Sabai, maybe you are looking for something more mysterious, but here are some reasons why some cables sound better than others, or more neutral.
1. Higher purity metals - less impurities; e.g., 0.99999 % copper vs 0.999 copper. Oxygen free, single crystal, etc.
2. Silver vs copper; silver with gold content, etc.
3. Solid core vs stranded conductor
4. Twisted pair vs parallel wires
5. Flat vs round vs oval conductor
6. Use of multiple conductors of varying gauge
7. Very thin versus medium or heavy gauge conductor
8. Shielded vs unshielded
9. Better, higher purity materials for connectors
10. Better solder/welding technique for connectors
11. Better dielectric material, e.g. Teflon or air
12. Sufficiently long break in period using break in device
13. cryo'd vs uncryo'd - more homogeneous atomic structure of crystal conductor
14. Balanced vs unbalanced
Cheers, gk |
Ivan wrote,
"Alan Maher (of Alan Maher designs) has put forward a theory that, while I'm unable to prove, seems pretty intriguing. According to him, the best way to lower resistance in a system is to manipulate things by raising inductance, which he has been able to do very effectively using his crystal-based technology, which certainly extends the audio bandwidth and hugely lowers noise (I say this I've seen it work extremely well in my own system as I'm a satisfied customer)."
It's much more likely, rather than lowering resistance, crystals simply reduce vibration and/or reduce RFI in the system. I.e., wider audio bandwidth and lower noise result from better signal to noise ratio.
Nice to see crystals are going mainstream. :-)
Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica |
It would not be terribly surprising if many cable makers did not actually
manufacture their own wire any more than it's no big surprise high end
amplifier manufacturers don't fabricate their own capacitors, resistors,
Tubes, transistors or wire, or that many high end speaker manufacturers
don't fabricate their own drivers. Nevertheless, there remain a great many
options for those cable companies that order wire, including type of metal,
purity of metal, gauge of wire, flat wire, round wire, oval wire, solid wire,
stranded wire, cryogenically treated wire, whether the wire must be labeled
for directionality, etc. Of course, the wire is not the only factor involved in
how the final product will sound. Ya got yer jacket, yer dielectric material,
yer connectors, welding or soldering method/technique, etc. Geez, it
almost seems like making cables is an art. |
Ah, Quantum. Sure, why not?
:-) |
Ivan wrote,
"I know, I know, everybody has that reaction these days (including me!) :P"
We should implement a don't ask don't tell policy. ;-)
Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica
We Do Artifical Atoms Right |
Mt10425 wrote,
"Hi Geoff. I expected you to side with the "art and a leap of faith" group. And you did."
As opposed to what, the "see a hoax behind every rock" group?
"What you also did was express the thinking that many components, speakers and cables are just re-branding of OEM items."
By that logic, NASA and Ferrari are re-branders.
Obviously, there aren't as many "new" ideas and products as promoted."
Well, not that you're aware of anyway. |
Rodman99999, thanks for the link. Their cables are actually quite interesting.
GK |
Mrtennis wrote,
"you can measure some parameters associated with cables. but there are probably some which cannot be measured, which is why objective measurement does not fully correlate with listening."
Just curious, has any audio reviewer ever measured any cable for distortion and noise? Has any cable company published distortion and noise data? Have any independent individuals measured cables for distortion and noise? Finally, has any audio organization such as AES ever published data for cables, I mean other than R, C and L? Has anyone anywhere ever correlated measured data to the subjective sound of any cable or group of cables?
Cheers |
Ivan wrote,
"But, in regards to your op, Sabai, maybe my main point here is simply the model that wiring, when using an oscilloscope anyway, is not so much ‘doing something magical’ as all the makers would plainly have us all believe, but rather that the best wires can, and should, be thought of as simply satisfying Ohm’s Law the best and otherwise simply managing to do the least harm in the system. The rest may amount to little more than descriptive language…not that that’s all useless – I’m no objectivist. It’s just that I think that descriptive language should never be substituted for a more proper understanding that can be had through the basic physics involved – even if the reality is that we’re left by the makers to try to uncover all that for ourselves. Cheers."
Not sure I go along with your generalization that cable makers use language that suggests they believe, or wish us to believe, cables are "doing something magical." On the contrary, reading what most of the major cable makers, including high end cable makers, say on their web sites, it's clear they wish to present their products in the best possible scientific light, including research, theory, and manufacturing techniques. Most cable makers also take pains to characterize their products in terms of purity of metals, special geometries, special dielectric materials, special connectors, special treatments they might employ such as cryogenics, etc. The cable makers I am referring to include Kimber, Cardas, Shunyata, Nordost, Audioquest, Purist Audio, and many others. |
