2. cables
  3. 132249-75518

Opening a can of worms

Here is the can filled with opinions. It's been hashed and rehashed to infinity and beyond with no clear result. Since I am a seeker of truth I'll post my thoughts here for the yea and naysayers to debate over. Question is: Are expensive speaker or any other cable in a system worth the exorbitant cost over a reasonably priced cable loom? I thought I'd  experiment myself to find out. My comparison is between Transparent Ultra cable loom and Blue Jeans cable loom on a pure stereo system comprised of Proceed PAV,  Proceed PDSD,  Krell Kav 250, Musical Fidelity A3cd, Sony Ps4300 TT and B&W 803D2 speakers. All sources were used by this experiment using identical playback material. Cables had in excess of 200 hrs burn time and all were identical in lenght. The only variation were the connector manufacturers.
One change that occurred during this 4 week long endeavor was that I'm firmly seated on the sharpest picket on the fence.
My result is that I'm now a believer that there are audible differences in cables. I also believe that these differences are minute and one has to really listen carefully and for a long time to discern these differences.
Now to the crutch of the matter, $$$$$, As we all know Transparent Cables would reside in the upper tier of Audio Cable expense.  Blue Jeans Cable on the other hand falls into the lowest tier of expense (well maybe not lowest but low nontheless )
One would think then that the Transparent would be far superior to the BJs. Not really! Yes the highs were a little cleaner, mids a little tighter and lows a tad more pronounced but not by as much as one would expect. Soundstage was somewhat more open and airy and depth was somewhat more defined with the higher priced cable but again less than one would expect. 

Now for my personal opinion regarding the cable debate: expensive cable looms are slightly better than reasonable priced looms, if a dollar equals a penny to you then by all means opt for the higher priced loom, if a penny equals a penny don't be ashamed for opting for the best you can do. The differences are so minute that it's not worth going into debt over. BOTH looms sounded superb on my test system and I would be happy with either loom.

Now let the debate begin, just know I'm a fence sitter and not in one camp or the other
gillatgh

Showing 5 responses by itzhak1969

itzhak1969
515 posts
 
By making a test with 2 cables and jump to a conclusion that there is no much difference between cheap cable to more expensive one is not more than a false generalization .

First, there is no necessary correlation between the cost of the cable to its quality.
Second,You need the match the right cable to your own system one cable can be good for one system and bad for another.
Third,It’s better to use same level of all your system cables and better of the same brand ,mismatch of cables can make things worst.
Forth, the most important test if the cable is right to your system is your own demo only .let your ears to decide what is good for you.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
After many years of changes and upgrades I ended up with all cables (interconnects, speaker’s and coax) of Tellurium Q Ultra Black ,fortunately my dealer had some second hand ones which I bought with a substantial discount, this cables are very expensive and I couldn’t afford to buy new ones .It’s realy a nirvana with this cables in my system which sounds now as many times more expensive systems than mine .
So do cables matter ? - Yes !!!

itzhak1969
515 posts
 
From my experience cables have the shortest break-in period usualy 10 to 50 hours are enough.
Speakers need the longest break-in 500 hours at least.
Dacs,power amps and pre amps do need substantial break in period as well but less than speakers.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
cables is the most controversial issue in the audiophile world every time when there is a discussion on this subject the winds are burning... 😉
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
Sceientifics can not make valid tests with cables because there is no valid tests to check the human hearing ! how can they measure things like seperation between instruments, soundstage, details, brightness, refinement, transparency ... so on ???
These who don’t hear difference between cables are semi-deaf and not audiophiles, they will probably not hear difference between good recording to a bad one neither berween good hi fi components to lousy ones.
So all the ones claim there is no difference between cables will never admit their hearing is not sensitive/ skilled enough it’s more easy for them to jump to a false conclusion that there is no difference. Maybe all of us that do hear differences between cables are making things from our imagination and should be lock up in an institute and receive aggresive treatment to cure us from this psychotic probem ...
More to discover