The Great Cable Debate

[FrantzM]

i just ran some cable tests over the weekend....didn't have to stop and switch cables at all because i have both single ended and balanced outputs on my dac that are live.

therefore, was just able to switch inputs on the fly on my McIntosh (the inputs btw are level matched)----no difference at all between Monster and some ICs that costs 10x as much (the Monsters are pro audio patch cables). true, the cables are brand new so i'm going to do the same battery of tests next week.

but what i am tired of is the cryo stuff, quantum tunnelled stuff, stuff that no cable company can prove with any measurement makes a difference--and why that difference is positive, even if so. i even read about cables that had "cable trauma" if moved----so that traditional blind tests were pointless and it would take several weeks for the cable to "settle back down." i mean, seriously---do these guys take us for fools?

i would love to hear MikeL's latest perspective on cables....

Keith

Keith

There is another debate on the subject of cables and some of the claims are of similar nature HERE .. When it comes to cable.. it seems that anything goes .. Audiophile Cables vendors can only be happy about such a state of quasi-religious faith in their wares ...

@muralman

I would say that iin the case of Digital cables, the method of transmission involved requires that the cable be of a certain impedance, namely 75 Ohms... Cables of different characteristics impedance are quite common and that could account for the differences you report. I would have then compared the VD with a tried and True 75 Ohms Cable (Belden, Canare or Mogami,etc) with a True 75 Ohms RCA-type connector .. I know of one such connector made by Canare .. Blue JEans sell them for much less .. then you'll decide . $800 seems a little bit stiff for a digital cable but in these days of $500 Cat 5 Cable from Denon ... maybe it's a bargain ...

 

[muralman1]

Save for the AV cable, all the other five cables were dedicated 75 Ohm. The kick of it is, none of us could hear a difference between the AV cheapy and the Audio Note silver. But, the VD cable did sound different, and better than all.

I don't like spending $800 either. As for Belden, that is my present digital connector.

 

[FrantzM]

mualman1

I may not have made my point properly. Indeed the cables may be labelled, marketed or sold as 75 Ohms but aren't ..

 

[Nicholas Bedworth]

How the cables are labelled, measured, sold, promoted, etc., isn't really the point. How do they sound? That's the experimental information that's critical for differentiating the cables. Learn how to listen critically. Go to lots of live music. Have fun!

Also, if one sticks with the obvious vendors, one is unlikely to be disappointed in the quality-control, uniformity, etc., department. All these companies are very concerned about quality and your satisfaction as a consumer, and they've stayed in business for decades.

 

[FrantzM]

Nicholas

It is the point. SPDIF requires the impedance to be 75 Ohms. If the cables are not of that characteristic impedance, then bad things happen and many of those account for the differences in sound...
It is coming to be a constant that you challenge how one hears ... that does not make for correct or fruitful discussions, I will leave it at that for now.

My point was that could account for the differences he heard..