I can't taste my beer...or hear my cables


Let me start by saying I *do* believe cables "make a difference" in systems. I learned this early on in my exploration of this hobby when I moved from some crap Monster cable to Kimber 4PR (which I still use, kind of).

I recently had two experiences that bewilder me a little, however. I upgraded the cable between my pre and amp from HGA silver lace to Silver Audio Silver Bullet 6.0's. Nice upgrade. The HGA sounded thin compared to the Silver Bullets. Good deal there.

But then I bought the LAT Internationl SS-1000D speaker cable, thinking it would be an upgrade to my Kimber 4PR. Guess what? I can hear very little, if any, difference between the two cables.

Next: despite being a huge skeptic, I bought a couple of LAT International AC-2 power cables. These upgraded a stock power cable to my preamp and a "Basic Cables" power cable for the amp. I *may* hear a slight difference, but it certainly isn't much.

Other than hearing loss, what reasons are there for my inability to hear the difference in the cables? I have thought maybe the CDP (made by Denon) might be the reason, but that doesn't make sense, given the difference the Silver Audio cable made over the HGA.

Associated equipment:
Denon CDP
McCormack RLD-1 (soon to be platinumized!)
McCormack DNA-0.5 Rev. A
Infinity Overture 2 speakers (to be replaced by nOrh mini 9.0's in 2 weeks)

Thanks for your insight, folks!

HC
aggielaw
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I agree with all of Elizabeth's possibilities but doubt that number 3 is the case.

Cable interactions are extremely hard to predict and sometimes the difference you are anticipating is not the difference you actually get...
Either that or keep the beer out of your ears! Then you will hear better and taste the beer. Just trying to help.
Excellent advice. Definitely, drink more beer.

I think you just experienced one of the classic scenarios as to why we audiophiles continue on our endless merry-go-round.
i recently went thru the same kinda thing with my rig,i swapped out all my cables & wires with some big$ stuff another member was kind enough to loan me.

i walked away feeling much the same as you,i heard a small difference & im sure i heard somthing but in the end i walked away understanding that not all gear will respond to different cables.

im actually glad my gear wont repond to cabeling & power cords as its one less thing for me to worry about.

mike.
Never try to distinguish between wire without a minimum of 6 beers, 8 to 12 and you really hear the difference!
Don't worry about the cables, but I am very, very worried about your missing taste buds(pun intended)for beer!
Try tasting the cables and listening to the beer. I've heard draft beer sounds a little bit analytical compared to a good honey brown lager, but have heard of no official double blind test scenarios that prove it indisputably. You'll just have to experiment.
the LAT cables I heard were not especially good. Middle of the road type stuff, I believe the Kimber could equal it in some systems and the results could be totally different in a different system.

I have found system synergy to be of great importance in my many years of fumbling about in audio...

Find the cables that work in your stereo, is the best advice I know.