What do $2500 speaker cables sound like?

Why raising cables off the floor helps is like a lot of things due to more than just one thing. Vibration, static electricity, and dielectric material are all factors. Combine this with people having different systems and different listening abilities if you want to make sense of what is going on. Because for sure and for certain it works, just read the comments from people on my system page. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

This is one of my favorite demos to do because it is quick and easy to do, and the results are always dramatic. No one ever fails to hear the difference. The last time I did it the guy said, "I wish you hadn’t done that!" He was really getting into the music and when the elevators came out it was a total let down.    

In no particular order, dielectric is a factor. Dielectric is the insulator around the wire. This material never is perfect. Signal peaks energize the dielectric, which then bleeds this energy back into the wire over time thus smearing or blurring detail. This definitely is a factor because I have tested it by putting different materials around the cables. Carpet, wood, concrete all have different dielectric properties. Obviously moving a cable away from these the same amount of inches will have a different effect with wood than carpet than concrete, tile, etc.

Static electricity is a factor. Anyone can demonstrate this for themselves, simply get some Static Guard laundry spray and waft it over your cables. That is all it does, eliminate static charges, and this cleans up the sound. Since static charges migrate along surfaces and the floor, be it carpet or whatever is a surface, there you go.

Vibration control is definitely a factor. Not only because the floor vibrates, but try putting your hand on a speaker cable some time while playing music with good bass content. Depending on your cable type and geometry this can be pretty dramatic. Maybe not enough to feel in all cases. But if you cannot feel it that does not mean it is not happening, more likely it is but just too little to feel. My Townshend F1 for example are supposed to be sealed in something for vibration control and I can’t feel them like I could my old Synergistic CTS. Both however responded very well to vibration control.

I know it was vibration control and not anything else because my rubber band mod was used on the same Cable Elevators, so maintained the same material and the same height above the floor. When you remove all the other variables leaving only one then you know what you are hearing is due to only that one. Which is what I did. With all this stuff.

So this is not guess, not conjecture, but tested and demonstrated. Not just on me either but lots of people. Any doubters, say again, read the system comments!

I keep mine off the hard wood floors especially the speaker cables. It certainly can't hurt, and the vibration from the speaker right there is definitely not good for the sound.

Very hard to try out diff cables.

rent a cable path is expensive and u cant really do many at a time. Getting warmed up cables also problematic.

My friends dont really have high end cables and more likely are not into all this audiophile stuf, and i dont want to make this a bonding hobby.

so i, we, rely on reviews, hi end dealers and forums to help guide us. And then we may make a move and buy a cable with eloquent marketing prose, accept the science, and absorb glorius anecdotal comments. And then wait several hundred hours for it to ‘breakin’. And live with it like a new child, we will love it.

Jasonbourne52:

they both have two zeros.
Just sayin’

as for me, I’ll stick to chain link fencing wire. 

You know what this reminds me of? Remember going to the mall as a 10 year old kid in the 70s let’s say, that’s my generation and picking out new sneakers? Cell the sales person puts the shoe on your foot and then they always pushed on your big toe to make sure you had enough room. Then you put the other shoe want to make sure that your feet were the same size and that everything fit properly. At that point I can remember leaving the store and running around the mall and being amazed at how much faster I could run in the new shoes. I got to believe that some of that comes back to life as an adult when you spend a nice chunk of change on a set of good looking cables. It makes everything better, faster, more detail, warmer, larger soundstage you name it it makes it better.

@raysmtb1  You may be right and if that's what happening I'm ok with it as I enjoy listening to music and my system as much or more than I did when I was younger.

Another vote for the Cable Company. I've found Steven great to work with-- incredibly patient, never pushy. I only buy what I can demo at home and it doesn't make sense to order 5 cables from 5 companies when I can order all 5 from The Cable Company AND get used/burned in cables to boot. My 2 cents...

Get Tara Labs Muse it's only a few dollars extra.

I like the cable company too - they have everything and don't oversell

Some see "mere wires". Others see, and hope for potential magic with CABLES!  Some have modest budgets, some have fat wallets. Some listen to the music, some listen to the gear.  For many, it's the journey, not the destination.

And most are somewhere in the middle. We know they make s difference, considering the law if diminishing returns,and listen to music and appreciate how good it sounds and when it gets better. Of course it’s a journey, because it can always get better.

@sokogear
Over the decades I’ve played at the "audiophile" game, my journey has become much more about the music I’ve learned a lot. One big lesson which I recently had to relearn is that often newer is not better. Different perhaps but not better. Of course, there are too many variables in the mix but I do feel that a modicum of what’s generally referred to as "common sense," and at least one eye on the wallet, is a very good approach.

I once listened to a system in which the speaker cables alone cost more than an economy car. Speakers were roughly $40K. Electronics cost about the same, not including interconnects. Yes, It was quite impressive. But after an increasingly- tiring 90-minute listening session it was clear to me, that in this case "too much was really much too much."

FWIW, I’ve gotten rather good results with some DIY speaker wires including various gauges of magnet wire. And yes, I can hear differences.

One final thought: wires or "cables" yield THE highest margin of profit to any other audio component as far as I know. And to open another controversial topic, many expensive wires or if you prefer "cables" come from China. One can only imagine how cheap they are to the purveyors of boutique speaker "cables" before they’re repackaged and resold for a serious *hitpile of dough.

Is that factoid relevant? You guys tell me.

Have at it lads.....

Over and out.

No difference in $100 DIY cable. Its the hype and belief.

I think if someone went into it expecting to hear a big difference they’d be highly disappointed.  If they approached it with hopes of hearing a slight difference, they might not be let down?

I know I wouldn’t hear a $2300 improvement in sound. 

I tell my kids to experiment and evaluate.    You should do the same.    Grain of salt with some of the AG folks that tell you otherwise. Do your own due diligence.

For me after many years, good conductors, good connectors (or no connectors), secure connections, provide the best listening experiences.  

That is easily achievable much much less than $2500.

 

 

 

The whole notion of cables "getting out of the way"...or, having neutral or "no sound signature of their own" is ridiculous. 

I’ve never heard my system without speaker cables or interconnects. Have you?

As cables get shorter and shorter, their effect upon the system reduces linearly.

Hence I would be more likely to use two mono block or two stereo amp servicing the bi-wire inputs behind each speaker and a short zip cord, than spending 2500 on a cable.
Assuming that one can get another amp for $2500 or less. 

 

Some cable risers I made many moons ago from bowl blanks. Just modified them to accommodate the Fideliums. Have lead in the bottom for more stability. These really help to keep your routing neat and tidy. I have no need to run power cables through these to keep them off the floor as well with this new set-up.

 

 

 

 

 

In use

Better cables make a diff but market is grossly overpriced.  Competition not taking hold to reduce prices,  why ???

Any experience someone with audio art cable? xlr interconnect cryo rhodium?

 

Some cable risers I made many moons ago from bowl blanks. Just modified them to accommodate the Fideliums. Have lead in the bottom for more stability. These really help to keep your routing neat and tidy. I have no need to run power cables through these to keep them off the floor as well with this new set-up.

Those look nice, and symbolic old the bread shelled out for the cables. 😃