John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part III

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Zung said:
An interesting paper on speaker wire, by Belden, of all people. I had no idea these honorable gents have a take in black magic; no doubt the learned folks in this thread will take it apart; can't wait.
I tried to read it, but the breathless style and frequent lurches into random CAPITALS made this difficult so I gave up. Maybe someone else will have more success. I suspect that it contains just enough truth to confuse people, and ensure that Belden gets a seat at the audio cable table instead of having to stand by and watch all the magicians and fraudsters eat their lunch.
 
May-be i'm totally wrong, not being a specialist in that matter, but my thoughts where those:
- I hardly believe a cable manufacturer can build an AC wire with an isolation that is more or less ... conductive. So, I think the particles of Carbon (or titanium that are used to color the isolation are ... isolated from each others inside the plastic.
- As Titanium as well as Carbon are non magnetic components, what kind of "electromagnetic" properties, even considering "Eddies currents" could-we expect ?

Tournesol,

I have no idea. Perhaps Dan could put a set of black/grey/white wires through a MRI scanner and see what happens.......

All materials, whatever they, have properties of one sort or another, and as such will have an effect. It is not up to me to say what the effects will be, that is the domain of the electronic engineer.

But I will point out what is the bleeding obvious.

ToS
 
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Insulator properties have an effect for RF cables, by affecting loss. Much less likely for audio. All too often the description of the alleged audio effect seems curiously to match the physical appearance of the substance: silver is bright, copper is dull, titanium dioxide sounds clear, bananas sound yellow? This is exactly what an alchemist would expect.

I will now feed the trolls by admitting that physical appearance and audio effect are both electromagnetic phenomena. The minor snag (for those of us from a science background) is the huge disparity in the relevant part of the frequency spectrum: audio roughly 20-20kHz, sight around 400-700THz, a ratio in the region of 10^10.
 
I'd like to see anyone who claims differences in speaker wire insulation changes the sound be able to measure insulation resistance and calculate the reduction in level due to amplifier output impedance using Ohm's Law and the voltage divider formula.

While you're at it, give the change in dB, and point to a study that shows that amount of dB change is an audible difference.
The minor snag (for those of us from a science background) is the huge disparity in the relevant part of the frequency spectrum: audio roughly 20-20kHz, sight around 400-700THz, a ratio in the region of 10^10.
Oh, but what's less than a dozen orders of magnitude between friends?
 
I decide if something works. My informed opinion based on my years of experience gives me confidence in what I personally hear. Your hearing may differ.

That’s the smartest thing I’ve ever heard in a discussion involving audio subjectivity.
You da man John! :cool:

You know if you dig a little bit there is current research into titanium dioxide use in electronics.

Jus’sayin, it might not be totally impossible for it to matter a touch.....better keep it quiet though.
 
Smartest thing because he omitted the key word repeatedly?

Hey I can repeat what sounds bad and what sounds good......I just did, and do it all the time.

That’s why I don’t get it when people say audio memory is short lived and inaccurate.....to that I say how can people identify anything by sound alone?

I know I can identify things by sound as if it were sight.....maybe that’s the disconnect for some people?
 
Sorry, I should have said repeatably, but you got my point. Have you never thought you saw something but were mistaken?

Yes but if it were repeatable I’d certainly know what it was after a few go rounds.
If you mean a fleeting glimpse then that’s not relevant.....everything (at least in my audio chain) is repeatable unless the sound in question a product of a intermittent issue or flat out failure.
 
If you mean a fleeting glimpse then that’s not relevant.....
Perhaps, I'm not sure, that would depend on the level of concentration?
everything (at least in my audio chain) is repeatable unless the sound in question a product of a intermittent issue or flat out failure.
If you move your listening position the sound will change
 
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