Quick question for the Cables Don't Make a Difference Crowd.

@twhitezzz -

       How sad, that your your awareness of the sciences, since the 1900's, is so (blatantly) deficient.

                                        "Alchemy"?     

                                          HARDLY! 

       You're simply another charter member of The Cargo Cult. 

                                           KUDOS!

                                           a rewind:

Cargo cult science is a pseudoscientific method of research that favors evidence that confirms an assumed hypothesis. In contrast with the scientific method, there is no vigorous effort to disprove or delimit the hypothesis.[1] The term cargo cult science was first used by physicist Richard Feynman during his 1974 commencement address at the California Institute of Technology.[1]

Cargo cults are religious practices that have appeared in many traditional tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures.

     Do a bit of research and you'll learn those primitives were limited in their understanding of what they saw with their eyes, based on their prior experience, education and BIASES.

                                                A rewind:

                 It isn't that the Denyin'tologists are ignorant.

               It's they're knowing* so much, that's WRONG.

                       *heart of the Dunning-Kruger Effect

                                              OR, two:

     The Church of the Naysayer Doctrine (like every other faith-based, religious cult) has as many dopes as it does Popes.   

     Bring up anything resembling SCIENCE/PHYSICS, dated later than the 1800’s and they become apoplectic, not having the formal education to comprehend the concepts, or- possible ramifications.    THAT would be hilarious, were it not so pathetic!        

           Gimme That Old Time Religion, Gimme That Old Time Religion, etc.

        At the very first mention of something as simple as Wave Function (a BASIC tenet of Quantum Mechanics), the Cargo Cult will label you a KOOK.

        But remember: they can only view/understand you, based on their limited experience, education and BIASES.

         They have overlooked the fact that, if not for the hypotheses/theories and experimentation, regarding Quantum Mechanics: a plethora of modern conveniences, medical devices and the gear they so love, would not exist.

          Had scientists, chemists and inventors shared the doctrines of the Cargo Cult (Denyin'tologists), there would be no semiconductors, computer chips, LASERs, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging devices (MRIs).

                                         Solid State amps?

                                     OOPS (back to tubes)!

                                        Your Smart Phone?

                                        FA'GET ABOUT IT!

                                         Your car's GPS?

                                                NOPE!

    Then too: some may be willfully ignorant and just enjoy being contentious.

                        Others: obtuse, uneducated*, misinformed?

      *Typically, from what's been exhibited here: H.S. STEM, if that, would be a safe inference.

      Either way: the result, when the Cult begins its rhetoric, is a classic demo of the Dunning- Kruger Effect.

                                          But, I digress: 

       Bring up those pesky details, regarding the likes of QED, Dielectric Absorption, Poynting's theorem and possible application/effects, relative to frequency, that our musical signals are carried via photon or wave, outside the conductor and you're a KOOK?

         Again: the Cargo Cult can only understand anyone with an actual background, experience and education in Physics/QED, based on their beliefs, education, experience and biases

                                      Remember this?.

     One anecdote  that some may find interesting: their walks in the woods and how Feynman's father would encourage him to look beyond the fact that something in nature exists,  into WHY and HOW.

     It saddened him that while attending college, during a visit home and one of their walks: his dad asked what he was learning in college.

     At that moment, he realized: if he tried to explain what he was learning, there was no way his dad could understand.                               

                            It wasn't an insult or condescension.

                                                Just reality.

                              Oh well: let 'em go build a runway!

                                                    references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applications_of_quantum_mechanics#:~:text=Examples%20include%20lasers%2C%20electron%20microscopes,systems%2C%20computer%20and%20telecommunication%20devices.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2015/08/13/what-has-quantum-mechanics-ever-done-for-us/?sh=37c459944046

https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/quantum-101/quantum-applications-today

          But: I'm a kook, because I believe in the SCIENCE, from which all that sprang?

     https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-practical-uses-spooky-quantum-mechanics-180953494/

           Einstein got that last one wrong (Quantum Entanglement), BUT- I still wish he'd been alive, when the Hubble Telescope proved what he considered his, "greatest blunder" (his inability to bring symmetry to his field equation, without lambda).

  https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200507/history.cfm#:~:text=Einstein's%20original%20equations%20had%20been,how%20the%20universe%20will%20end.                                            How about that?

Another example of a hypothesis/theory, with no way to MEASURE, what you're sure must be there, in some detectable way, or another.

                                               Just for fun:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/6-times-quantum-physics-blew-our-minds-in-2022/

                                            Happy listening!

     Lots of, "bets" and assertions from wesheadley, lacking one iota of documentation or anything (in the least) demonstrable.

     Then their: "I choose", leaving the ubiquitous, "TRUST ME!", to be assumed.

     Don’t waste a microsecond, reading the blather from the deaf, delusional, and divergent (from fact).

     No one can tell you whether/how your system, room and/or ears will respond to some new interconnects.   There are simply too many variables.

     The only way you’ll know for certain, is try them for yourself.

     The least expensive way: contact the guys at The Cable Company and take advantage of their lending library.

     For a pittance, you can try a few of their offerings and the rental fees are applied to any purchase made.

                       Whether to explore/spend further: up to you!*

https://www.usedcable.com/interconnect-cables.html?dir=asc&order=price

                       https://www.thecableco.com/lending-library

              *YES: the USA's still a free country (thank a Vet)!                                                                                                Happy listening!

@fleschler -

Feynman's views are where we should start but in life, decisions have to be made (or else made for us).  In my professions in law, real estate and finance as well as medical and food decisions for family, I have to have conclusions I can act on. 

                                             To be clear:

            Feynman's, "views" won him a Nobel in Physics.   This: for his work in Quantum Electrodynamics (1965), which contributed greatly, to our understanding of how electricity functions on the subatomic level.

            Whether accepted by some, or not: the principles are used in the designs of the better cabling, many of us enjoy today.

            Some of his earlier (1940s), "conclusions" WERE acted upon, and largely responsible for ending WW II, regardless of one's agreement with the method.

            Beyond those: he helped develop the punched card system, used for data entry, in the early days of computation.

             I'll stick with his philosophies and record (far as successes/achievements), "in life", to emulate (thank you).                                     

                                          Happy listening!

       Trust me on this one...

                           Uh huh!

       "The only thing worse than a lawyer..."

               Well: you know the jokes.

     Feynman was and will remain, my favorite lecturer (yeah: I'm that old).

     He mentioned often (and: I took to heart) his favorite Rule of Life: "Never stop learning!"

     For all his genius, he never grew overly confident in his beliefs.    The perfect obverse to the Dunning-Kruger sufferer.

     ie:  “I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing.  I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.”

     and: “I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything.”

     Tesla is probably my favorite innovator, who (despite the incessant, projectile vomit, from his day's naysayers), took the World, kicking and screaming, into the 20th century, with his inventions.

                                                  His thoughts: 

     “Anti-social behavior is a trait of intelligence in a world full of conformists.”

     “All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted, suppressed, only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle.”

@unreceivedogma -

      To be honest: no, I did not view the vids.

      My response was just my list of favorite quotes, from prople that could have known better, had they not been blinded by their own ideas/opinions/biases.

If audiogon was the government, they would be banned from adopting your position. It’s called viewpoint based discrimination. It leads to dictatorship. 

                      Where have you been for the past 3+ years?

      The, "government" has been trying (repeatedly) to censor/squelch any speach, contrary to their agenda/goals/benefit. 

                                                     ie:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-establishes-a-ministry-of-truth-disinformation-governance-board-partisan-11651432312       

                                                    and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation_Governance_Board#:~:text=On%20May%2018%2C%20the%20board,Alejandro%20Mayorkas%20disbanded%20the%20board.

          And, per the evidence: conspired with the media to do the same.

                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKbjrFMDvtM     

                 Not to mention, the laptop from... well: you already know!

                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdlqPIlF2gw

Censorship is never wise. (Allegedly) False speech is not fought by removing it. It’s fought with more speech. Then people decide.*

                                         * I couldn't agree more!

                                     MAKE '1984' FICTION AGAIN!

Poppy Crumb is chief audio engineer at Dolby. 

     "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."  (Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse , 1872) 

     "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon,"  (Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873)

      "The super computer is technologically impossible.  It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required." (Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University)                        

      "There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."  (Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923)

      "Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." (Dr. Lee DeForest, Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television)

      "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible!" (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895) 

      "The bomb will never go off.  I speak as an expert in explosives."  (Admiral William Leahy, re: US Atomic Bomb Project) 

     When the steam locomotive came on the scene; the best (scientific) minds proclaimed, "The human body cannot survive speeds in excess of 35MPH."

      Until recently (21st Century); and the advent of the relatively new science of Fluid Dynamics, the best (scientific) minds involved in Aerodynamics, could not fathom how a bumblebee stays aloft. 

     Often; Science has to catch up with the facts/phenomena of Nature and/or, "reality" (our universe). 

     I haven't been in school since the 60's, but- at Case Institute of Technology; the Physics Prof always emphasized what we were studying was, "Electrical THEORY."  He strongly made a point of the fact that no one had yet actually observed electrons (how they behave on the quantum level) and that only some things can really be called, "LAWS." (ie: Ohm, Kirchoff, Faraday)   

                         PERHAPS: that's changed in recent years and I missed it?

@robert_1 -

          Many of us, "older people" still get to listen to live music, human voices, and instruments on a regular (if not daily) basis.      iow: We still know what life/live sounds like, whether we're paying attention, or not.

           While one of the many variables affecting our listening abilities may  be hearing loss; everyone isn't subject to it in the same manner, or: to the same degree.                        

             I can't speak for everyone, but: I want my system to reproduce the sounds of what I hear live, including hall/studio ambience, or whatever the Recording Engineer (or I, on my recordings) intended, without the editing/colorations/interferences, that so many easily replaceable components offer.

                                                      Happy listening!

                                           Another rewind:

No one can tell you whether/how your system, room and/or ears will respond to some new addition.   There are simply too many variables.      LIKEWISE: no one can possibly know whether a new addition (ie: some kind of disc, crystal, fuse, interconnect, speaker cable, etc)  will make a difference, in their system and room, with their media and to their ears, without trying them for themselves.         Some companies offer a 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, so- those that are actually interested, have absolutely nothing to lose by trying (experimenting with) such.           Anyone that knows anything about the sciences, realizes that something like 96% of what makes up this universe, remains a mystery.             For centuries; humanity’s seen, heard, felt and otherwise witnessed phenomena that none of the best minds could explain, UNTIL they developed a science or measurement that could explain it.           The Naysayer Church wants you to trust their antiquated science (1800’s electrical theory) and faith-based, religious doctrine, BLINDLY (their credo: "Trust ME!").       Theories have never proven or disproven anything.  It’s INVARIABLY testing and experimentation that proves or disproves theories/hypotheses.         IF you’re interested in the possibility of improving your system’s presentation, have a shred of confidence in your capacity for perceiving reality and trust your own senses: actually TRY whatever whets your aural appetite, or- piques the curiosity, FOR YOURSELF.                                The Naysayer Church HATES it, when THAT happens!                                                     Happy listening!

                                           A rewind:

Anyone needing a rationale for experimenting with new fuses, cables or various, "tweaks" in their system and/or feeling dissuaded by the Church of Denyin'tology's antiquated electrical doctrines: take heart!         Many new electrical facts have been established in the past 100 years, lending support for the audible differences between them.          I couldn't find anything like, "Updated Electrical Theory For Idiots", but- did manage to find something resembling a cartoon, that even a child could follow.  It neither mentions AC/sinusoidal waves in wires, nor does it go into the photon propagation of electromagnetic waves.   It does, however, emphasize/demonstrate how Electrical Theory has progressed, since the 1800s:               (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGJqykotjog)         These next two presuppose a certain amount of knowledge, in the field of modern Electrical Theory.    Click, "more" in the first link's third answer, to get its entirety.    Note how it mentions the OLD, "... commonly held misconception that the flow of electricity through a wire resembles a tube filled with ping pong balls...", to which the Denyin'tologists fervently adhere:  https://www.quora.com/Are-photons-involved-in-all-forms-of-electricity-for-example-when-it-flows-through-wires?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google_rich_qa&utm_campaign=google_rich_qa                                                  and:         https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2348                                        per Feynman:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feynman_diagram#Representation_of_physical_reality         It's an established (measured) fact that an electromagnetic wave's propagation and speed, are dependent on the materials, of which the transmission line (cable) are made (ie: Dielectric Constant/permittivity).     The better (lower) the Dielectric Constant the better the flow and the longer it takes for that material to become polarized.     One reason anything that comprises an RLC circuit (ie: capacitors, cables, PC boards), takes time to, "form", or, "break/burn-in".*                                         *Some things that make the Denyin'tologists apoplectic:    https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2019-dielectric-constant-of-pcb-substrate-materials-and-signa....                   The, "conductor" acts as a waveguide (especially, see section 5.3): https://unlcms.unl.edu/cas/physics/tsymbal/teaching/EM-914/section5-Guided_Waves.pdf           Even the most inane (regarding the Sciences) must admit; braiding and twisting wires eliminates/reduces EMI interference.                         That must lend credence to various cable geometries.           That better dielectrics enhance the propagation of electromagnetic waves (ie: your music signal), lends the same credence to choosing cables with better materials (ie: Polypropylene, Teflon, air, etc).            Of course: anything the Church of Denyin'tology's popes can't fathom, they'll summarily dismiss.                As simple a device as a fuse is: it still carries a sinusoidal signal/voltage, ALWAYS from source to load.                                                  NOT back and forth!          Also (as mentioned above): any fuse acts as an RLC circuit, the 'C' of which will be determined by properties of its wave guide's/conductor's surroundings (ie: glass, air, bee's wax, ceramic, end cap materials, etc).           Any commonly drawn wire will exhibit a chevron pattern in its crystal lattice, so: why not "directionality" and why OHNO Continuous Cast, single crystal wire sounds better, to so many?                      Stated above are scientifically tested, measured and proven facts.                                   There is no "contest", or "dispute" involved.             Anyone that feels compelled to harp on not hearing any differences, is obviously too obtuse to understand the term "variables" (as frequently mentioned) and worthy of disregard.              My only goal in these threads has ever been to encourage those with a mind to experiment with their systems, based on the latest (20th/21st Century's) findings of ACTUAL Physics/science and ignore the Cargo Cult's incessant runway building (objections, convolutions, deflections and obfuscations).