Years ago in the WBF forum, engineers and scientists were debating the claims on the Masterbuilt Cables website. The Masterbuilt were designed by the same government scientists working on superconductors (no, Masterbuilt is not a superconductor, merely that the government scientists are at the cutting edge of this field). After back and forth debate, a Masterbuilt scientist finally entered the fray with an answer that went way over my head. This silence the debate. I come to realize that even great scientists or engineers knowledge/reasoning pales in comparison to experts in the field.
Yes, cables do make a difference -- regardless of price...
I thought you may find this interesting…or not. I know, another "cable post". Disclaimer up front — I am a believer that cables can make a difference in the sound that you hear from your system. With my speakers, like most high(er) efficiency speakers, I can hear large and small changes made to the system components — and cables are part of that system.
What I want to share is an exercise that I went through with my better half in setting up her recording equipment that she will be using to record audio books. The hardware part of the system is simple: Audio Technica Cardioid Condenser Microphone AT2035 connected with a XLR cable to the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 preamp.
We started with the XLR cable that came with the microphone and recorded the short introduction of the book she has been contracted to record. Then she recorded the same section using each of the our XLR cables I have on hand: Vovox Excelsus, Mogami 2549, Gotham GAC-3, and Grimm TPR. Each of the cables have the same Neutrik connector and are very good studio cables that I have used in my system at one time.
Listening through headphones via the Scarlett 2i2, it was super easy to hear distinct differences in these cables. The differences were not small and very apparent. In the end, the Mogami cable was the winner — it seemed more open and warmer than the other cables and suited the tone of her voice the best. I have heard similar differences from these cables in my stereo system but not to the significant degree borne out by this exercise.
To keep going, today I replaced the $10 USB C to C cable that I bought as an “upgrade” from the Scarlett 2i2 to a MacBook Air with a $70 Audioquest Forest cable. We were more than surprised that with the AQ cable in the system the drop of the noise floor was very significant and the blackness of background made the sound even more crystal clear.
The purpose of this post is not to promote or compares cables, just a public service posting for those of you who do not believe cables make a difference. They really do affect how your system sounds (positive or negative) and if you cannot hear a difference then maybe looking at the transparency of your system is a place you should examine.
Imagine peace everyone.
Showing 3 responses by kennyc
In an ideal world I agree that customers would be better served knowing exactly what they are buying including the manufacturers costs including R&D and markup. However, we live in a competitive market with many copycats. If these manufacturers revealed their “secret sauce” derived from their efforts and expense, other would quickly copy at the manufacturer’s expense. Subsequently trying to sue copycats would be financially prohibitive and nearly impossible such as Chinese copycats and recouping their expenses from their efforts would be impossible (I hate to use this word but none other fits as well). In a way, I sort of got around some uncertainty but purchasing Siltech Classic Legend which is silver impregnated with gold. The price is somewhat higher than other silver cable offerings but at least I have a clue of the value of what I purchased - better metallurgy vs no clue. |
“How can copper/silver plus different dielectric weave patterns cost so much?” I can understand how this would drive some people crazy, especially those on a limiting budget. Besides the R (resistance), L (inductance) and C (capacitance). as mention in Iconoclast white papers here, I have no clue beyond that. Therefore, in order to lift the sonics of my system I, like many others, have to rely on reviews including many generously offered my forum members. I don’t look for guarantees as we each have unique hearing abilities, audio chains, room conditions, noise floors, etc. Instead I look for “probability” - if many report similar sonic performance in their systems, then it’s likely that I’ll obtain similar results in my system - nothing is guaranteed. |