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.
Herman sums it up perfectly. The only exception for mine is the shielding capabilities. Some manufacturers claim to be kings of shielding and charge you an arm & a leg for the privelage. Yet can be out-performed by a cable 30% - 50% cheaper that also generally (but maybe not always) produces something of a much higher standard & finish (in terms of materials, craftmanship and technically superior). Mogami is a great example of the later. The Chord Company a good example of the former. |
“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. |
Be suspicious of wildly expensive cables. You can't spend $20,000 to manufacture speaker cables. Watch out for junk science claims which include the attenuation of treble in speaker cables due to skin effect. The difference is about 1/100 dB for typical 8-gauge solid wire at 20kHz over direct current. Some manufacturers claim the less than 1 mm difference in signal path length on thick cables at the speed of light smears the sound. |
My experience with cables might be a bit different from others. I bought Blue Jeans (Canare S11) speaker cables years ago. I just wanted some cables that were well made and at the time they were the only company to use a sonic welder on their connections. The pair was about $150 I took them and my amplifier to my dealer one day to try out some speakers. It was then that I also tried a $3000 pair of MIT speaker cables. I couldn't hear a difference at all, let alone an improvement. About a year ago I repositioned my speakers and I needed to get longer cables. I thought it would be a good time to revisit the subject. I took home a pair of $500 Australian made ribbon cables. Well, they made a difference alright; they lacked bass and increased the highs to a level that my ears just couldn't handle. So my conclusion is that cables definitely matter, but you need to be careful not to think that the higher the price, the better the cables.
|
audphile13,651 posts Those who do not believe cables make a difference, you can’t change their minds. This thread will accomplish nothing just like dozens of similar threads in the pasr +1 …bigtime to assert that spending more on cables always make a positive difference is just as misguidedly biased and patently wrong in mirror image to an extreme position of the naysayers,…because it is ENTIRELY system dependent… full stop. My take above is made without prejudice to the inclusion of opinions from two polar opposite agnostic or dissenting cohorts that affect our hobby experience
- TAKEAWAY : these diametrically opposed cohorts have absolutely zero chance of ever convincing the other side. ….. we carry on.
|
