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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
04/19/09
If lower resistance is what you're after, I guarantee you can achieve it much more cost effectively by using a larger gauge ordinary copper cable than by switching to exotic materials or manufacturing processes. This addresses impedance too. It does not address capacitance and inductance, but then neither do the exotic materials or processes in themselves.
All this golden-ear voodoo hurts my brain. I think if people want to listen to music, they should listen to the MUSIC, not the equipment. But hey - if you want to listen for the flaws instead of the performance, and you have the money to spend on it, more power to you (so to speak).
09/08/09
Mind over matter and all that.
04/17/09
I really couldn't agree more.
The fact that they avoided anything resembling an objective test here makes you wonder why they bothered writing this article at all. I see all these pleas to believe that "something" was different yet no effort was made to actually prove it. Double blind testing, with the chance of the same source being played back to back would go a long way toward showing a genuine interest in actual reporting. But that might anger the audiophile tribe and we can't have that. Otherwise they might not invite us over again to partake in the next round of Power Snake Oil's Monster Jam.
04/17/09
04/17/09
Did you actually read the article? John made it pretty damned clear (to anyone paying any kind of attention not filtered through "I've got an axe to grind") that this was NOT meant to be an objective or scientific test.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
"Inch-diameter speaker cables made of exotic materials. If your speakers were hundreds of feet away from your sound system, heavy cables (click on image at right for a closer look) would make sense, as the resistance of thin wire causes power loss and can affect the sound. But, for home use, anything short of a 50-foot cable run needs only the thinner 14- to 16-gauge cable that sells for about 50 cents a foot at your local Radio Shack."
04/17/09
All of this is such bollocks. If ears were more like eyes there wouldn't be any of this - where are the videophile grade TVs? There aren't any because people can't hide behind their 'superior' seeing and not get called on it.
You know, there's an interesting question to wring out of all this: Are you *happy*? Isn't the point of listening to music to listen to music because you like it? With this high buck stuff, aren't you robbing yourself of the ability to enjoy the music by creating an invisible quality ceiling you can never really reach?
04/17/09
04/17/09
I agree with FightingChance that the power cable test is total bunk. And the tests are useless if not performed double blind.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
People are willing to overlook a lot of crap if they don't know what they looking/listening for. I love music a lot, I go to a lot of concerts, I also have had hearing damage from the age of 3. I know better than to spend *too* much on audio gear because I cannot hear the difference.
That having been said, there are people who are able to taste the difference between various nuances of food, but we don't ridicule them. There are people are able to taste the difference between various nuances of wine, but we don't ridicule them. Yet if someone can hear something differently than you, you ridicule them?
Most audio comes down to personal preference and what you find pleasing. High-frequency audio hurts my ears, so my systems tend to be a little mid/bass heavy when I've tweaked them. Which is in no way ideal for others. Just ideal for me.
04/17/09
Do you know how many people whose TVs I see adjusted so that people's skin tones are PINK?
What someone hears, or sees, is not universal. A good example of this was my wife and I shopping for art. We were looking at some fractal art. I was wearing my polarized sunglasses and she wasn't wearing any. Things that looked "muddy" to her looked like beautiful ocean scenes to me. She didn't understand until I had her look through my sunglasses.
Unfortunately I cannot hand you my ears to have you experience what I hear sounds like.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
After RTFA again, I understand it's being used to filter out the shit from the power grid.
If I'm an ass, I can myself on it.
04/17/09
04/17/09
I can always answer the questions, "is it live, or is it Memorex?"
In all seriousness, I would have to think that there would need to be at least some minuscule quantifiable advantage to this equipment, no matter how small, for someone to buy it. I know we all believe that the insanely rich have no basis in reality when they make purchases, but is there really a market for a $25K gadget that does absolutely nothing?
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
now, my concern was more to the point of being quicker with the comment and it's relation to FPS and you know. wink wink. you know.
04/20/09
Anywho. Great minds think alike, and all that jazz.
I would have to make one point of clarification on Monty's observation though, that being that not everyone on here is a genius, only those that we like. Others are simply commentards that have not yet been banned.
04/17/09
i respect his passion, but the sticker shock is hard to get over.
04/17/09
So, I do not doubt this stuff makes a difference, but I also suspect that there is part of the audiophile psyche that enjoys waxing poetic about the virtues of this equipment to improve sound quality.
04/17/09
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04/17/09
Another home run article, John. And when I got to the line quoted above, I laughed audibly--nice turn of a phrase!
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
Most materials can hold a static charge. A static charge can create a light magnetic field can affect the needle.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
As for magnets, I will using them for something better. Making my wine taste better by aging it through the power of magnets, so I can drink more, and not worry about the sound!
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
Coke in glass bottles is made with cane sugar. Coke in cans is made with HFCS. Not the same stuff.
04/17/09
Not to be confused with Passover Coke.
04/17/09
Seconded.
In full disclosure: I am a self-admitted beer snob.
04/17/09
I can definitely tell a difference -my coke tastes much richer that store coke. I can taste the nuanced flavors in a full 3-d space on my tongue. The sweetness materializes a full 3 CM farther back on my tongue!
04/17/09
plus, in texas they put a picture of the state on the label.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
I can even tell people which soda is diet from sniffing it.
04/17/09
04/17/09
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04/17/09
04/17/09
What he is saying is that you can stab someone to take their audio equipment but you won't hear a difference if you don't first demagnetize the knife.
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/17/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
It is only important what YOU can hear, and what the value equation is to YOU! What is expensive to one person is not expensive to someone else. It is all relative.
Everyone has different opinions on restaurants. The same Joe that tells you it is the best Italian place in the city may also think that Applebee's is their favorite place to eat. The same goes for audio equipment. There are a million different know it alls.
When buying audio components there is only one thing to do; take the item home (whether A/V amp or cables) and try them in your house and with your equipment! It will sound different on every different set up out there. Any reputable sellers of audio equipment will allow you to return the items if you don't like them.
-Do some research. AVS Forum is a GREAT place to start.
-Buy what you think will work for you situation (equipment and budget).
-Make the decision that fits your situation. Only you can make the value equation based off your situation.
04/14/09
The same goes when people collaborate and they say one thing is good, but they only agree together because they don't want to be an outcast.
My tip would be to go with what's financially satisfying then performance.
04/14/09
Why did I choose teflon? Because you can't legally run PVC in the plenum (the space between the dropped ceiling and the real ceiling of a commercial building). PVC, when it burns, makes nasty smelly gasses. Teflon doesn't burn.
So I can see where teflon coated wires would be expensive, but only because of the teflon. I really don't expect to hear a difference in the audio if I used it.
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09