When I first started playing with good gear, there was no such thing as a premium cable. (Wasn’t Fulton the first commercial audiophile cable?). I wired my Quad ESLs with zip cord, can’t remember the interconnect, it wasn’t the cheap plastic molded junk, probably made from connectors and wire from a spool by a tech guy.
I’ve been through various cables over the years with various systems and each did things differently. One thing I can say it that there was no "best" in an absolute sense. I do think there is some synergy among various components and the wire has a part in that too, though I understand the objective school.
When I had my Quads and associated gear restored recently for a vintage system, I decided I didn’t want to do fancy "audiophile" cable, so I first used some 12 gauge zip. At the suggestion of a fellow Quad owner, I replaced it with Canare 4S11, which didn’t sound quite as harsh or ’in your face.’ Both were cheap.
I like the fact that a lot of folks here have gotten into the DIY cable thing.
In terms of measurements vs human sensitivity, we were hanging art from picture rails recently, and using a level, some were still a little "off" to my eye. Tiny increment, but I could see it. Maybe the house isn’t level-- it’s from the 1880’s, but adjusted to my liking. I think much is the same with cable- the whole thing is an artifice, creating an illusion. I have good audiophile cable on my main system and feel no need to upgrade or change- I did by ear comparisons with other cable in my system to go with what I have now- I cannot say it is the "best" but it works very well in my system.
Like high priced phono cartridges- the topic of another thread here- I hate paying the tariff, don’t really read the magazines anymore, and think there is so much subjective about all of it- from the listener end to how the source material is recorded, mixed, mastered, to the system, set up and listener preference, that I can safely conclude that both camps are right- whatever works for you, absent proclamations that there is some absolute ’best’-- (though there are synergies where a number of people using a specific speaker seem to gravitate toward a particular line of cable-not sure it is group think so much as finding the same results).
I’ve been through various cables over the years with various systems and each did things differently. One thing I can say it that there was no "best" in an absolute sense. I do think there is some synergy among various components and the wire has a part in that too, though I understand the objective school.
When I had my Quads and associated gear restored recently for a vintage system, I decided I didn’t want to do fancy "audiophile" cable, so I first used some 12 gauge zip. At the suggestion of a fellow Quad owner, I replaced it with Canare 4S11, which didn’t sound quite as harsh or ’in your face.’ Both were cheap.
I like the fact that a lot of folks here have gotten into the DIY cable thing.
In terms of measurements vs human sensitivity, we were hanging art from picture rails recently, and using a level, some were still a little "off" to my eye. Tiny increment, but I could see it. Maybe the house isn’t level-- it’s from the 1880’s, but adjusted to my liking. I think much is the same with cable- the whole thing is an artifice, creating an illusion. I have good audiophile cable on my main system and feel no need to upgrade or change- I did by ear comparisons with other cable in my system to go with what I have now- I cannot say it is the "best" but it works very well in my system.
Like high priced phono cartridges- the topic of another thread here- I hate paying the tariff, don’t really read the magazines anymore, and think there is so much subjective about all of it- from the listener end to how the source material is recorded, mixed, mastered, to the system, set up and listener preference, that I can safely conclude that both camps are right- whatever works for you, absent proclamations that there is some absolute ’best’-- (though there are synergies where a number of people using a specific speaker seem to gravitate toward a particular line of cable-not sure it is group think so much as finding the same results).