Cables that measure the same but (seem?) to sound different

 extended dialogue with a certain objectivist who continues to insist to me that if two wires measure the same, in a stable acoustic environment, they must sound the same.

There is a large faction of todays people who are totally clueless about man's human nature. It shows itself in society & the way these people come  to irrational conclusions.

I would agree with the statement "if two wires measure the same, in a stable acoustic environment, they must sound the same." But ONLY to a MACHINE which is CALIBRATED the SAME. 

People are NOT machines! We are not all Calibrated the same. Nor are we  calibrated the same everyday due to emotional forces and other stimuli
Then also, the question arises as to what scientific proof he used to come to his conclusion that equal measurements mean the same sound? 

I'm not sure you can find two cables that measure the same.
Impedance of the cable will change with frequency.  It is also very difficult to measure capacitance or inductance since it is "distributed" inductance and capacitance - one affects another.  It can be done by measurements at different frequencies and calculations, but it might be not very accurate.  Even such simple thing as DC resistance will change with temperature increase (with current).  Metal and construction of the cable make a difference.

After that you have other effects, like dielectric absorption or skin effect (that starts at gage 18 for copper at 20kHz).  12 gauge wire uses only 75% of it size at 20kHz (Belden data).

In addition construction of the cable is important.  Even speaker cable is electrical noise entry into amplifier.  Twisting of the wire, including twist pitch plays a role.  How do you measure quality of interconnects shielding?

Of course, one can say "It measures close enough" or "it should not matter", but it is only an opinion and not a proof.  IMHO, the only sure way to find two cables that measure exactly the same and have exactly the same noise rejection is to buy the same cable twice.

When you hear a difference between cables it means they must be different (measure different, different construction etc.)
The only other possibility is placebo effect, but there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it works :)

I would not dare to tell other people what they can or cannot hear, especially when my hearing is not getting any better with age.

Maybe best to look outside the usual fields of study on this question. While very valuable research is being done by some of the righteous electricians--work essential to the design and engineering process--efforts to quantify aesthetics fail repeatedly to explain what we hear. It often seems as though we Dionysians are considered insane or at least delusional by Apollonian standards. Here’s a good idea starter:

"When cognitive scientists try to understand why people develop delusions, they . . . have focused on this notion of epistemic irrationality, underlining that delusions arise from faulty reasoning processes."—Anna Greenburgh is a PhD student at University College London. Her research investigates social cognition in psychosis and across the paranoia spectrum. PSYCHE 19 AUGUST 2020
So who has the faulty reasoning process? The listener, in the moment? Or the scientist, totally isolated from the musical moment?

I believe Galen Gareis at Belden Cable has done extensive research and testing and the conclusion was that they can measure exactly the same but sound different. There are white papers and a looong video put out by the folks of Intellectual Peoples Podcast if anyone cared to read or watch for themselves.

@denverfred "Maybe best to look outside the usual fields of study on this question."

Exactly my thinking.

@kijanki "How do you measure quality of interconnects shielding? When you hear a difference between cables it means they must be different (measure different, different construction etc.)

Great question and as for "measure different" that's true, if we know what to measure *for.* Which artemus was getting at, too.

Good start to this thread. Hoping Ralph/atmasphere chimes in.