Sharing my experience with cables


Almost 40 years ago, a dealer in Montreal loaned me a pair of MIT cables. My scientific background refused the idea that cables would have any impact on electrons propagating at the seed of light.

The impact on the soud was so evident that I bought them. Since, I have tried many cables of all kinds and spent over 20 K on cable for two systems, one in Montreal and the other on the lake.

My criteria for all my components is physical:  if my arms and neck hair are raised by the music, it works for me. The other critical aspect I discovered over the years is distortion, which I think has a lot to do with crossovers. I beleive that crossovers are powerful filters whose job is to kill music.  Electrostatics are clean because they don't use such filters. But i still prefer normal drivers, , 2.5 ways because somehow the roll off frequencies are away from most of the music is. 

My latest speaker are Wilson Sophia 3, Raidho X3 and Q Concept 500 .

The Transparent speaker cables work fine with Wilson and Q Concept. For the Raidho I use  Luna Red for speakers and usb from the Aurender to the Devialet amp.

All of this just to give you context on what I a m about to say.

The cables I foud to have the most impact is the Power cable to the power amps (solid state)!  Here are my recent experiments:

Audioquest Blizzard makes the Raidhos sound dark, as if the riboon tweeter were dead !  

My most expensive cable is a DR Acoustics Red fire ultra ( 5K).  It makes  the Qconcepts too bright.   

Custom made Furutech are  much better with the Q Concepts.

I will try the DR power cable with the Raidhos next week.

They are all way better than the 5$ cords supplied with electronics. 

Finally, I have found litthe effect of cables on Aurender streamers and Dacs. This is aanother subject though.

 

Thank you for any suggestions. This is my first post here, so be indulgent !

 

lucmichaud1

Showing 1 response by kellyp

Your scientific skepticism toward cables was justified, as few still understand them.  First, electrons do not travel at light speed. While the EM wave travels at 50-80% c, after Feynman and applying the index of refraction for skin depth effect at frequency we find, for example at 20 Hz, the Vp, velocity of propagation, is 1.83 m/s.  Therefore the wavelength is 0.30 ft, therefore cable length matters at AF. Secondly, what you are hearing with different cables is the result of matching impedances with amplifier circuits.  To prove and measure this, watch the reflected pulse on an oscilloscope to prove this to yourself.  Better yet a spectral analyzer to see the intense noise remaining on your cable.  Cables are active places, while amplifiers are relatively quiet.  These tools are far less expensive than a single audio component yet who has them.  

Third, power cables have a different application.  To be brief again, a very low inductance is desired, yet I have yet to see this parameter advertised.  Secure connections with a high clamping force are essential.  The bandwidth should also be wide because of the switching delay from the forward bias of the diodes, among several other factors.  

Not enough time to address your several concerns.  Also I don’t know how to respond to responses as I comment infrequently.