2. cables
  3. 128927-305

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
willemj
1,036 posts
 
Sure if there are no measurable differences in noise or frequency response, there is nothing until somebody comes up with a better measurement.
An alternative and perhaps even purer way to look at it would be to inspect the digital packages and compare what goes in and what comes out. This too has been done, and the answer is: bitperfect. This is not a matter of belief or opinion but of fact, and not of alternative fact.
willemj
1,036 posts
 
Yes peer review is part of the scientific method. And without science you would still, for example, have a life expectancy at birth of at best 30 years, and believe that you were getitng ill because of bad spirits or whatever nonsense. And medicine is not the only scientific achievement.
atlaudio353
8 posts
 
Whoa! What's this, the attack of the Audio Peer Review Committee?
Whatever you have to tell yourself. But yes, in a modern world where claims have to be substantiated, I know it's crazy. I'm sorry you were born on the wrong side of the Dark Ages. 

A man will usually gives the best evidence he has for a claim, short of that he will just bemoan the fact that he has to provide evidence. 
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Take a look at Geoff's CV and tell us again... that he was born on the wrong side of the dark ages.
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
I find fascinating the cognitive dissonance that exists between the skeptical mind in regard to cables and the confirmation bias results which can be obtained from the typical "reviewers"
More to discover