Nearly all manufacturers do not advertise/exhibit their product measurements? Why?

@westcoastaudiophile @fleschler Thanks, guys. As I wrote, it was an experience I will never forget, and we had the opportunity to play with many other "famous" bands over the few years we were together. (I was in college and learned over time that the best way to put a band together was to go to the music department and put up a sign. Duh!)

Anyway, when I opened my store (1976), I had the opportunity to LISTEN to pretty much all the "good" stuff out in those days. After the store closed for the day, we hooked up everything to everything just to see what was what. TRULY an education I would never have gotten in any other way.

The ARC-Maggie systems were SO FAR superior to everything else that we were quite surprised to say the least. ALL the boxes distorted in some way--I know they have improved since then--and, also surprisingly, many are 6’ tall now...wonder where they got THAT idea? Hmmmm...

Anyway, how it SOUNDS IN YOUR ROOM was our watchword. We sold many brands and of course, not every room was appropriate nor could every customer afford that combo, thus we sold what the customer liked, naturally. (Best box back then was the Fulton 100, by the way. Small, but really good!)

I have been out of the business for many years, but still have an ARC-Maggie system (not the newest stuff--I am retired now on a fixed income), but I dare say that I seldom hear systems that are more realistic (closest to how the music sounds live) than that combo if your room is amenable. I don’t know why anyone would spend ANY money on a system that they did not like the SOUND of in their room regardless of the brand or price.

Cheers!

I could have chosen a CD player instead of separates if I could have heard them.  I live in Los Angeles area yet could not listen for example to the highly regarded Luxman D-03x player in my home.  I read that many Luxman owners sold/traded in their more expensive older players for it.  The three dealers within 150 miles told me I could hear it at their store only or purchase it.   Retail it's $4000.   I just didn't want to shell out that much.  I noticed a few nearly new units sold for $2800.  I didn't want to lose at least $1600 (w/tax) on a new unit just to try it.   Another dealer of a $14,000 VAC IQ 200 amp would let me try it for a $1,000 fee, included in the sale price if I purchased it.  Percentage-wise, that was fair, especially since it is a much more expensive, heavy (100+lbs shipped), delicate unit (tubed) and included insured shipping cost to me.   I've gotten to the point that I want to check out equipment in my room with my system before purchasing unless it is inexpensive.  After nearly a dozen units, I finally found a great sounding transport so I lost interest in purchasing an all in one player.  

@kota1

This is an excellent study of analog interconnects used in audio. First, note its from a peer reviewed journal, Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering. Next, note that the author IS a scientist and has received many awards such as CASE and Carnegie US Professor of the Year. Finally, note the extensive (45) references that are listed in the bibliography. The author doesn’t post a video of himself to try and promote his own study.

The fact that this paper proves the videos and research you often see (in this thread from newer guest members) are inaccurate and incomplete is fine. You do what you can with what you got, but please don’t be so irksome about it. Please enjoy this third party, peer reviewed research from an actual award winning, highly respected scientist

An electrical study of single-ended analog interconnect cables

Interesting study indeed. What it showed that one needs to use a square pulse with duration of ~1.5 microseconds to see the cables reacting significantly differently. I submit that such a pulse doesn’t faithfully represent a typical audio signal.

However, one can imagine sources of such pulses in a line-level audio cable:

(1) Sloppy filtering and isolation of the reconstructed signal by a DAC. Ideally, the DAC ought to get rid of out-of-band frequency components (let’s say down to -100 db), and also isolate its internals from the output connector by using some kind of a voltage amplifier or follower stage.

(2) Interference from external sources. Digital devices, specifically, are known to use square pulses to encode information: it can be computers, Ethernet devices, WiFi, mobile phones. Ideally, such devices ought to be carefully shielded and placed far enough away from audio equipment.

However, life is imperfect. A DAC may be overly simplified, or using components, such as capacitors, with out of design range specs, due to cost cutting. Aging of components may play its role too. Digital devices could radiate more electromagnetic radiation than expected, for various reasons.

In such dicey situations, a better shielded, beefier, more uniform cable can indeed to some degree ameliorate audible issues stemming from unfiltered DAC residuals, the EMI, and RFI. Then we’ll hear audible differences.

Testing cables under conditions close to ideal like Amir does - DAC is well-designed and well-built, there is no significant EMI and RFI in the vicinity - may show no audible difference.

@kota1

@russ69 , contact The Audio Tailor , a dealer in Australia, and see if they carry products you can audition:

@russ69 has provided information recently that he is domiciled in SoCal.

That outfit is in Queensland.

"I’m Kevin, I’m from Queensland, and I’m here to help."

@russ69 if you are in Socal here is a list of dealers:

http://www.laaudiofile.com/dealers.html