What persuaded me to audition Big Silver Oval speaker cables:
Cable curmudgeon
I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman. Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc. After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel. He complemented me on my "good ear." Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference. However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft. Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido). Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz. But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.
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@bruce19 -
OK then (just a for-instance): |
Absolutely not, and that does not need to be said. From what I can see, you appear to be trying to put thoughts and words in my mouth, that I am not thinking or saying. The idea is to use truth, integrity, discussion, and argument to get to the bottom of things. This requires the various parties involved to be living in a form of integrity and connectivity to the problems under discussion, in a way that shows their capacities to understand the fundamentals of the question AND to act in full and proper relatable integrity to the entire complex situation. What we have, is a beleaguered group of people who do desire to act this way. to do things with integrity...., regarding this complex scenario. This group is being attacked relentlessly, by a non stop blind and blinkered and immoral attack, in a way that is designed to use the systems integrity - to destroy the system and the people in it... Envisage a person strapped via duct tape with crying babies as armour, and a pair of magnums, one in each hand...all while screaming "save the babies!", as he blows holes in anyone who disagrees with him.... (all of current western politics is now seemingly built of out this exact psychological gaming scenario) It’s rigged, an engineered game of psychology and it’s silent weaponization...and has nothing to do with proper behavior or integrity. |
You are incorrect. My post was not derogatory to Soix. Unfortunately I don't keep copies of what I put up here. It could and perhaps should have been unsulting to Soix. Here is what he said about exviolin: @So, what the hell are you even doing here trollsicle? Enjoy listening to your cheap-ass, crap stereo in total ignorance, attend only un-amplified acoustic performances, and while you’re at it feel free to not come back here. Your post and uninformed opinions are absolutely meaningless in the context of this site. Troll elsewhere.' There, for those who want hints and tips on how to write bile. That should have been taken down immediately. I understand Soix is at present on his hands and knees trying to find differences in his cables. I sure hope he tells us if he finds one; we shall all be enthralled But if you ask him what music's he's listening to, he probably won't know. |
This is actually a very revealing thread; maybe it would benefit from better cables. The OP may be trolling, or may be just bewildered by audiophile fetishism; hard to tell. But the vitriol his post inspired is revealing. Those who calmly respond that it all depends on what you hear perhaps neglect to notice that we all advocate for our preferences here. If it were just up to each pair of ears to have their own preference, there’d be no need for, or interest in, this site! Thing is, we all believe that our ears, and our perceptions, are "right," so we try to convince others of this. But that’s really hard to do when it comes to crazy expensive cables and tweaks, since rarely do these have any objective criteria (i.e., science) on their side. The anger of some here with the OP suggest a great deal of defensiveness; if you really do hear a difference that’s worth big bucks to you, what difference could it possibly make to you that some stranger doesn’t? That would matter only if you don’t really believe yourself; that you have doubts about whether or not you’re deceiving yourself, and wasting your money. Anyway, the response that "it’s all about the music" is also disingenuous. Come on, let’s be honest; it’s also about the gear, which is mostly what we discuss on this forum. And that’s fine; lots of technology is "beautiful" in its own right, and that beauty almost necessarily involves a mating of aesthetics and functionality—otherwise, it would be art, and not technology. We love gadgets; get over it, and don’t be ashamed to admit it. The sports car analogy is dubious, too, IMO. Very few owners of high-performance cars know how to drive them to anywhere near their limits. The relevant comparison here is not between an experienced sedan driver and a sports car owner, it’s between a commuter and a competitor. How many of us sports car enthusiasts are competitors, or even aspire to be? One more thing. I agree with the OP’s intuition that an audio system ought to reproduce the timbre of acoustic instruments as accurately as possible, and that a musician who is intimately familiar with the way real acoustic instruments sound is therefore in a good position to judge about that. Of course, most music is processed and amplified in various ways; indeed, very many "acoustic" events are as well, whether you know it or not. But that’s not the point. If "music" is what an audio system is supposed to reproduce, and not just "sound," then one needs to find a standard somewhere. Since you don’t know what an amplified rock band sounded like in the studio, or in concert, using unamplified acoustic instruments as that standard makes perfect sense as far as I can see. I suppose other familiar sounds—streams or waterfalls, trains, the human voice—can also serve that purpose. But I disagree with the OP’s claim that the individuation of instruments live is superior to what "two speakers" can rather magically accomplish in a good system set up properly in an acoustically sensitive room. My system can isolate individual performers in a smallish ensemble (say, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) with more locational specificity than I’ve ever experienced live. I can actually follow particular instrumental lines in a complex piece (say, a Haydn symphony) by "watching" the performer with my eyes closed than I’ve ever been able to do in a live performance. That acoustic hologram, or hallucination, is one of the principle thrills—and genuinely musical benefits—of high end audio. |
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