What do audiophiles want from a cable?

I bet that Zero gauge thing would  beat the so called level 7 anti-cable, MTWTFS, and even on Sundays all seasons.

As Obi-Wan said (regarding all wire being on one side): "There is another".

It is unlikely that you don’t know what to listen for, or am too focused on cable accuracy and resolution, and not enough on actual sound quality.

- it just a case of no two systems sounding alike so why trust a review anyway? 

- but I'd also be leery of trusting a Reviewer who gets any compensation (incl. ads) from a co. whose products are reviewed

- What you CAN trust is a blind listening test - both A/B and extended on familiar program material

 Interesting idea and if it is indeed the better method, then expect to see "laser cables" in the future Obi Wan.  

I don't get why you are not feeling the "fluid" chrisr.  Seems pretty brilliant to me.  I mean Jim Aud's concoctions(fluid,ferox,contego) used for mechanical damping of the vibrating conductor(among other things), seem to do the job very well in my setup.  The result is IMHO, the most quiet cable in audio that I've used.  I have heard the effects of all three brews in my system.  All made positive improvements at the time of insertion!  For example, the Purist Audio Design LE power cable jacketed in a bath of Jim's blend of fluid and ferox called Contego, gave a loud wake up call for me when used with my Lampizator DAC.  I think John McG has experience with this cable as well?  I don't know about him, but using this cable in my system produced a wow moment.  I preferred it over the Elrod EPS Signature cables that were also very impressive, just not at the level of the PAD LE in my setup.  I think it was the Contego bath that helped to create an immensely dense and powerfully presented field of lifelike sound.  "Room boundaries be gone" type of experience.  Incredible performance that is sadly out of my price range lately.

@ Inna..after all this discussion and your input, I am considering swapping in Poseidon ic from Lampizator to MA7000 for awhile.  This would mean other than the WyWires Platinum USB, I would have PAD only signal cables, which is what you are doing if I understand correctly your previous posts.  After hearing my system with PAD Ultimate USB, Venustas Luminist ic, then Venustas Preasto ic, to Musaeus speaker cable and Venustas jumpers, I am curious to try more PAD. So my question is Inna, can you give me impressions of Poseidon in comparison to Neptune in your system? or have you only experience with Neptune please sir?  Gonna try debunking my own "do not loom" theory before it's all said and done.  I also want to try the fluid/ferox combo again.  In the past it was Proteus Provectus from DAC and Venustas between preamp and amp.  I ended up preferring the Jade Vermeil Gold w/Bybees over Proteus Provectus at the time.  Btw, WyWires Platinum and PAD Ultimate USB cables are both top performers here. Hard to decide betwixt these two awesome USB cables.  Thanks Inna

Randy-11 wrote,

- What you CAN trust is a blind listening test - both A/B and extended on familiar program material

Blind tests are just as inconclusive as any other tests. You could even say untrustworthy. Sorry to burst your bubble.

A blind test is just an averaged subjective test of what the average guy is capable of in a usually imperfect listening invironment.  There is no best for all applications, so no one cable will be Champ all the time.  IMO, there are better than average designs that perform at an obviously higher level consistently across the board.

Waxwaves, I only have experience with Neptune. I don't know, maybe some dealer can loan you the Poseidon. Or perhaps you could ask Jim himself for an advice on how to audition the cable in your system without buying it first. I would be curious to hear his response.  I too might get Poseidon later because I need one more cable and can't afford two Neptunes, or maybe I'll wait for couple of years and get another Neptune, I haven't decided yet. The price difference for 1 meter pair is something like $650. 

Blind testing removes confirmation bias.

If you don't understand that, then you are doomed to live with a tin-foil hat on your head.

randy-11 wrote,

"Blind testing removes confirmation bias.

If you don’t understand that, then you are doomed to live with a tin-foil hat on your head."

Wow! If you’re worried about confirmation bias you’re in a world of hurt.

But what I’m really driving at is that if a blind test results are negative what can you conclude? Nothing. Any test blind test or otherwise is just a data point. There are many reasons why a test might have negative results. So, that’s why you actually can’t point to blinds tests as proving something doesn’t work. Conversely if a blind test's results are positive then we can say, hey, this thing might have a shot! Follow?

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?

If there is a floor vibration - yes. I have almost none unless the volume is very high, I don't listen at such volume level.
Also, when installing fluid cables wait for at least a few hours before critical listening, they need some time to settle, even better wait for a day. Half an hour is definitely the minimum.

Anytime I insert new cable into the system, I let it play overnight and during the day while away at work.  When I come home that next evening, the cables have usually settled in and are sounding the way they were meant to sound.  Unless of course they are band spanking new, then 200-300 of playtime is typical burn-in time IMHO.  Fact is, it takes time and patience with cables.

Thanks Inna for the feedback, love to hear more of your impressions of Neptune sound.  I heard thru the grapevine, according to JA, they are the most popular cable in the Luminist line lately.

@chrisr  Cable elevators are a must for my speaker cables.  I hear less focus at higher volume when cables are left on the floor.  Complex musical passages can seem jumbled together and the sense of attack and decay seem to be negatively effected in my experience.  Interconnects don't make it down that far in my setup, but I'd expect the same from them.

inna
2,828 posts
11-07-2016 10:38pm
If there is a floor vibration - yes. I have almost none unless the volume is very high, I don't listen at such volume level.

almost none? I wouldn't think so, you know, what with the floor vibration produced by traffic, subways, Earth crust motion, those kinds of things. 

award

Great great question.....I think that your cables should be a base line to judge all you components with. There are no fixes when it comes to cables. Some are bright some restrict the sound. These are just adjustments for a component that you are not happy with. 

Your thoughts? 

helomech

I am very interested in those cables. Do you know what comet that was? 

My plan is to bury then under the foot of Mt. Fuji for at 5 years to bring out the true sonic characteristics. Hopefully then they will make my crappy sounding system sound halfway decent. 

cables don't "restrict the sound"

some cables will act like inductors or capacitors to modify the sound

if like it, call it euphonic distortion

if you don't, then call it distortion

I aim for high resolution, clean, grainless sound which is natural, smooth, fairly neutral to slightly warm in tonal balance, harmonically rich, well balanced top to bottom (ie: not overly emphasized bass or rolled off top end) & well built. I use Jorma cables in my system which are made from extremely pure copper, ceramic, wallnut & pure, uncolored teflon.

If you have a good components, it's almost a waste if you don't get good cables, in my case, for a long time, I tried to get away with less quality cables, it did not work, After many years I decided to buy good speaker cable for $1500 , I was shocked to learn how good is my system.True for those who can afford it, Go for it.My friend own B6 Elac connected to kimber 8ag , the speakers sounds unbelievable...

This is an interesting and argumentative thread which often develops when the OP asks such an oblique question. I haven't seen much of GK posting, but he can be relied upon for contributing nothing but nonsense to the discussion.  I will say that I just got a pair of Shunyata Venom IC's and the Venom power cord and both were an improvement to my system for not a lot of dough.  I am a cable denier, but the Shunyata cords were clearly better than my existing cables, no question.  

"I am a cable denier, but the Shunyata cords were clearly better than my existing cables, no question."

This statement speaks for itself.  

Ah ha!  Another cable denier turned away from the dark side!  Congrats, it only gets better from here and knowing is half the battle.

In addition, the Amusing fact is the figures a man gets on tests are the same with most of cables but the feeling of sound differs drammatically. Imho the "soul" of cable lays beyond the boundaries of physics and can't be measured by dry figures of measurement devices. Continuing in this humoristic manner my imho sounds as silly as it is but that is why there are so many cable deniers that turning away from the dark side and that's why we have so many cables on the market..

 
whitestix

I haven't seen much of GK posting, but he can be relied upon for contributing nothing but nonsense to the discussion. 

What? Whoa! Where's that coming from. Oh, California. Never mind.