Cable "burning": Real or VooDoo ???

Sean - I believe our ears are very sensitive to changes in frequency response. If something can be shown to effect frequency response it is a valid subject, as, of course, are many others. What I don't believe that many audiogoners do, is that there is something intrinsic in the molecular structure of the metal itself that alters the sound. It's that "silver has a laid back sound" kind of talk that drives me nuts. (People seem to not undertand that it is an electrical and not a sound signal traveling the wire). Since cable manufactures have no explanations for why one cable sounds better than another, they promote psuedo scientific explanations. I have an email from a manufacturer with just this kind of nonsense in it.

While I am ranting, let me tell you a an experience I am having with my new B&W Nautilus speakers. I hooked them up and got ready for something wonderful to happen. They sounded so bad to me I thought, hmmmm I must have gotten them out of phase. Wouldn't be the first time. I checked. Nope not out of phase. So I listened for a while and well the accuracy seemed very good. I listen for a few days and they sounded better but I'm still troubled. So I check the phase with a battery. Yep, they are in phase, at least the woofers. It's a couple of weeks now and they seem to have some bass now, it seemed totally absent at first. They are used speakers so "burn in" isn't involved.

Have I discovered a new phenomenon?... Speakers have to get used to their new suroundings before they begin to sound OK.... Or is it perhaps that the complicated, imperfect blob of protoplasm that I am is changing and the speakers are performing exactly the same as they did when first connected.

This post is in two parts, first part to express my opinion that yes cable "burning" does have an effect as I have experienced at my local dealer a direct comparison of a virgin cable and one that had been given some +100 hours of "burning". I noticed more spatial detail amongst others. The second part going partially off topic and I hope not being too confrontational I wish to direct a question at the above post from stevemj. My question to this stevemj being what are your thoughts regarding electrical and sound signals in so much as they are both forms of energy and are therefore subject to external disturbance and/or alteration of energy fields, particle path motion patterns, etc.? We could even go on to ask questions concerning the interaction and alteration of energy fields that may be present in our own molecular makeup and could this form part of the listening experience which even you have aluded to in your post? What say you? If you would care to email me I may be able to direct you to further written matter that could help redress the imbalance caused by your relentless quest for facts and figures to boost your apparent belief that we mere mortals do not measure up to your contradtitory ramblings and that the feelings and emotions we experience whilst attempting to enjoy and appreciate our hobby are misjudged, misguided, akin to the alchemists search for fools gold, whatever. Jo.

Albertporter: I can't control what you infer from what I write. If you want to infer that I love numbers more than music, go ahead, it can be your own little alternative to reality.

My insistence on ABX testing is to determine what, if anything, sounds different between two devices, systems, etc., in strict terms of what can be heard, and not influenced by marketing hype, pretty appearances, pricing, ego, etc. With essentially side-by-side comparison, it can resolve even fine distinctions more reliably than can sequential absolute evaluations of the type you advocate, which is prone to false detection of non-existant differences through bias, suggestion, or even fakery. Note also that ABX testing, as I had described earlier but it apparently didn't sink in, has nothing to do with numbers, measurements, or specs. Also contrary to Redkiwi's misunderstanding, ABX testing is not limited to short listening periods, but is at the listener's own discretion. Laugh if you like, but you're the one buying $$$$ cables and can't prove they improve anything.

Sedond: If that's what you want to believe I've contributed to audio, go ahead and believe it. Again, reality does not follow what you or I or anyone imagines, however desperately synthesized.

Sean: Resistance in series with an amplifier output does NOT raise the damping factor; it lowers it. The resistance of the speaker wire is parasitic and can be considered part of the output impedance. In particular, it will decrease the amplifier's ability to absorb the back EMF from the woofer. It will also cause a voltage-divider phenomenon, in which frequency-dependent variations in the speaker impedance cause its frequency response to become more irregular.

702.... I must have missed the posts letting us know what cables you have tried with what equipment. If you could post that again, that would be great. I haven't been able to find that post. Thanks.

Here again 702, I must follow in the footsteps of no money and second his request. Apart from that, even if that will get me minus points, I am glad that your back. I would wish though, that you would be more open about your listening habits, your preferences and the gear you like and listen to. Regards,