Interconnect cables (1 Viewer)

[Nick G]

You speak it like it some proven fact. It isn't

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Mark, I believe it is a proven fact for at least speaker cables that the fancy expensive ones are sonically no better than basic Radio Shack/Home Depot 12G. I also believe that (as I have mentioned elsewhere) that speaker choice, room acoustics, speaker placement and adequate amplification are the 99% of sound quality and that suggesting to people that improve their system by cables rather than those items is irresponsible at the best, and fraudulent at worst by those who profit by selling the cables. You want nice looking well crafted cables with well made solid hardware, fine I have no problem with that. I like that myself, but when folks are sold this stuff for sonic benefit they are being defrauded.

Like the Romans said "caveat emptor".

Nick

 

[John Morris]

Nick; you talkin to me? Hey, you talkin to me? No? well then who you talking to??? I'm talking about interconnects... what you talking about???

 

[AjayM]

You want nice looking well crafted cables with well made solid hardware, fine I have no problem with that. I like that myself, but when folks are sold this stuff for sonic benefit they are being defrauded.

Ever hear a silver cable versus a copper cable? Now maybe you don't like how silver sounds, but please be assured there is a difference between them.

Andrew

 

[Howard_S]

Silver vs Copper.

I thought I chime in on this. I have never heard silver. But from what I heard, the consensus is that silver lets more detail through. But that does not necessarily mean silver sounds better. I think like any other cable you have to evaluate cable by cable and system by system. What ever appeals to one's tastes right?

 

[Chu Gai]

Don: what is it that you don't like about your interconnects if I may ask? Is it safe to assume you've already adjusted the placement of your components and are basically locked into a defined room setup?
when you get a chance AjayM, can you post some of the links where you read about the cable testing that was done? i'd imagine if there is something unique about silver then comparative tests involving it and say good old 12 gauge ought to be readily forthcoming...thanks

 

[Mark Austin]

...but when folks are sold this stuff for sonic benefit they are being defrauded.

Again, with what evidence can you make that baseless accusation?

 

[Don K]

I am just a novice setting up my first home theater system. After reading so many posts from people that upgrade their interconnects I thought I would at least do some upgrading. At one audio store the sales rep said that money is always best spent on components and speakers. You get the most bang for the buck. Cables he said do make a difference but it is a diminishing return. Anything over factory is better but cost rises rapidly for smaller and smaller gains. Some people can tell the difference others don't. These posts have been a real learning experience and I thank everyone for taking the time to respond.

 

[Nikos S]

The majority of the mixed bag replies to this (and any other) cable thread have something in common: Those who tested various cables have pretty much reached their own conclusions and as you see, are adamantly defending them.

So, are BetterCables actually better than Monster? Does the Home Depot 12 awg zip cord contribute the same sonic performance as very expensive boutique product? Do quality interconnects actually make a difference?

and...

Since another person on this forum swears that his cables made a "night and day" kind of difference, will I also get the same results? Do I have the same acoustical preferences as the next person in this forum? Should I also start eating the same types of food as them? Maybe I should also get the same prescription eyeglasses as him because they too made a difference.

Where am I getting to?

I came to my own conclusions when I tested various cables and I'm very happy with the performance of my system.

Extra spending cash and a good return policy pretty much sums it up.

Good Luck,

Nikos

 

[Andrew Pratt]

If you are happy with the sound for the most part and want to tweak it a little then try changing cables but I doubt anyone will tell you that changing a DAC, speakers or modifying the room isn't going to have more of an effect then cables. I have personally heard differences in cables in a blind test where I didn't know which cable I was listening to so for me that was proof enough. I now try and buy quality well made cables for all my gear and spend more on the area's I think deserve it. ie I use Silvercats on my main channels and the cheaper copper cats for the sub where its less critical. The VCR gets treated to some nice Rat shack cables ..simply put I'm don't expect critically listen to the VCR so it gets a well built but cheaper cable.

Anyway enough rambeling the point I wanted to make was that if you are unhappy with the sound changing cables likely isn't going to fix it. The room, speakers and the source make far more of a difference...

 

[AjayM]

when you get a chance AjayM, can you post some of the links where you read about the cable testing that was done? i'd imagine if there is something unique about silver then comparative tests involving it and say good old 12 gauge ought to be readily forthcoming...thanks

12 ga interconnects? I think that's a bit of overkill myself. Or did you not realize that the original poster was talking about interconnects (I've never tried silver speaker wires, so I don't comment on them, have you tried them)? Anyways, since you're asking me questions to statements I never made I'll do a little run down here of what I posted.
1. While there has been no test to show that cables do make a difference, there hasn't been a test to show that haven't. Every test I've ever seen comes up with unconclusive results (which basically means some people heard something some of the time, but not enough to say for sure). If you have some test to show other-wise then you are more than welcome to post it, but we need more proof than "Oh I saw this from the newsgroups".
2. People make blanket statements about cables, making the assumption that when I have 4 cables in front of me I'll automatically choose the most expensive and/or best looking cable. Well, I've actually tried multiple cables at a time (unlike probably 99% of the naysayers) and I've found that the assumption is false (Compare a Kimber PBJ to Straighwire Maestro and tell me which one looks better and which is more money, then tell my in psychological terms why I choose the ugly, wimpy and cheaper cable).
3. Nowhere did I say anything about a comparison TEST done between silver and copper cables. If a magazine or somebody does the test it will be single-blind and the naysayers will scream foul (because it wasn't double blind). Or the naysayers will scream that it's advertising dollars spent clouding results, etc (hence why you hardly ever see cable comparisons). I said I had good results with using pure silver cables (that are affordable), maybe some people won't like the sound, maybe some people will.
If you don't believe there is any difference between silver and copper, that's fine. Some people believe in the tooth fairy . But you can use Google (or your favorite search engine) to get more than enough information about the electrical properties of these 2 metals that it will be hard for you to say that no difference of any kind can exist. And when you look a little deeper you will find things like that silver oxidation is an excellent conductor and that copper oxidation is a very poor one (and you do get oxidation on cables).
Anyways, for the original question...don't expect to fix major problems with cables, it's a tweaky kind of thing, concentrate on room acoustics, speaker positioning, main equipment before you start diving into the the whole cable thing. And then when you do decide, try out a bunch of them, if you are friendly with a dealer he'll let you try some out and if not make sure you can get 100% money back if you return something. Then if you're paranoid, have a buddy come over and help out with some bling tests for you and make your own decision.
Andrew

 

[John Morris]

Hmmm, alot of interesting POVs in this cable thread, but once again, it comes down those that have heard differences in cables versus those that either haven't tried to hear a difference or those that didn't hear a difference. Somewhere in the packs are those that want to rely only on what their oscilloscopes say and not on their ears. To these, I, as a tweak sceptic, wish to ass the following comments:

- I have heard differences sonic between cables, with some of these differences being good and some bad. I can most easily hear the differences when I compared monster and RS cables and Solid silver cables such as DH Labs. I also heard a easily noticable, to me, improvement when I switched from AR Pro and Monster Cables to Outlaw Audio's PCA cables.

- The fact that many cables scope/spec out as statistically identical does not make me wonder if I am crazy since I HEAR a difference. Many speakers I have listened to also scoped out as statistically identical, yet no one would say that those speakers did not sound different. IMO, scientific measurements can only get you so far.

- For the "I'll believe it when I see it" folks, I saw an easily recognizable improvement when I switched my component video cables to BC's Silver Serpents. This improvement was most easily noticable when compared to RG6 coax cables but could also easily be seen when switching from Canare LV-61s based cables.

In the end, what it really comes down to is that some folks can hear the differences in their systems and some can not. The reasons for these discrepancies can range from testing equipment and conditions to the individual's ability to accept a sonic difference. Also, many cables just DO sound alike, so any differences that one can hear is dependent on the cables being tested. The only way for YOU to determine if a cable upgrade can benefit YOU is for YOU to listen and judge for YOURSELF.