This is the first time I've seen actual measurements of Audioquest DBS cable, and frankly, I expected better...
Why? The brazen fraudulence of some companies has been plainly obvious for decades. Such cables cannot be any better than ordinary figure eight speaker cable cut off the roll. Never been any different.
What the world needs is a super easy double-blind test kit for home use. I'm not predicting what the results will be, but could be interesting..
I would suggest William Low (AQ CEO) is more of a marketeer than a true audiophile / audio engineer.
Anyone who claims there is an audible difference for cable directionality needs their head examining!
It's commercially very convenient of course to think up a gadget, attach a pseudo-scientific rationale to it and then ask consumers to believe in it and charge an accordingly high asking price. AQ are the worst kind of charlatans in my book.
And don't get me started on that clown who runs Skogrand cables either!
I like to think I'm transparent enough by advising customers that there is probably only a 10-15% margin of improvement to exploit with cables, using those bog standard bootlace interconnects as a start point and then it's still very subjective!
Anyone who claims there is an audible difference for cable directionality needs their head examining!
It's commercially very convenient of course to think up a gadget, attach a pseudo-scientific rationale to it and then ask consumers to believe in it and charge an accordingly high asking price. AQ are the worst kind of charlatans in my book.
And don't get me started on that clown who runs Skogrand cables either!
I like to think I'm transparent enough by advising customers that there is probably only a 10-15% margin of improvement to exploit with cables, using those bog standard bootlace interconnects as a start point and then it's still very subjective!
I would think that Nordost is probably worse, though the cable marketplace is littered with them.
With Audioquest and Nordost, there are so many "clones" and fakes out there, I would hesitate to buy them even if advertised as real. However, many suspect the Audioquest clones from China may in fact be the real cables ordered to be made in China. The AQ clones are not cheap, either. For example, the clone Audioquest Dragon XLR interconnects (1.5m) costs $600!!
L ! C ! R ! > They are the THREE variable factors that can influence electron flow through a dual conductor cable.
* Inductance > Unless you run huge lengths of speaker cable and place it in a coil arrangement, the amount of L experienced
would only effect Radio frequencies.
* Capacitance > Unless you run astronomical lengths of speaker cable, the amount of C experienced would also only effect Radio frequencies.
* Resistance > This is by far the most significant and audible factor that effects speaker cable. The heavier the gauge of conductor, the less R it has.
* The 'golden rule' is > You choose Oxygen Free Copper - figure eight cable of the heaviest gauge you can afford 🙂
PS.
The mathematical physics of L , C and R interactions with the output impedance of amplifiers + speaker impedance is fully calculable and NOT a mystery.
* Inductance > Unless you run huge lengths of speaker cable and place it in a coil arrangement, the amount of L experienced
would only effect Radio frequencies.
* Capacitance > Unless you run astronomical lengths of speaker cable, the amount of C experienced would also only effect Radio frequencies.
* Resistance > This is by far the most significant and audible factor that effects speaker cable. The heavier the gauge of conductor, the less R it has.
* The 'golden rule' is > You choose Oxygen Free Copper - figure eight cable of the heaviest gauge you can afford 🙂
PS.
The mathematical physics of L , C and R interactions with the output impedance of amplifiers + speaker impedance is fully calculable and NOT a mystery.
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Well I very much disagree, the simple, logical, rule is calculate the resistance you want and then the thickness of the cable from this and the resistivity of copper (if using copper).
Thus if you have long cable runs you may require thicker cables, for short runs thinner is likely to be fine. As well as resistance you need to check the current carrying capacity of the cable is sufficient for full load (otherwise you could create a fire risk). So there will be a minimum thickness that applies to a particular amplifier output power, but longer runs might need thicker if you want to limit the total resistance to say 0.1 ohms (for a 4 ohm speaker?) - 2.5% loss is 0.2dB drop in volume.
In particular if the runs to the left and right speakers are different lengths you might want different thicknesses for each to balance them out (but often the imbalance in driver sensitivities and room acoustics might be larger).
The difference between oxygen free copper and standard electrical grade copper is laughably small (1% at most) - oxygen free copper comes into its own for exotic applications like crygenics and vacuum systems, otherwise its a mistake to pay a premium for it (there are cheaper ways to reduce resistance, like using more copper, or even using CCA).
The money you save doing this is best invested in acoustic treatment for the listening space and upgrading speakers, where the money has maximum benefit.
You say "electron flow" and tutor "mathematical physics" in the same post! LOL!!!! Now THAT'S golden.