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What do audiophiles want from a cable?

What should a high quality interconnect or speaker cable do to the sound of a system? Make it more transparent? Improve the sound stage and focus? Soften unpleasant highs? Tighten the base? Bring out the mids?

To me, a good cable should reveal more of what is on the recording and more of the true nature of my components. So when trying new cables, I look for more detail and accuracy without becoming cold and clinical. This seems logical, and yet after reading reviews and trying a few of the cables in the reviews, I find that the cables that have received glowing endorsements are not especially transparent or revealing. They modify the sound, but they don’t take me where I want to go. I wonder if the reason I don’t hear what the reviewer heard is that I don’t know what to listen for. Am I too focused on cable accuracy and resolution, and not enough on actual sound quality? Or is it just a case of no two systems sounding alike so why trust a review anyway? Thanks.
mward

Showing 7 responses by chrisr

chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
low resitance/capacitance/inductance, immunity to RF...
Therefore, for a 10ft run,  14AWG or less, OFC copper, starquad or braided or twisted, multi-strands.  
I am happy with Canare, Mogami, Belden, basic Kimber...anything else would be pure folie on my 3K stereo, or a sign of major boredom.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Yeah laser will be the step up from the batteries slapped on cables i predict. It's exciting. Now do the fluid filled cables need to be lifted off the floor to sound their best?

chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Ok, so to answer the question imo, the least amount of insertion loss.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Yea thanks maybe something really big I know, but I just don't get the use of liquid in cables as discussed above,other than maybe for having an additional layer of control over photons' energy? I have always thought that electrons traveling down a pvc-covered  (or PE) wire could not be struck by a single photon and even if they did, the photon(s) frequency could not be high enough to change electrons' kinetic energy, not to mention eject a single one from the copper. The work function is totally insufficient in this case imo.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Well, i am not sure at this moment, but i'' ll consult with my friend albert on this one, as it may be worth to enlghten ourselves on this potential breakup of elements.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
I bet that Zero gauge thing would  beat the so called level 7 anti-cable, MTWTFS, and even on Sundays all seasons.

chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Yes, fat albert who kindly reminded me that the doppler cooling mechanism is very real and must not be ignored when hi-fidelity is the goal. You see by cooling the copper atoms with constant temperature fluids, you prevent the atoms kinetic energy to change if they have the misfortune to absorb a photon.  Albert also suggested that the doppler cooling may not be sufficient, and we may benefit from a sub-doppler cooling mechanism know as the sysyphus cooling, which implies the use of lasers.  So basically, we could come close to the perfect cable by inserting a laser beam into the pvc jacket, which is doable with an optical fiber, preferably glass for near-zero loss.  Now what copper gauge to use remains a question mark.

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