2. cables
  3. 154147-123631

So What Is Real?

There is a newsletter I subscribe to because the guy seems to talk about reality and not what some sales dude wants to sell you. mwaldrep@aixrecords.com   Now the funny thing to me is that all these cable specialists of high dollar remedies for flawed playback are somehow going to magically change what you hear and will then rise above the abilities of the music file limitations and recording engineers. A dumb wire that is used to create the hi-res recordings so sought after is not somehow suitable for the playback of the same. The following is from Waldreps newsletter and I fully agree. I love this guy and he is a light shining through all the smoke and mirror BS of high end audio. I confess I too am a cable denier and incapable of hearing " further uptick in micro-dynamic jump " but love the delicious word salad these guys create to try to describe something that is not there. I can see the cable guy sitting there with his buddy. Wow did you hear that uptick in micro-dynamics!!  You just know that's how he would talk, right?
  As an aside here how does one become a professional listener? What is the criteria for attaining this lofty goal? How do you know when you have arrived and what governing authority sets down the requirements for such a thing so you know  you are not deceiving yourself and others? Is it a nebulous category that is assigned to you when you spend a certain level of money or do you have verifiable and provable abilities above the norm as recognized by a large group of people including recording industry engineers, professional sound installers and high end audio system owners? In other words anyone but cable sellers?

  The following is from "Dr. AIX Post for January 25, 2020"

 " Cable Nonsense

What is it that Art Linkletter used to say? Kids say the darndest things. Well, it seems some FB audio group administrators, audiophiles, high-end audio salespersons, audiophile society officials, and manufacturers also say things that make little or no sense when talking or posting about cables.

I usually steer clear of FB posts or online magazines that promote high-end audio cables. It's just never safe to present with science, established electrical engineering theory and practice, or objectiveness when cables are concerned. A recent exchange on a familiar FB audio group page resulted in a member calling me a "cable denier" because I advocated for science and physics in evaluating power cords.

The thread basically dismissed my comments because I'm a member of the professional audio engineering community. Audio equipment salespeople, FB administrators, high-end audio marketing managers, and the general audio buying public are claimed to be better and more reliable sources of information when it comes to recommending expensive accessories and cables. According to the gentleman below, they are capable of listening in ways that audio professionals can not.

One commenter wrote:

"Mark is a pro and speaks just like one, but he is not a professional LISTENER, like you (Writer's NOTE: the guy offering the ultra expensive power cords), I and so many others in the high-end industry. Interesting is that most so-called experts are also naysayers who work in the recording industry, not in the high-end industry."

What does this statement actually claim? That professional audio engineers and producers do not know how to listen? That spending one's professional life in front of speakers in a control room doesn't require listening?Maybe...just maybe...the engineers responsible for producing the recordings that are played back in these guys high-end systems are correct in their assessment of power cords and expensive USB/Ethernet cables. Image that!

Can you really trust a gentlemen that just launched a new cable company that offers a 6-foot power cord for $3150? Oh and this person also believes that cables are directional! BTW They are not.

Here's a couple of additional comments...

"Cables can make a difference. I’m glad I can hear those differences it truly enhances the experience. I have been a dedicated audiophile and in the industry for over 45 years and have been able to identify those differences since my first experience with Smog Lifters in the 70’s. I search for and usually discover great products that deserve special attention by people looking for the last bit of resolution and coherency. I’m truly sorry for those that wouldn’t hear the difference."

Here's a comment from an individual that swapped a normal Ethernet cable for an expensive one.

"...the Vodka seemed to remove a layer of film for superior textural reveal. There was also a shade more tonal depth and recording space ‘air’. Most noticeable of all was a further uptick in micro-dynamic jump."

I don't know about you but I cringe when I hear people talk about audio in such terms. And this after listening to a commercial album and then stopping, swapping the cable and relistening. It's unbelievable.

I could pull quotes from cable reviews all afternoon but I think you get the point. When anyone starts spewing nonsense about power cords, digital interconnects, or network cables, run away. Keep your wallet in your pocket and unsubscribe from that group or online magazine. Their motivations are suspect. They either want to sell you something (usually at very high cost) or are dependent on advertising dollars from the companies they write about or the individuals they interview.

"
mahlman

Showing 6 responses by hombre

hombre
87 posts
 
 This is what I love about high-end audio.  Facts count for nothing. Science counts for nothing. If you imagine you hear something, then it must be true. Wires have "sound quality". Raise them off the floor and they have even more sound quality. The moon landing was staged. 9/11 was an inside job. Sandy Hook never happened. And we're all idiots.
hombre
87 posts
 
.......or maybe it was that the lard reduced the rodents maze-learning ability and swimming endurance and the snake oil did nothing at all. If you read the research on fish oil supplements you will learn that controlled trials involving thousands of test subjects over ten years have resulted in the finding that there is no clinical evidence that they result in any health benefit at all. But eating fresh fish does. The reasons for this are unclear but the facts seem to suggest that you can throw out your fish oil supplements and start eating a can of tuna fish or sardines three times a week or cook fresh fish at home and you will probably benefit healthwise. But look thru your cable channel guide and you’ll find Larry King is now a shill for Omega XL which purportedly cures everything from joint pain to heart disease.   
"....there's a sucker born every minute..."         P.T. Barnum              
hombre
87 posts
 
On a completely unrelated note I have compared CD with 320 kbs AAC and after switching back and forth for a while I had to realize I couldn’t tell the difference. And my system is pretty good. Schiit Vidar amp, Maggie LRS speakers, Oppo 203 UDP. This was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted the CD to be better. But it just isn’t. Nor is high-rez (IMO). I compared a 24/192 bluray of Supertramps "Crime of the Century" with a CD of the same. Again, no difference. And again, not what I had hoped for. So I’ve got the feeling that for me to attempt to hear the difference between speaker wires would probably be a waste of time. My wires are rocketfish 16ga. "oxygen-free copper" (whatever that means) and they’re each six feet long so it seems to me (after all I’ve read about wires) that they probably do not influence the sound at all, but that’s just me.
hombre
87 posts
 
The only time in recent memory that I immediately heard a clear and distinct improvement in sq is when, about two months ago, I switched out my very highly regarded B&W wooden box speakers (with conventional dynamic woofers and tweeters) for a new pair of magnepan LRS speakers. Now THAT was worth the money!!!
hombre
87 posts
 
A long time ago Julian Hirsch founder of "Stereo Review" set up a test in which he invited twenty experienced high-end audiophiles to audition a very expensive high end system. Mark Levinson, Linn Sondek TT, Dahlquist, etc. Over 10K in gear (which was really big bucks 50 years ago).
After listening all the participants waxed enthusiastically about how excellent the sound was. The best they ever heard. Hirsch then informed them that, in fact, they had been listening to a $300.00 Pioneer receiver which he had hidden from view. They were furious. This tells us a lot about things like the sound of speaker wires.

hombre
87 posts
 
Back in the day I used to eagerly await the arrival of every issue of Stereo Review magazine. Julian Hirsch was notorious for his dismissal of audiophile nonsense. Not that I always agreed with him. He famously said all CD players sound the same and that all properly designed amplifiers sound the same. But back then he was probably mostly right. 
Not so much today. He asserted that 99% of the sound quality was a product of two components; the phono cartridge and the speakers. Everything in between, he thought, was mostly irrelevant. Of course he wouldn't be tolerated by today's audiophiles, me included. But the argument can be made that he was responsible for the popularization and development of the home audio hobby.
More to discover