Most Important, Unloved Cable...


Ethernet. I used to say the power cord was the most unloved, but important cable. Now, I update that assessment to the Ethernet cable. Review work forthcoming. 

I can't wait to invite my newer friend who is an engineer who was involved with the construction of Fermilab, the National Accelerator Lab, to hear this! Previously he was an overt mocker; no longer. He decided to try comparing cables and had his mind changed. That's not uncommon, as many of you former skeptics know. :)

I had my biggest doubts about the Ethernet cable. But, I was wrong - SO wrong! I'm so happy I made the decision years ago that I would try things rather than simply flip a coin mentally and decide without experience. It has made all the difference in quality of systems and my enjoyment of them. Reminder; I settled the matter of efficacy of cables years before becoming a reviewer and with my own money, so my enthusiasm for them does not spring from reviewing. Reviewing has allowed me to more fully explore their potential.  

I find fascinating the cognitive dissonance that exists between the skeptical mind in regard to cables and the real world results which can be obtained with them. I'm still shaking my head at this result... profoundly unexpected results way beyond expectation. Anyone who would need an ABX for this should exit the hobby and take up gun shooting, because your hearing would be for crap.  
douglas_schroeder
jujitsu wrote,

"I laugh every time I see someone say something like the above.

Because Randi didn’t get 1000 mystical spoon benders to test, so when he exposed Uri Geller for the charlatan that he is, it’s not really valid and we hold out the possibility that people can actually bend spoons with their mind. Incredible ’logic’.

Here’s the thing: You aren’t aural savants. You’re aural spoon benders.

The real reason that you will not sit for a bias controlled evaluation is that when you crash and burn, and you most certainly will, EVERYTHING you have an opinion about when it comes to the audibility of equipment will be worthless.

When you’ve been exposed either making stuff up or hallucinating then you can’t be trusted."

>>>>>>jujitsu, your obvious contempt for audiophiles and the whole scientific method notwithstanding, the real reason The Amazing Randi never (rpt never) lost a Million Dollar Challenge was because the test protocol was obviously slanted to favor Randi. And to favor him to such an extent he virtually couldn’t loose. It was rigged every which way to Sunday. That’s what Wellfed found out dealing with the stacked deck of James Randi Education Foundation when he agreed to take the Million Dollar Challenge for the Intelligent Chip, the little orange quantum thingie that is placed on top of a CD player for improving the sound of the disc. (I have to respect that Randi had Kramer, formerly of Butthole Surfers rock group, coordinate the blind test of the Intelligent Chip.)

So did Michael Fremer, of Stereophile, whilst negotiating with Randi’s crew for a $20K high end cable test, discover it’s not an even playing field. Let me give some examples, gentle readers. In the case of the Million Dollar Challenge for the Intelligent Chip Wellfed was expected to perform the test at some location other than his own house and on a system of Randi’s choosing. I.e., some unfamiliar God knows what system. Keep in mind Randi nor any of his crew were audiophiles. Also, the CDs could not be treated a priori, which would have been beneficial to Wellfed since differences with the Intelligent Chip would presumably be easier to detect. There was also a dispute how many people from Randi’s crew were to have been present at the test. Finally Wellfed would have had to guess correctly 10 out of 10 consecutive trials. Give me break!

willemj
Well, here for the measurements:
http://archimago.blogspot.nl/2015/02/measurements-intercontinental-internet.html
http://archimago.blogspot.nl/2015/02/measurements-ethernet-cables-and-audio.html

willemj, would it be fair to say without looking more closely at the fine details of those tests, the take-away is things that measure the same also sound the same? Is that what you would have us believe? No wonder the cable controversy has been going on without letup for 40 years.

the real reason The Amazing Randi never (rpt never) lost a Million Dollar Challenge was because the test protocol was obviously slanted to favor Randi. And to favor him to such an extent he virtually couldn’t loose.
Citation Needed. Other than all of the charlatans who couldn’t perform. It's plain to see, that as soon as they are introduced to proper experimentation and logical rigor, we get a litany of special pleadings for why they can’t prove their claims.


your obvious contempt for audiophiles and the whole scientific method notwithstanding,

You, lecturing someone on proper understanding of the scientific method. That’s rich.
willemj, would it be fair to say without looking more closely at the fine details of those tests, the take-away is things that measure the same also sound the same? Is that what you would have us believe? No wonder the cable controversy has been going on without letup for 40 years.

Then perhaps you should abuse yourself of the details. If YOU are claiming a benefit with X, it’s YOUR responsibility to show how that claim can be empirically demonstrated, not anyone else’s responsibility to prove it wrong. If said benefit is claimed because of A, and we know that A can be empirically demonstrated by 123 testing, then yes, we can test your claim. If no known testing methodology is available, it’s your responsibility to provide it. Without demanding that, your claims would be limited to your own imagination. 

If you are also claiming that we can’t measure a particular sonic change, benefit or detriment, then you have another claim to provide reputable citation for.
Whoa! What's this, the attack of the Audio Peer Review Committee? 🦃 🦃 🦃