Cable believer or skeptic?

[Super Mustud]

I believe "cables make a difference"

I also believe the bigger difference is found closer to the source (very smaller voltages)

I also believe big-money cables at the speaker end make less difference

Such is also my experience.

[Two Flies]

I voted yes. My vintage system has only cost around 3k to cobble together. The law of diminishing return kicks in for me at about $40 per interconnect. For improvements in this situation, I'd be better off upgrading my components rather than spending hundreds on interconnects.

The cheapest improvement in SQ I've achieved, is by separating the power supply leads from the interconnects and speaker cables, I recommend you try it.The only thing you've got to lose is a couple of hours and the snakes nest behind your rig. Cheers Paul.

[Nigel]

Aren't the first 2 the same thing ? The construction and materials affect the RLC.

Apparently with speaker cables less than a couple of metres, the differences become much smaller, hence the coathanger wire story, but with long cables then it becomes more important to have cables with low RLC values.

I presume for cables over 10m, changes would be chalk and cheese.

For I/Cs, small changes in RLC (different dielectric or wire) are evident in the sound due to the weaker signal.

Depending on the impedances at each end of the line, an I/C can behave like a crossover filter.

Edited February 7, 2010 by Nigel

[Keith_W]

Aren't the first 2 the same thing ? The construction and materials affect the RLC.

Not really, perhaps I should have made myself a bit clearer. What I meant was exotic cable technologies, e.g. 7N copper, silver, fancy connectors, etc etc. Sorry about that.

[deafdoug]

Of course they make a difference, but as with many things in life there is diminishing returns and marketing hype. From my time back in hifi retail in the early 80's I picked up a mixed bag of interconnects and speaker cables from Van den Hul, QED, Monster and others, all of which sound better than your bog standard cables. Every once in a while I try out a new cable but have yet to find something that makes me want to spend stratospheric money on it. The best change I ever made was VdH on my tone arm cabling. Most of the rest fall into tone control category.

[Orpheus]

I am a cable agnostic.

[cheekyboy]

Cable is simply not an issue - ie its so insignificant it does not count - i voted no - my coathangers do just fine

Hi Andy, I agree that the difference is so insignificant, that is if there is any difference, it just doesn't count anyway....................have you replaced your doorbell wire with coat hangers mate?

Cheers,

Keith

Edited February 8, 2010 by cheekyboy

[JA]

I voted YES for #1 (Material & Construction), but #2 (R, L and C) is equally as valid.

Infact #1 & #2 are intertwined, so to speak.....choice of material will effect the capacitance and could even effect the inductance in a bizzare situation. Cable construction will also effect L & C. So it's hard to seperate #1 & #2 is what I suppose I am suggesting.

Best

JA

[Guest]

Hi Andy, I agree that the difference is so insignificant, that is if there is any difference, it just doesn't count anyway....................have you replaced your doorbell wire with coat hangers mate?

Cheers,

Keith

Im still winding the coathangers into tripple thread lengths - its quite a difficult process as i want them to be made with my bear hands - you know really hand made cables - but its hard getting the blasted things to look neat and bending them around the room is proving a wee bit harder than i anticipated - so yes its still the dump collected door bell wire in use at the moment - I still like my music!:o

[Guest]

Cheeky I think I see myself as the "Bear" of cables

[cheekyboy]

Andy, he's my f**king hero man......................closely followed by that SNA member who is an ex US Navy Seal and wants to machine gun to death his neighbour!! I'm sure I read that here somewhere.........................nurse!!

[Richard Cranium]

Yes, but this is a bit like a "Yes Prime Minister" poll. Few people would disagree cable make no difference. Myself even as a cable skeptic, believe cables make a difference, but believe that the difference is grossly overstated.

If the poll was do you think cables make a major difference, minor difference or no difference at all, it would be more valuable.

Ditto........

[eskcapee]

Yes my ears tell me that they make a difference , but my wallet is not so sure about some of the pricing and snake oil that go with cable marketing

cheers

eskcapee

[Guest]

SHOW ME THE RESULTS ,looks like I'm the second voter :o

Russian amorphous core wire is the best

Mercury filled coper tube works ,but you need to be very careful with the terminations

Cheers

Edited February 8, 2010 by 56oval

[499]

Not as much as the manufacturers charge for them

[Guest Hensa]

I voted "yes - cable R, L, C only". To the extent that the materials and construction affect the sound, I beleive it is through their effect on R, L or C.

I agree with most of the comments on here that have stated that despite the ability of cables to affect the sound, it is to a minimal degree only and hence my cables are all of a budget nature from companies like Blue Jeans who select their cables based on their R, L and C properties.

[Jake]

I must be in the tiny minority here, as I have heard vast differences with cables, both interconnects and speaker.

[Guest]

Jake you are thelast person I would ever use the words "tiny"" or "minority" ya big oaf:love

[Jake]

Jake you are thelast person I would ever use the words "tiny"" or "minority" ya big oaf:love

Oi! Get back to the wardrobe and make me some cables.

[Guest]

Ill get in the wardrobe with a lady over 18!

[Guest]

Jake im planning a little wager ith you when you finally get your sorry arse down to Adeliade - and that Keith W better show up for the Pizza challenge soon - he wont want to get a reputation as a nancy boy - my pizzas just keep getting better

Five audio fanatics take the Pepsi challenge with a set of THX-certified Monster Cables and—get this—four coat hangers. Think they could tell the difference? Think again.The bloggers at Consumerist found this amusing post on the Audioholics forum, and it's yet another example of how pricey audio cables (or video cables, if you ask me) are little more than cash machines for electronics stores.

Here's the setup: two brothers, one of whom is described as "an audio engineering whiz kid," rounded up five audiophile pals, a pair of Martin Logan SL-3 speakers, a set of four-foot Monster Ultra Series THX 1000 Audio Interconnect cables (which sell for about $100—yep, one hundred smackers), some 14-gauge Belden stranded copper wire, and a pair of two-meter cables made from four coat hangers.

The test group donned blindfolds and compared the Monster Cables to the Belden copper wire, and even after seven swaps, no one could tell the difference. Then came the acid test: the brothers replaced the Belden wire with the jerry-rigged coat-hanger wires. And yes, you guessed it: after repeated "A-B" tests, the blindfolded guinea pigs said they liked what they heard, but they couldn't tell the $100 Monster Cables apart for the two-cent coat hangers. (All the cables involved were about two meters long.)

Of course, as Consumerist points out, coat hangers aren't exactly recommended if you're talking about a 50-foot run of cable (and touching unshielded coat-hanger wires together would probably fry your receiver). That said...consider this little anecdote the next time a blue-shirted sales clerk tries to sell you a reel of $99 speaker wire. Instead, try a standard coil of 16 gauge copper wire—that should do the trick for short runs (say, 20 feet or less), and a 50-foot reel should only cost you about $10.

[Guest]

when I get my "hand made" coathanger cable production factory going in india I have decided on a company name for them

Gorilla Cables

[Guest]

Mrs Thiing has be enjoying helping meget the wire ready - plenty of fun for the whole thiing fmily in this new business venture

[Guest]

Im going to share some DIY instructions with SNA members but its copywrited so dont go trying to start your own company bastards

[Guest]

an early prototype before I stuckk gold wwith the coathanger theory