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.

crozbo

“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. 

 

 

audphile1

3,651 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 

We  know those who either lack the experience for appreciation at one end of the audio hobby spectrum;  or conversely at its opposite end, an element that quietly or expressly diss the ethereal merits of “high end” audio cables


That futile and oft contentious debate arises virtually weekly in an endless, too-oft recurring, and heated debates of whether spending on high end cables are worth it or not ….blah blah.

- TAKEAWAY :

these diametrically opposed cohorts have absolutely zero chance of ever convincing the other side.  ….. we carry on.

 

To begin with, I agree with the post title, "Yes, cables do make a difference --  regardless of price..." The types of cable commonly used in an audio system are speaker cables and interconnect cables (I'll avoid discussing power cords here, but as a learned friend says about them, 'Wire is wire'), but each type have different performance requirements, although the factors that affect that performance are similar, in many cases. I'll discuss that a bit, but I will state emphatically right now that there is no cable available (either manufactured or fabricated) that will sound good with every system, regardless of cost.

Starting with speaker cables, their task is to carry large amounts of current (power) from a source (amplifier) to a load (loudspeaker). Although it sounds simple, there are some significant variables associated with it, namely the source (output) impedance of the amplifier, and the load (input) impedance of the loudspeaker. Although in a solid-state amplifier the source impedance is typically near zero (i.e., less sensitive to loading), tube amplifiers use output transformers whose typical source impedance is about 2 W or so, (considered high impedance, in this case), the load impedance of a loudspeaker is relatively high (e.g., 4 to 8 ohms) and varies due to frequency. So what works best? Several years ago, a major audio magazine conducted double-blind tests of speaker cables and had the courage to publish the names of the manufacturers. (That article is virtually impossible to find on the internet today, effectively censored.) One of the highest rated 'speaker cables' was an extension cord from Home Depot! After reading this I rushed out to my local store and bought one. Consisting of 8 AWG individual conductors, it certainly looked impressive when I cut the plugs off to install spade lugs on it. I anxiously connected them between my amplifiers and speakers with the anticipation that I was going to have great sound. Upon listening, however, I found the sound to be fat and tubby. Given that my speakers at that time were Carver AL-III ribbons, their design normally provides detailed and crisp sound. What a disappointment!

With a background in electrical measurements, I subsequently measured the Home Depot cables and discovered that besides their massive girth, their series inductance was very high. Since their reactance (expressed in ohms) is calculated using the formula, RL = 2pfl (not to mention that inductance increases with the physical length of the wire), it's obvious by inspection that resistance rises significantly with frequency, impeding the transmission more as the frequency increases, causing an imbalance between the bass and treble frequencies reproduced. In the case of the ribbon drivers of the AL-III, their characteristic impedance is relatively flat to 20 kHz, but an electrostatic panel, for instance, can drop to 1 ohm or less at 20 kHz, further impacting the sonic qualities associated with high inductance. In general, I have found that the lower the inductance, the better a speaker cable sounds, although it must be of adequate size to carry the intended current. I should also mention that much of the wire available now (especially from China) is not pure copper (Cu), but a mix of copper and aluminum (Cu/Al), due to cost, and it's performance is not as good as pure copper wire.

Like speaker wire, interconnect cables are also impacted by the source and load impedance of the components (e.g., preamplifier, CD player, etc.) they are connected to, but in a different way. The source and load impedance of most audio components are relatively high, compared to those associated with amplifiers and loudspeakers. For example, the line inputs (unbalanced) of my current preamp are 20 kW (relatively low, in general, however), and the source impedance of most components are also likely similar, although typically unspecified. The problem that arises in this case are those of parallel (shunt) capacitance associated with the interconnect cables. After listening using the several different interconnect cables that I owned, I subsequently measured their capacitance. Regardless of cost, I found that those with the lowest capacitance sounded the best.

If manufacturers and reviewers both wanted to provide the best information to consumers, in my opinion, they would state the electrical specifications of the cables they sell and review. For example, Stereophile® prides itself on the fact that it provides measurements on the audio components it reviews, but never (to my knowledge) have they measured the electrical characteristics of the cables they have reviewed. I suspect, however, that a request for such information from a manufacturer would be met with a response that that information is proprietary. A few dealers I have heard of actually have 'loaner' cables that customers can borrow to try in their own systems, but those dealers are few and far between.

Given that we all have different components in our audio systems, with differing source and load impedances (and operating characteristics, when it comes to loudspeakers), suffice it to say that when it comes to cables and their performance, I will reiterate that there is no 'one size fits all.' That said, it's just as obvious that no manufacturer can make the claim that their cables are the best (perhaps the most expensive). I have given some typical characteristics that I have found work for me and likely will for others, but ultimately, each individual will have to make up their own mind using their own ears.

Good Luck!