. Yah, some of my customers were concerned about a unit that I sold many of, not working. To cut to the chase, I quit putting the power button on the rear of the unit just for that reason.
Of course everything counts, it is just a matter of to what degree. One exception would be that if a cable or component had an issue in the first place and you replace it with something working properly, then no doubt you will hear an improvement.
That is a coarse way of stating that everything does matter but to varying degrees.
|
If you have a high-end projector in your stereo/video room, try an audiophile power cable. I recently experimented with a SOTA power cable from Audio Magic replacing the stock cable and the improvement in picture quality was dramatic. I guess everything does matter!
|
Yes everything matters including the individual.
|
OP,
Yes this is interesting and potentially of some value in choosing or tuning a system. The more tools the better.
|
From the article:
Do cables affect frequency response? Yes. That too is visible and measurable. In particular, the Shunyata deviates in a positive way. And this cable does so in all cases. Your author believes that it has been proven that a cable has an influence. In our tests it is about values of sometimes 0.5 dBu. That is audible. Is it worth a serious investment? We’ll leave that up to you.
the differences will be notably more huge, if one does transient and complex transients stacked and their harmonics, as a fundamental test.
As LITERALLY, that is how the ear hears and works. the other 90% of the signal used in the test, is meaningless, as the ear never uses and never hears it.
This is about how engineering and tests relates directly to how we hear. So get it right.
Getting closer...
|
I have always been a firm believer that everything in the chain counts, and contributes, the key is finding the right components. One should take deliberate care and do their due diligence but inevitably one may take a step backward. Data like this can help in the decision process and it is only one part of the equation.
Yes acoustics are a huge part and some of us have well treated rooms and others just throw a blanket over a tv or window and call it treated. Some do nothing and use REW software and think they are good.
But combine all of these elements and it could be audio nirvana.
Don't blindly dismiss something as Snake Oil if you have never tried it. Yes the bottom line is how the system makes you feel and your interpretation of the pressure waves being sent to your ears. Music is emotional and so is this passion we have for audio and the equipment we place in the chain.
|
Thanks for the Alpha Audio link. Will require further study but I've wondered why this hasn't been done before.
|
YES and NO!
Not everything can be judged by the tech, BUT neither can you trust your ears. What you like is totally subjective and opinionated at best. Most people have never had the opportunity to sit on a stage with a live jazz band or in a parade with a drum and bugle corps. So you end up with people talking about things being too bright, when all they are noticing is Probably their first experience of hearing a trumpet as it sounds live, or noting the difference between a Steinway vs a Yamaha grand piano. The Tech is there to give you a starting place to visualize what you are hearing and is not meant as an end-all. Also as noted as time goes on, the industry will find more and better ways to present music to our anxious ears to hear.
Anyone going to extremes on wither side of this argument is less than truthful and making uneducated comments.
|
As Albert Einstein said , not everything that counts can be counted.
Technics showed a graph over 30 years ago on one of their integrated amps
and a pretty clean sign wave, vs a Airtight. Vacuum tube model . And stated Vacuum tube is now obsolete , sonicly SS equipment at the time under even a bit of distortion was gritty and bright ,where the vacuum tube rolled off with even harmonics and smoother , SS amplification has come along way in 30 years and sounds very musical , graphs are good but don’t tell the whole story ,
also your Room can play a huge part of the equation damping the room of 1st reflections ,bounce reflections ,Bass nulls treating your room should be on your short list.
|
Their measurements seem to be done at 11,0dBu level, which corresponds to 989mW on a 8-ohm speaker. Although the graphs are very dynamic-looking, they will fit into a leeway of 0.2dBu, which corresponds to about 40mW on the 8-ohm speaker.
Will that be audible? The author claims it will.
|
The room and listening environment have more influence in the sound than cables ever will. You can't fix poor acoustics and/or poor speaker placement with band aids.
|
Duh. My ears have proven "Everything matter in the audio chain" since I started stereo. Including power and environment.
All those charts and graphs and my ears still has the last Hear Say,
|
|
Thanks @jerryg123
Interesting read and I just signed up for their newsletter.
|
|
|
Nice article Jerry thanks for posting and a site I've never checked out before I like their style.
|
But it’s not tobacco. I prefer Super Beets.
|
Want to hear better sound right away? Smoke some funny tobacco!
|
@jerryg123
Ah, I'm slow at picking up nuance sometimes. Now you've got me thinking about "the measurement guys." I'm envisioning people who own equipment just to measure it - they never listen to it at all! There's nothing wrong with that I suppose if they get pleasure from it. I'll have to admit I've gone down this path to some degree with photography equipment. I've spend huge amounts of time doing test shots at different aperture and shutter speed settings just to see how sharply detailed I can get a picture with a particular lens, enjoying that process more than actually going out and getting good photos.
|
|
If the ears aren’t convinced then the graphs and charts are telling us what we can’t hear or don’t notice as important to our enjoyment of the sound. That’s good information just as much as when the charts and graphs do correlate to what we like. I shouldn’t leave out the potential case where the graphs and charts show nothing but the ears are convinced there’s a difference. Is it the ears or the mind, that’s the first question I’d want to nail down - make sure the ears alone can pick up on the difference when the brain isn’t being contaminated with information about the sound source coming from our other senses. And I'll add that it's perfectly OK to not care why the sound seems so good during a sighted listening test and just enjoy the total effect coming in from all the senses.
|
In the end, graphs and charts meaningless if the ears aren't convinced.
No guarantees with anything more.
|
Thanks for sharing this. I've been complaining that no one does these kinds of tests, and alas here it is! The performances are quite similar but there's enough deviation there to suggest audibility. Anybody know how long the cable runs were?
|
@jerryg123 see the thread on end game systems, the "end game" systems members have shared further confirm this research, thanks
|
|
Very interesting. I would have liked to see a tube amp in the test.
|
