Cables

rockhopper said:
Hi, I just wondered, why are Russ Andrews cables not appreciated? I was browsing through their brochure last night and am tempted to try some of their gear.

From your comment I take it they are not up to scratch? :confused:
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I fail to see how you could come to this conclusion from my post :confused: .

They are accused of being over priced by many was the source of my original comment but I did go on to say that I have some £2k worth of RA/Kimber cables in my system. Upon reflection probably closer to £3k. That is not te type of expenditure that I would undertake unless I was happy with them :)
 
I see you still feel you don't need to answer the simple questions asked, its a shame really, as your omission speaks as much as full set of answers would.
 
zanash said:
I see you still feel you don't need to answer the simple questions asked, its a shame really, as your omission speaks as much as full set of answers would.
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I have to agree with Zanash.

Johnny - you've raised a question which I and others have attempted to place in context of some of the key history of this forum.

So you've decided, against advice, to plow your own furrow. But when people then take you up on your quest and ask you a few basic questions to help you prove you are debating seriously and for you to place a context on your comments, rather than grinding your axe you opt not to answer. Why?
 
maybe he's first footing for 2006. always worried about letting tall dark strangers in the house ...
 
Johnny said:
...I can't hear any difference..
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In which case why do you care what other people spend their money on???

If YOU can't hear a difference between cables then buy a cheap one and think yourself lucky that you've saved some cash which you can then spend on something else that does improve the quality of your life in some way.


GTM
 
zanash said:
the effect a room will have will be to alter the responce of a system not its resolution.
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Not that I plan on sticking up for Johnny, but I wouldn't be so hasty saying that. If you consider your perception as part of the 'system' then the room can indeed effect resolution.

For example, one can not easily separate the direct sound from the reflections if they arrive at the listening position within 20ms of each other. This causes a 'smearing' effect, a loss of resolution, position information etc.. Another example is that long decay rates can overshadow the build up to the next sounds leading edge.

This is not to say that a bad room will stop you hearing the difference in cables (if there are indeed any!). You may find a bad room makes the difference clearer if the cable helps in an area the room deficient in. If your system (due to the room) has a severe bass suck-out, a cable that boosts the bass by +0.5dB may be far more noticeable than if it was in a room that had a flat response.

innit!
 
My answer to the original question is; Dunno anymore.

I can however hear differences in the sound between speaker cables and more subtle changes with interconnects.
Some I think are improvements, some not.

I have made my own speaker cable and found it better and now made my own interconnects and found them better too.

I replaced my 'reassuringly' expensive cable and interconnects with Cat 5e in the Triple T model and made interconnects out of PTFE silver coated multistrand.

I'm amazed and won't be spending any more big bucks on cables...
 
Tenson said:
Not that I plan on sticking up for Johnny, but I wouldn't be so hasty saying that. If you consider your perception as part of the 'system' then the room can indeed effect resolution.

For example, one can not easily separate the direct sound from the reflections if they arrive at the listening position within 20ms of each other. This causes a 'smearing' effect, a loss of resolution, position information etc.. Another example is that long decay rates can overshadow the build up to the next sounds leading edge.

This is not to say that a bad room will stop you hearing the difference in cables (if there are indeed any!). You may find a bad room makes the difference clearer if the cable helps in an area the room deficient in. If your system (due to the room) has a severe bass suck-out, a cable that boosts the bass by +0.5dB may be far more noticeable than if it was in a room that had a flat response.

innit!
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0.5 db relative to what ?
 
Johnny said:
0.5 db relative to what ?
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Relative to the input signal of course :rolleyes:

I suppose in a cable this would be done by cutting everything else by -0.5dB. As you say though it is all relative so the result is the same.
 
Tenson said:
Relative to the input signal of course :rolleyes:

I suppose in a cable this would be done by cutting everything else by -0.5dB. As you say though it is all relative so the result is the same.
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Do you know what a decibel is ?

The way in which the term has been used does not make any sense.
 
what is this, twenty questions?

a decibel is a measure of sound level. The way in which the term is used by Tenson makes sense to me. If he has not reflected your thinking about room adequately then I suggest a less robust contribution would be appreciated.

simply put, unless you start coming across as someone prepared to [..] value [the] opinions of others, you will be dismissed/ignored/dispised - and that's not nice...
 
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Johnny - robustly issued questions, but silence when asked in return is not enough give and take.

Either you seriously want to discuss stuff, which is by its very nature a dialogue and requires a response from you, or you want to s*it stur. Which is it?

If you have already drawn your own conclusions on the subjects of rooms and cables and you are simply using these threads to state your opnions, then: a) state your opinions b) recognise that your opinions are just that - ie they're opnions not facts and c) expect critical analysis in return.

Folks on this forum are generally easy going, mostly with good knowlegde and experience (some with extensive of both) and they dont generally try to punch above their weight by bulls*itting or trolling others (there are obviously exceptions). If you want to get the best out of the members here you need to demonstrate these attributes yourself.
 
Johnny said:
Do you know what a decibel is ?
The way in which the term has been used does not make any sense.
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No I don't know what it is, but I will take a guess.

Since we are talking Hi-Fi I assume a FS signal level of -10dBv. dBv reference is 1V RMS. So it is quite likely I am talking about -0.5dBv relative to whatever the signal level was at the time.

I have to say though it has been 3 years since I last tried to remember all the reference's for dB measurements so I may be a bit rusty! It is dBu with a 0.775V reference isn't it? Not dBv.. :( lol! I'm going to look silly now ain't I.
 
Okay, I've read the many and varoius heated and tedious threads on whether cables make a difference and here's my two penneth.

I've just moved house and to my horror discovered that my (bi-amp) cable run is now 1m too short. I priced up a 6m double run of QED silver anniversary and nearly fell over. Then, on the advice of a friend who'd tried the same, I shelled out £11.85 in B&Q for a 25m roll of 3 x 1.5mm multstrand copper mains cable, twisted the three conductors together and terminated with some decent plugs. As bass cable it sounds absolutely great (clear, extended and very fluid) and it's a really nice shade of blue. Much better sounding than the old solid core Cyrus stuff I'd been using before. I'd be interested in the experiences of anyone else who has tried this approach.

I've now got to make a decsision about the tweeter runs - any thoughts (constructive only) on conductor dimensions for this application would be appreciated. The irony here is that having made some cheap cables, I now think they CAN make a difference. The difference just doesn't vary monotonically with price !
 
Well done... look to use a solid core for the tweeter don't go too thick, try one of the lower ampage twin and earths.....Its a pig to work but sounds very good , far beyond its price point.
 
The debate ought to be along the lines of : why cables should make any difference if we take x number of cables each of which are different in some way, shape or form , other than their capacitances , inductance, resistances, and shielding ?

Some expensive interconnects, are not even shielded at all. I won't disclose any names, but there's no doubt in my mind that this can only be detrimental to its performance.
 
Johnny said:
The debate ought to be along the lines of : why cables should make any difference if we take x number of cables each of which are different in some way, shape or form , other than their capacitances , inductance, resistances, and shielding ?

Some expensive interconnects, are not even shielded at all. I won't disclose any names, but there's no doubt in my mind that this can only be detrimental to its performance.
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what debate???

zzzzz
 
Hi,

Johnny said:
The debate ought to be along the lines of
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First, what debate, second, how dare you to try to force your style of debate on others unasked and unbidden...

Johnny said:
Some expensive interconnects, are not even shielded at all. I won't disclose any names, but there's no doubt in my mind that this can only be detrimental to its performance.
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Why? Please elaborate why there is a causal and direct link between performance and shielding? Why is a shielded cable inherently "better" than an unshielded one?

Please avoid commonplaces, assumptions and belief, present evidence.

L8er T
 

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