John Dunlavy On "Cable Nonsense"

This is utter nonsense 702. Dr Floyd Toole, credentials and all, does'nt even beleive that differences in Amps exist that measure the same. He has always been a hardliner Julian Hirsh type and I would hate to think of our sonic past and presant, had Floyd's philosophy been the only one.
Finnish Scientist Dr Matti Otala, probably the world's most accomplished amplifier expert and author of many great AES journal papers years ago, built and marketed the worlds most textbook perfect amplifier long ago called the Citation XX. There was not a single reason on earth for this amp Not to be perfect in all areas. The whole thing sounded only so-so. There is more to it than textbook perfect design. I'll say it again, rapid ABX switching means nothing. You must live with the product and listen extensively to music you are familiar with. Then a correct "Lock" can be identified.

So, Sqjudge, R,L& C variations are what detemine(in the largest percentage of) our final sound in ICs?
Do you feel that a direct connection (wire free)will always provide the most accurate results no matter what?
(i.e directly soldered I/O connections to the PC board, an integrated amp wired direct internally with a negligable amount of buss or braid)....Frank

Steve, My "Placebo Effect" is in reverse. When I try Radio Shack cables vs multi kilobuck ICs I am praying and rooting real hard that Radio Shack wins the contest. I dont like paying the same price for an IC as an amplifier.It goes against my sense of what is fair and honest. On the other hand, who am I to say to a design engineer that the last five years of testing, scrapping, midnight oil burning,and cost etc.,does'nt warrent the price?
BTW, I have also heard many exotic speaker wires screw up the sound far worse than stranded zip cord. Getting zip cord to sound correct though, is not the way Monster or Sound Connections or the old Levinson company did it. They used too many strands to achieve a given guage and wound up with mud sonically. (here come the morter shells)
Paul, I also concur with your last paragraph......Frank

Sorry Ezmeralda, I cant buy into that one. Cables like MIT, Magnan& Siltech, of course, do create R, L, and C,changes with different amplifiers, but the character or "personality" per se, of the IC, shines thru most every time. Gold and silver plating yields large differences in sound. Dont take my word on it, contact Doug Sax who will tell you that gold plating in his switch contacts ruined the sound and he needed pure silver to get the desired effect. No R,L,C changes there, just plating! Please explain why? Anybody............Frank

Whoa Ezmerelda, Since scientists cannot explain all phenominon that occur, why deny the possibility of their existence. As far as these wires being overpriced and the money better spent on amplification, I am in your camp on that, if you have read my posts on wire.
Where I run into trouble with "scientific" types, is the steadfast hardheaded implication that "There exists no means by which a difference could occur sonically, so no difference can exist".
The example of plating above that I mentioned, was in my own experience as well. Here is the story. In 1990, I purchased the brilliantly engineered WELL TEMPERED Turntable and arm for use with my reference system. I had never before heard sound so correct, so right, so master tape like. It was a breakthrough in my mind. I could also discern which rooms were using this new marvel, at the shows, from the hallway!! I am not kidding. The price vs performance were so sky high, that the following year I bought another one for use with a different cartridge. I decided to remove the reference Cello MC from my current unit and put it on my newly aquired one. The two units were IDENTICAL, but the new one (1991),was about 25% better sounding in all areas. I immidiately called the factory and wanted to know what was different. "Oh nothing really, just the jacks on the termination box. They are now Cardas".
The fact is that the special copper/plating process that yields only marginal measurement changes, if barely any, was enough to change my system drastically for the better. I'm not picking a fight with you, just pointing out the truth of the subject, to MY ears, and a number of many other reliable ears that I confirm my findings with.
But I must say, regarding cable prices, I find them obsene and completely ridiculous, but their contribution to our musical present cannot be denied. I am quite certain that in actual materials, most of them could cost a fraction......Frank

Gpalmer , the DVM to own, is made by FLUKE. The industry standard