The Intellectual People Podcast - Galen Gareis (Former Belden Wire Designer)

I have just submitted two weeks ago an in depth review of the Iconoclast by Belden top line IC (both RCA and XLR) and SC cables, and BAV (Belden Audio/Video) Power Cords to appear at Dagogo.com. I used them extensively with no less than six speaker systems of varying genres in a variety of configurations.

Briefly, these are the most impressive cables I have handled, and they are built according to a stringent set of criteria in terms of optimization of geometry, conductor material, AWG, etc., all vetted by measurement. They are the most serious effort at making a measurably idealized cable I have encountered.

Galen Gareis is a world-class authority (retired Principle Product Engineer from Belden) on cable properties. He is a humble man with an encyclopedic knowledge of cables, which becomes evident when you watch him discuss it. The Audiophile Society of San Francisco had a 3 hour video of Galen plowing through in-depth measurements, testing, etc. involved in Iconoclast cables; I believe it also is on Youtube. I encourage those interested in a cable suitable to build superior systems to pay special attention to Iconoclast by Belden Cables. I hope the community will enjoy my review. :)

The community will clearly see the extent to which I went in working on the Iconoclast article, and the basis for my comments when the review is published. 

audition_audio starts with a wrong assumption in regard to me once again, and develops as string of baseless conjectures.

I have for 14 years regularly conducted reviews of cables, and of my own accord, not for fulfillment of requests of the magazine, issued interviews with cable designers to learn as much as I can about cable design. The reviews are typically technical. I can produce the Interviews, if you wish. At one time Constantine Soo, Publisher was shocked to learn I had issued a technical Interview with almost all reviews I conduct, never published, and he discussed the possibility of publishing them. Seeing as how I have corrected audition_audio’s baseless insinuations prior, and he/she keeps producing them, I am stating publicly that I have every one of these interviews to prove that I have delved into cable manufacturing more than average.

In the case of Iconoclast, perhaps audition_audio is unaware that a particular aspect of Galen’s intent in making cables is to make design information available to all, thus lengthy technical videos are on youtube for all to see. Go look at them and tell me I’m wrong about my statements about the depth of design knowledge. I watched some of those videos. Perhaps some people here are threatened by the information about the company and the cables. Anyone can watch the videos and see for themselves the depth of expertise.

I am being mischaracterized once again by audition_audio as though my interests are questionable. My intent on contributing my initial post about Galen and Iconoclast was because, 1. It may seem obvious to most that this IS a thread about Iconoclast, and 2. I have what I feel is an important article to share with the community. My intent was to call attention to my writing, which in the article addresses the old objectivist/subjectivist debate regarding cabling. The post was an ad for my writing, not the cables. The discussion about Iconoclast and Galen were to substantiate that this would be a serious look at cable design in an obvious article about how cables sound. audition_audio had no clue about that, but instead of asking questions, he/she jumps to conclusions and piles on.

I requested previously that audio_audition kindly refrain from attempting to diminish my reputation by making insinuations, but he/she does not refrain. I have corrected him/her publicly repeatedly, but it persists. It would be nice if audition_audio would learn to ask questions instead of letting imagination run wild. :(

Why am I not discussing with audition_audio? Because I’m not inclined to talk with people whom I have corrected, and still attempt to damage my reputation.

dletch2, When an engineer/designer has put out boatloads of technical information, I do not need to do a highly technical review. I only need point to it. 

I do not think you understand the audiophile community well, at least beyond a cursory comparison. You strike me as one of the objectivist types, and lump any cable enthusiasts together without much sophistication. Were you more informed, you would know that those who would listen to Galen would most likely not be very impressed by Ted's work. 

Why don't you share what cables you have compared in sets? Please list your system from first power cord through to speakers, and preferably present images for us. Please, go ahead and start a Virtual System here, complete with all details. Thank you. 

dletch2, thank you for your additional comments. You have homemade "custom" cables and appear to not understand how to assess cables in systems. Of course, you didn’t share what cables you have compared in sets, as I requested. You provided two instances of comparison of cables in mixed sets, as though that is evidence to dismiss the efficacy of different builds. Congratulations! You follow the same ignorant errors of other highly intelligent people who use poor methodology in reaching erroneous conclusions!

You blathered on and on, never sharing the info I requested - I presume because you have not compared cables in sets. Consequently, you are clueless on this topic, an opinionated and ignorant person. You could become an asset to this site and the community, but not until you humble yourself. :(

BTW, when you boast of your homemade cables, and dismiss one of the world's foremost authorities on cables' electrical properties and sound characteristics, then I know it's a waste of time to discuss with you.  

As regards ABX, I did so and wrote about it in the ABX Comparator review at Dagogo.com 
I could care less about your opinion on ABX. 

I’m finished with this discussion.

Thank you, thyname and boxer12.

Yes, an arbitrary threshold and methodology (testing/comparing only 1 cable/pair) that favors not spending money is nearly assured to yield an outcome that is more likely to be 1. more difficult to discern, and , 2. more likely to be deemed not significant enough.

And skeptics like to talk about me having bias! The level of cynicism of some of these people is off the chart!

What other component is so despised, so disdained that audiophiles completely ignore the recommendations of the manufacturer for use, in fact, eagerly (and often arrogantly) do the opposite? The answers usually given are skepticism/distrust, "thriftiness", and pure ego that they think they can make or assemble a better set. It would kill some of these people to think that they would have to spend money on an entire set, when they can apply their incredibly shrewd power of guessing to assemble a premier collection of cheap, used cables!

The ignorance and arrogance expressed in the audiophile community is one of the reasons I have the adage; the greatest impediment to advancing an audiophile system is the audiophile.

jaytor, you have a lot more fun coming your way; the effect of building out a set of cables is powerful, regardless of the brand. I enjoyed the changes to the system when I added cables from Iconoclast, which I point out in the review. 

Would you like a challenge? It might be challenging to read my review of the Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra Amplifier. Perhaps now that you are beginning to gain insight on what I wrote in regard to the cables, you might consider if I am right about the amp. I make several predictions in regard to the industry, but the comparison and discussion of the amp's use are accurate.   :)