Why Do Cables Matter?


To me, all you need is low L, C, and R. I run Mogami W3104 bi-wire from my McIntosh MAC7200 to my Martin Logan Theos. We all know that a chain is only as strong as its' weakest link - so I am honestly confused by all this cable discussion. 

What kind of wiring goes from the transistor or tube to the amplifier speaker binding post inside the amplifier? It is usually plain old 16 ga or 14 ga copper. Then we are supposed to install 5 - 10' or so of wallet-emptying, pipe-sized pure CU or AG with "special configurations" to the speaker terminals?

What kind of wiring is inside the speaker from the terminals to the crossover, and from the crossover to the drivers? Usually plain old 16 ga or 14 ga copper.

So you have "weak links" inside the amplifier, and inside the speaker, so why bother with mega expensive cabling between the two? It doesn't make logical sense to me. It makes more sense to match the quality of your speaker wires with the existing wires in the signal path [inside the amplifier and inside the speaker].

 

 

kinarow1

I’m a dealer for Infigo audio. The company has experimented with the best copper and implements shielding that keeps outside noise out and are less likely to be affected by outside factors to just let the signal flow.  We do this in our USB cable for example. 

Pay little attention to those who rant and yet cannot share which brands/models of  higher end design cables they've actually tried or owned in a worthy system. 

Is there some magical difference that occurs to the electricity after it comes out of the wall?   

Maybe that's the "special" electricity.  All the miles of electricity before the wall outlet doesn't matter.  We'll fix it at that last six feet before the amp.  

Power cables  are psychoacoustic nonsense.  Placebo effect and expectation bias.  The owners and sellers of these don't want to hear that.  Especially the sellers.

On the other hand, the placebo effect does work.

  

ossicle2brain

Power cables are psychoacoustic nonsense. Placebo effect and expectation bias ... On the other hand, the placebo effect does work.

Not so. Placebo effect won’t cure cancer for example.

As for expectation bias, many a doubting cynic has been surprised by the results a cable can make, so that would be in defiance of expectation bias. There’s a whole thread on just that here.

Cables matter at least to my ear. I have tried the following Infigo, Cardas, clarity, Clarus, high fidelity, mavros, MIT, Fusion audio, anti cables, Ansuz, Tara labs, Kubala sosna, audio quest, kimber cables, purist, Nordost, shunyata. All of them have different sound signatures. I have tried more. Just can’t name them all. Cables matter.