I don't believe cables make a difference, any input?

[fredex]

Originally posted by Andre Visser
Yes its true, although some brains are more easilly pleased than others.

Agreement at last.

[gpapag]

Hi all
I came across this article .
It may trigger some thoughts (analogies).

Regards
George

[soongsc]

I don't really think this is what happens with cables; especially when they are just switched in without any explanation what to expect.

[kelticwizard]

Originally posted by analog_sa

The most striking example i've ever had was the clear audibility of a set of new headshell wires (2-3cm) i brought into my system a few years ago. Would you try explaining this with RFI, or RLC effects

You mentioned three sets of wires-the original turntable wires, the wires which came with your Ortofon cartridge and Cardas wire and clips you ordered.

Were all three sets of wires the same length?

Because factors such as parasitic capacitance and parasitic oscillation might well be different if the following conditions vary among the three sets of wire:

A) The wires are just long enough to reach from the cartridge to the headshell terminals and are consequently in a straight line between those points. The mechanics of installation would seem to prevent this condition but I thought I would include it;

B) The wires are somewhat longer than that and bend inward, rubbing against each other;

C) The wires are somewhat longer than that and bend outward, rubbing against nothing.

D) The wires are all tangled up and it is impossible to say at what points they approach each other and move away from each other.

I would think that D would be the norm and that each installation would result in a different wire arrangement, even using the same wires, cartridge and headshell.

I apologize if these factors were addressed in previous posts in this thread, I have not read the entire thread.

[soongsc]

I think this is interesting that headshell wires are mentioned. These carry a much smaller signal than other parts of the audio link. I think contact quality probably would make significant difference.

[simon5]

Originally posted by chrisb

my favorite snip:

My favorite snip :

The most helpful critical review rated by Amazon

1,641 of 1,695 people found the following review helpful:

1 out of 5 stars : Disappointing quality, June 11, 2008
By Michael McKinley

A caution to people buying these: if you do not follow the "directional markings" on the cables, your music will play backwards. Please check that before mentioning it in your reviews.

I was disappointed. I consider myself an audiophile - I regularly spend over $1000 on cables to get the ultimate sound. I keep my music-listening room in a Faraday cage to prevent any interference that could alter my music-listening experience. Sending any signal down ordinary copper can degrade the signal considerably. While ordinary listeners might not notice, to somebody with even a rudimentary knowledge of sound, the artifacts are glaring. Denon should have used silver wiring (hermetically sealed inside the rubber sheath to prevent any tarnishing, of course), which has a significantly higher conductivity than copper. Furthermore, Denon needs to treat the wires they use in the cable with a polarity inductor to ensure minimal phase variance.

Needless to say, I returned the cable and wrote an angry letter to the so-called engineers at Denon.

Please read the others posts in that thread, it's hilarious really !

http://www.amazon.com/review/RF07482...#RF074827BNTI6

[thetubeguy1954]

Hello soongsc! If I understand what you mean when you state: I don't really think this is what happens with cables; especially when they are just switched in without any explanation what to expect. wthen we're in 100% agreement!

There was a time when I vehemently believed that wire was wire, period. There was no way one 1M IC or a 3M speaker wire could "sound" any different than any other 1M IC or a 3M speaker wire would! One day an audio dealer I did at least 80% of my business with suggested I try upgraded from my Rat Shack wires to some good wires instead of upgrading from my $2K preamp to a $4k preamp, as I had wanted to do.

I was so furious at this suggestion ---{because at that time I felt when audio sales personal attempted to sell audiophile wires they were playing me for a fool}--- that I stated I'd never do business there again. Thank GOD in the end I relented and allowed them to do a direct demonstration of my IC and speaker wires vs some Audioquest ICs and speaker wires.

Now remember my firm belief was that wires couldn't influence sound and my expectation was to hear no differeneces at all. Yet differences are what I heard and it was readily apparent that the Audioquest wires were sonically superior to the Rat Shack wires!

So "if" expectation bias is the reason why audiophiles believe wires sound better as so many objectivists insist, why didn't my expectation bias influenence me not to hear any differences in the above example I provided?

For those who don't believe or hear wires making a difference, consider yourselves blessed for you get to save yourselves some extra $$$$$$ you can spend elsewhere on your audio system. However for those of us who do believe or hear wires making a difference we'll buy them for the improvement we believe & hear wires making, period. What I don't understand is why does that bother you others so much when we do this? I know it doesn't bother me ---{or any of my audio friends}--- one iota when those of you who disagree with us, don't buy better wires for your systems.

Perhaps the real question all you naysayers should be asking yourselves is: "Why do you give a horses pa-toot what others do with their audio systems?" It's the answer to that question, that will provide you all with some insight to what your real motives are.

Thetubeguy1954

[analog_sa]

Originally posted by kelticwizard


Because factors such as parasitic capacitance and parasitic oscillation might well be different if the following conditions vary among the three sets of wire:

Parasitic what? This comparison was done at the time in a Linn Ittok arm using it's original and quite modest wiring harness: some dubious wire running internally, 5 pin mini din and some even more dubious shielded cable terminated with very mundane jacks. The cartridge was a mid range moving coil (Kontrapunkt B) and the preamps were various; either transformer or fet input.

This cartridge is hardly affected from huge amounts of capacitance, let alone variations in the femtofarad range. There is nothing that can conceivably oscillate. My ears are not particularly sensitive towards cartridge loading as well: i may hear the difference between 470R and 1k but consider it unimportant and negligible compared to the difference between the headshell links.

soongsc makes a good point about the contact quality. And i think the Ortofon uses a crimped, rather than soldered connection between wire and clip.

[kelticwizard]

So the Ortofon is the top one in the picture and the stock Linn wire is the bottom one?

The headshell wire you are using now-is that closer in length to the Linn or the Ortofon?

[analog_sa]

Sorry. Forgot to explain. Top is Cardas; below is Ortofon. The Linn wires (not shown) are currenly used as the Cardas clips are too long for some cartridges.