Cables more hype than value?

The mistake that is made is the assumption that science is capable of explaining these things at all. Who says it can? Or that it should? We are talking about the sound of music; human expression. In all the talk about wether differences in cables (and whatever else) can be heard or not, very little time is spent talking about music; what it is, and what a miracle it is that one can reproduce something that is capable of touching our emotions. Can a "scientific" explanation really be expected to fully explain that which is the result of the soul of a performer; and how it may touch any given listener's sensibilities? I don't mean to get overly metaphysical about this, but to make this leap is to not really understand just how deep and fragile music is. That it can travel, via electrons, through a maze of electronic componentry and come out the other end sounding anything like the original is truly miraculous. That it should be altered to some degree by any and all the parts of that maze should not be a surprise at all.

Science has, for decades, been trying to analyze what it is that makes Stradivarius violins sound the way they do. They have analyzed every single aspect of their makeup; down to analysis of the varnish and glue used, in the hope of being able to replicate their sonic magic. They can't do it.

Again I am being misunderstood. I AM NOT saying scientist should take a piece of wire in a lab and analyze it, then say if humans can hear it.

I am saying this. How do we know what are 'normal' glucose levels in humans? Normal blood pressure? All of these 'norms' are based on studies involving thousands of people.

Now, I am saying, let Thousands of people undergo testing setup by compenent people. All over the country with standardized test. Audiophiles are welcome. of course they can't bring their own wire. that would like taking your own cards to vegas! All they need is for ONE person to demostrate he / she is able to hear wire. Once that ONE person is certified as being able to hear wire, this Debate is OVER!! Just ONE!! They will have proven, that at the least, some HUMANS, can hear wire.

People in science know how to do controlled tests. These will be people without an agenda.

If I had the wherewithal, it would have already been done.

Cheers

Well you speak of these 'men' as if they were 'gods' Rok. As if they know all that there is to know. As in 'turn out the lights, there is nothing more that we can learn/understand'.

IMHO, science is ever-evolving. As the human mind grows, so does science. Science cannot explain everything yet, however, folks like you and Irv do not realize that. You feel that everything there is to know is already known. Maybe that is why many here feel that naysayers are close-minded.

Science is a wonderful tool for all of mankind, forgive me if I do not worship at the foot of the altar or become a member of your cult of scientology.

Just because science cannot explain why folks hear differences in 2013, does not mean science will not have a better understanding of human hearing in 2113.
Have some faith in the human mind Rok! You may not believe it, but we will continue to gain knowledge of our world and universe as time marches on.

Pass the popcorn please....

Well, this post takes the cake. Rock2id and I don't understand that science is evolving? We think everything is already known? And whatever we said about science and engineering has anything to do with Scientology?

This has nothing to do with human hearing, this has everything to do with the signals at the opposite end of two properly design cables being identical. Are you seriously saying that two identical signals can produce different sounds out of the same amp or speaker? Seriously?

(I'll concede that my use of the term "cure" may have been mostly incorrect, though some cancers are indeed cured by surgery, most do more properly go into remission. My apologies for being imprecise.)

Jmc... , you're really reaching. Neither one of us said or implied any of that malarky you're spewing, and I think you know it.

I'll also concede that this discussion is no longer entertaining. You've worn me out. I had forgotten what it was like to have a discussion with people who fervently believe the cable lie. Thanks for the reminder.

Ok, here's a challenge, Rok. If you find yourself in the NYC area, you are welcome to come to my place for a listening session. Here is what I propose:

We will listen to the same LP side in its entirety using one of the two wires that I sometimes use between my phono stage and my preamp; Nordost and Siltech. Then, I will step out of my listening room and you will swap the cable for the other; or leave the same one in. The phono stage will be situated in such a way that I won't be able to see which cable is connected. We will do this ten times. I will bet you my Columbia Six-Eye "Kind Of Blue" that I will be able to tell you at least nine out of ten times which cable is in the system. What do I get if I can do it?

"What do I get if I can do it? "

All of my Ornette Coleman and Don Pullen CDs. :)