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 2 responses by mitch2

Speak for yourself, please. 
I did.  The OP didn't ask "What do 'you' want from a cable?"

Just my somewhat sarcastic observation from years of trying, buying and constructing cables, reading cable reviews, reading this forum, and observing cable manufacturers that follow well-known marketing trends by introducing new "revelatory" models every 2-3 years - just about the time sales are tapering off from the previous models.  While I certainly hear differences in cables, at the end of the day, it is mostly just wire and, beyond a certain minimum level of compatibility that doesn't cost much to achieve, I believe cables are much less important to the sound of a system than the equipment and speakers.  I understand this is a minority opinion and not helpful to the tweaky and somewhat obsessive nature of the hobby. 

If I were to make a better effort to answer the OP, I would say try cables of different types from several manufacturers (maybe from somewhere like The Cable Company) until you find something that doesn't cost too much but makes your system sound "right" to you.

Audiophiles want cables to solve all their perceived system shortcomings and transport them to the perfect anechoic listening room where everything sounds exactly as a live performance.

Fortunately, for cable manufacturers, audiophiles are a determined lot that continually buy new cables in pursuit of this neverending quest.