Upgraded my cables and they transformed my system!!!

@vthokie83 any particular designs you'll be making you can share?   Built my own RCA and speaker cables so im curious what length others go to.

akgwhiz,

I sent you a DM

Score another point for the placebo effect. But hey, it's your money. Whatever works.

This thread illustrates one thing........ that we all have biases and hubris when it comes to sound.  It's what keeps this site alive.

Slight correction @larryh111 . It keeps the hobby alive

Score another point for the placebo effect. But hey, it's your money. Whatever works.

Like saying the above worked for you!

Audio cables: Reduce the bias?

Expectation bias , if any, can work both ways.

If you don’t hear the differences and improvements , and/or you don’t think the differences are worth the $$ to you just don’t go there….EZ-PZ. Charts and graphs and the like be damned.

A frequent offering of audio pundits claiming audio listening bias (especially cables…) runs along the lines of: “ ….. Nah, it didn’t happen . You “wanted” to hear an improvement and so you did…”

I am not so cynical that I think there are a bunch of small, dedicated, and hard working audio shops keeping the doors open based on a business model of selling "snake oil" cables to foolish audio enthusiasts. I am interested though in knowing how a piece of 14 gauge cheapest crap wire from a hardware store could deliver the same performance quality as even a decent grade speaker cable.

simply put, Have you ever seen the audio expo exhibitors doing this? It would be a helluva marketing ad to preach “save money cuz we sound superior with the cheapest made in China crap cable shite available.”

Trust your own ears and just simply cull the noise, especially the written 3rd party rhetoric.

Clearly, I don’t think anyone is trying to say all audio options including cables will make a positive impression difference - that’s as outright as stupid as those saying none will.

It’s about quality and value, for the performance they offer. The educated customer will be skeptical and pick what’s best for them within their specific system and expectations. And hopefully, they have the opportunity for an extended, no-obligation demo as these things are subjective to bespoke systems.

Some people have much higher build and much higher resolution associated equipment with the capabilities to properly flesh out the sonic differences. The relationship between amp, speaker, crossovers, and the cable that ties it all together is not necessarily a simple one distilled down to “just make it a (insert qualifiers) test”

Just like how some may want to hear a positive change, others already have their minds made up that cables make no difference. And those people usually haven’t arrived at that conclusion after a thorough and careful comparisons that incorporate key factors below.I’ve test driven (too) many different cables over the years , and a couple of core tenets present themselves.

TAKEAWAY

There are no one-size-fits-all rules here …it’s a bespoke hands-on audition experience project. Resist all the “ expensive is always better “ expectations in certain marketing hyperbole…. AND SIMILARLY…. ignore and tune out the polar opposite “cables don’t matter and I’m fine with a race to the bottom for cheap as I can find it “ noise and mantra .

(1) Price-point strata in isolation is no prediction, much less assurance , of cable build improvements…. nor any assurance of its audio performance improvement…. Full stop.

(2) They DO sound different and their audio performance appeal - or not - are entirely system dependent . First and foremost, thei cables differences and audio improvements are distinct and unambiguous when you pair them up with advanced transparencies and resolutions in high-end systems. BUT ….Conversely …. Minimal to meh? in comparatively more modest and less revealing / budget systems. They are key in my $50K system , but nominal to proportionally less in my other three 2-channel systems ranging from $1200 to $6K

(3) There is another wild card - Two identical systems can - and frequently will - sound very different in two different listening arena because of the bespoke room acoustics warts and compromises that are present in each. This too impacts any and all “blind” listening tests and any related “bias”.

(4) Some people have better hearing than others. Aging does not help.

choose wisely.

“There are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each one differently.”

— Robert Evans

This hobby is extremely multifaceted and subjective.  This is understood.  And, when it comes to one putting a system together, of coarse, one puts together a  system that they find pleasing to their own ears.  However, I find it extremely comical when, after all these years of research, evidence and testimony, one still chooses to stubbornly deceive themselves into believing that upgraded, aftermarket cabling is a farce or a placebo.  These people, I find quite laughable and ludicrous in their denial, or, more likely, their neglect in experimenting with cabling for themselves.  I honestly don't believe that most of the aftermarket cable naysayers really believe that aftermarket cables don't improve sound quality.  They're just too cheap to spend the extra cash, so they settle out.  But, honestly.......I could care less.

Haha you really like using this term "high current" 15A for power cables. FYI a standard 15-amp duplex receptacle outlet is the most common type of outlet used in residential homes. that's right 15A.

In cable industry we use this term "heavy duty", measured in gauge. a 12 awg (not amp) cable can be considered heavy duty.

So your budget limit is $1500 for each cable. Seriously you earned my respect.. money that matters...you seem to be a very rich person. My limit is $50 for a power cable,100 for a pair of interconnects, probably some more for speaker cables. I don't find any audible difference... perhaps because i'm not a music professor at Yale.

Once again, it’s all about the budget allocated to a given component or cable. If your budget is $50 for a power cord, don’t bother. Spend it on beer, cigars and bourbon. Stock power cord will do just fine. Same applies to the interconnects and speaker cables. If you don’t got the components with potential that can be realized with a $1500 power cord, spending that much is not wise. 
So @classicrockfan we see your point. But you fail to see ours. That is why it doesn’t make sense to you. Which is fine. Like I said earlier, use whatever you like and whatever sounds best to you

use whatever you like and whatever sounds best to you (as long as you can afford)

You made a good point and I agree. Right I don't spend more than 50 for a power cable. Don't get wrong... I do believe good cables make a difference BUT a price tag alone does not make a cable better. There's a night and day difference in sound quality between a $50 DAC and a $1500 DAC. what about between a $50 amazon power cable (beautiful and well built) and a $1500 super expensive cable? Nothing. Then again use whatever you like to please your soul it's your money.

 

 

classicrockfan

15 posts

02-04-2024 at 03:25am
…

Don’t get wrong... I do believe good cables make a difference

There’s a night and day difference in sound quality between a $50 DAC and a $1500 DAC. what about between a $50 amazon power cable (beautiful and well built) and a $1500 super expensive cable? Nothing.

@classicrockfan that doesn’t make sense

Onhwy61 I believe Kennymac , from tornado to hurrican power cord it’s a big difference, If they match his system.I both have this power cord.I admire Him for upgrading . Soon  his listening skills will even improve if He keeps listening to his system. Congratulations OP .

Of course, "doesn't make sense" but that's the fact.

By the way "doesn't make sense" is a copyrighted phrase

You don’t what you don’t know. That’s a fact.

Copyright that. Lol

Face the facts and stop wasting money.

I suggest you read this book you don't need to be an EE but need some physics background (electricity and magnetism) i think you're good enough - Wire and Cable for Electronics by Neil Sclater. I enjoyed reading it (not just for the work).

In fact we all don't know what we don't know. That copyright thing was a joke.

For fun I like to go to parking lots at shopping malls, and walk up to everyone driving a $60K SUV and tell them "stop wasting your money, you could drive a 20K SUV instead- it's the same thing" and hand them a book on the internal combustion engine from the early 70's. 

I got the copyright joke. 

Check out Audio Science Review forum. You satisfy the requirements to become a member there. This is not a joke. 

Thanks for the info but i shouldn't try because my brain won't function normally at work after spending hours writing posts.