cable upgrades , real or rip off

Hi Studioray,
Thanks for the link. For years, before I actually invested in high end components, I read "Stereo Review" and "Audio" magazines simply because I found them fascinating (translation: I had no money). Still, I developed opinions based on, what I thought was, good old fashion horse sense. I had tremendous respect for Julian Hirsch of "Stereo Review", who claimed that all well made amplifiers sounded alike. When I finally decided to dive in, my mind was pretty much closed to tubes, interconnects and tweaks in general. I am now a firm believer in those very things, not because of measurable data, but because my system has IMO evolved musically because of them. My basic components have remained unchanged through several upgrades and changes in ancillary equipment.

Studioray: I think the Big Joe thread is a bit outdated as he referred to cable comparison tests held in the first half of the 1980's. In this decade audiophile grade cables were emerging. Monster was the leader in that field at that time but I was never convinced of the sonic qualities of Monster cables from that period. My personal opinion is that cable comparison tests should be performed with current state-of-the-art cables and using the cable comparator from Wireworld's David Salz. It should make a difference if you are using zipcord or a high quality audio cable, whether it is used as interconnect, speaker wire or powercord. I am fully convinced of this. The differences are quite subtle (not like day and night!) but they can be heard, even by non audiophiles. The equipment should be discriminating enough to expose these differences (higher midfi to high-end gear, not the lower midfi stuff).

Chris

here's something to really make you nuts-
i have upgraded transparent cable several times according to budget constraints, and each time i noticed an incremental (pleasant) improvement in the sound. then 6 mo.ago i ordered the next level up which would have been ref-XL (w/MM technology), but due to some confusion the dealer got ref-MM instead. this error resulted in a complete transformation in the sound quality- a BIG improvement in bass, soundstage, layering of instruments, etc. we worked something out on the bill because there was no way i was going to send this wire back- the improvements were definitely at the level of replacing components. BUT, can i recommend that someone invest $19k for speaker cables? there's no way, unless $$$ is simply not an issue. but as far as the law of diminishing returns goes, in this case i experienced an exponential improvement instead, so go figure. i can only tell you what happened...

French_fries: I totally believe your report because I've had similar experiences myself, even with optical cables. But your description hints at something I'd actually be willing to bet money on: namely that you have a great system already (you don't reveal what it is) but if that were not true, those advances in performance might never have gotten to (through?) your speakers. (Was I right?)

Which is why I always caution people not to attempt to upgrade their cabling beyond the level of their components. Doing that won't improve the performance of the components, and the potential of the cables will be lost.

The flip side, is when one upgrades cable(s) (even by accident ;~) and major improvements result, then one can only conclude they'd underestimated the capabilities of their equipment, and NOT that the new cable added some kind of performance factor. Cables are just conduits. That's their only job. Some do it better than others.

Hi French_fries,
Great and tragic at the same time; great when a cable can bring you closer to the music, tragic when it costs $19k.
I've had similar experiences with Shunyata and Siltech. It wasn't until I climbed farther up the chain, than I thought would be reasonable, that I realized that exponential leap.