A cable thread

...found over at HFC:

http://www.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/5/6528.html

I like it, probably because it agrees with my personal biases, i.e., I don't want cables or interconnects to make a big difference, because I don't want to spend any more money than necessary on them!

 

Thanks for the link. It is very long but still fun. If anything it shows me why I should not engage with anyone on another Great Cable Debate as I do not have the patience as some of these people.

However, these debate are only good for our hobby if it rise awareness that we are all preceptible to salesmanship or power of persuassion.

It will never end. We are all snob in the sense that we like to feel we are rich enough buy better things then the next fellow.

I only buy Coke and not stores own branded copy because I am a snob. At least they don't claims these are scientifically more nutritious and mark up the price. Unfortunately, cables manufacturers get to me because they use pseudoscience and that makes me feel cheated.

 

Hi, Wolfgang. I got interested in cables and interconnects, because I started to get worried that I couldn't hear the improvements that other people heard. Differences, yes, sometimes, but improvements, almost never.

'Way back in the early 1980s, when QED was starting to sell its cables in Australia, I bought a length of QED, bought an identical length of standard lighting flex from the local hardware store, made two cables, switched the Quad to mono and then switched from channel to channel as the same record played (pre-CD!). My wife (who plays the piano and who has quite a good ear) listened too. And the result? The two were indeed slightly different, but you couldn't say truly that one was better than the other. It came down to personal preference. As it was, we both preferred the QED and bought another bit.

Since those days, I have become conscious of another phenomenon, which I think is more widespread than people think - the desire to hear a difference. I have caught myself doing this, hearing a difference because I want (or think I ought) to hear a difference. "I've paid £££ for this, so I ought to hear a difference." And indeed you just might.

Now, if people hear a difference because they want to, as opposed to there being one really there for them to hear, that difference is just as real to them, and therefore they are justified in what they buy. However, given the subjectivity of the whole business and how differently we all perceive things, I find it laughable that hi-fi magazines should test these things and purport to offer definitive opinions on them. Ultimately, your own ears, augmented or otherwise by your imagination/desires, are the only true judge of what's good for you.

I now adopt the position that I no longer even try to hear subtle differences. If a difference doesn't sock me between the eyes immediately, there is no difference. I remember well the amazement when I ran my old Thorens 160 TT/SME IIIS/Shure V15IV against an LP12/Ekos/K9 - the difference was staggering. I couldn't believe that bits of rotating metal could sound so different. So that's may standard; it's a tough one, but it saves me mountains of money, which I go out and waste on Bach cantatas!

 

Tones,
I have found cables to be absolutely vital.
When I try listening to my system without cables, the sound is sooo much thinner and less musical.
Cables really are a good idea in a hifi system.

Joel

PS nice link - although it won't stop those with twitchy wallets from spending.

 

Gosh, some people are killjoys! The answer, obviously, is to sing along even louder and then you tend not to notice any thinnness. I'm told that certain spirituous liquors are a distinct help in this case (why on earth isn't someone offering booze as a sound upgrade? It's even legal!).

No, I don't expect to close twitchy wallets; whatever makes them happy. Just so long as they don't expect me to hear the improvement!

 

I found a nice Moet adds sparkle and life, more pace and rythm
where as a nice full red gives that vintage warmth, almost valve like, good for relaxing music.
Choose your bin carefully depending on musical tastes

 

Some nice weed is EASILY the best and most cost effective way to improve any sound system, period

Acid and Shpongle is good for outer body experiences (as I verified for myself a few months back). :JPS:

 

I often find choosing the dustbin for some albums can improve the musical enjoyment.

 

When I try it I dont get any sound

 

Ha, clearly you need not just the neck but the rest of the bottle too.