DO CABLES REALLY MATTER?


Yes they do.  I’m not here to advocate for any particular brand but I’ve heard a lot and they do matter. High Fidelity reveal cables, Kubala Sosna Elation and Clarity Cable Natural. I’m having a listening session where all of them is doing a great job. I’ve had cables that were cheaper in my system but a nicely priced cable that matches your system is a must.  I’m not here to argue what I’m not hearing because I have a pretty good ear.  I’m enjoying these three brands today and each is presenting the music differently but very nicely. Those who say cables don’t matter. Get your ears checked.  I have a system that’s worth about 30 to 35k retail.  Now all of these brands are above 1k and up but they really are performing! What are your thoughts. 
calvinj
Here is a simple suggestion: if you think ANYTHING makes your music more satisfying then get it if you prefer. If you think NOTHING will make your system give you more listening pleasure, then it is easy to take care of that.

I don’t understand why some of you are so concerned with what other people think. Do what you like and just enjoy YOUR music. Enjoy.




I don't want to be judgemental here,
Have anybody checked Gauge of wire Upgraded expensive cable to old cheap cable wire gauge? wire thickness makes a lot difference that proven science. Have tried thicker gauge wire before buying Costly cables?What cable can do is conduct more electrons. you can achieve by 2 ways.   A good analogy is cars can achieve same speed in highways(wide no/few traffic) OR in race track (built for speed)
Cable can change the Sound Quality is it better for Different Sounding?All copper are Oxygen free unless it is tarnished. If you open wire(old or New) sheath you see copper colour. Tarnishing means skin is oxidised. So exposed wire will oxidise( becomes ceramic so loss of conductivity) so tip contact have to be Gold plated so to avoid exposed part coming contact with.
so Single crystal is about all marketing USP will reap big Money.



Here is a simple suggestion: if you think ANYTHING makes your music more satisfying then get it if you prefer. If you think NOTHING will make your system give you more listening pleasure, then it is easy to take care of that.

I'm trying to figure out what you think you just added to this conversation.  Do you think anyone here is actually arguing that you shouldn't buy what you want for your system?


Not that I've seen.



I don’t understand why some of you are so concerned with what other people think.



Well, it's a discussion forum.   It wouldn't be much of a discussion forum if nobody cared what anyone else thought.  This is a place to share our thoughts about high end audio, right?

The thread asked the question "do cables really matter?"  A bunch of people think the answer is obviously yes, some are a bit more cautious, others giving a more skeptical opinion.   Nobody is sending goose-stepping soldiers in to people's homes to take away their expensive cables.  Nor demanding anyone accept their own view or opinions.What is it that alarms you?  People voicing different opinions?

Do what you like and just enjoy YOUR music. Enjoy.

Uh....thanks! 

Time to turn off the lights in the forum I guess.  We've got the go-ahead to just stop talking and enjoy our music!   ;-)
Look I think the more resolving your speakers and components are the bigger the difference the cabling makes. The people at Gato Audio in Denmark have a lot of technology in developing their speakers.  KR Audio and Resonessence Labs also spend a lot developing the products. When you start getting up there and your system is able to reproduce closer to real musical experiences the the cables make more of a difference. Spending a resonable amount on cables in a High end system makes sense  

@rodman99999

@prof- You seem to believe that studios don’t believe cables matter.



No I never said that. It wasn’t my point at all.


I’m aware that the occasional (and often catering to audiophiles) studio use some boutique cabling. But that’s not the norm and it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate anything about the cables they’ve chosen.

I’ve also known people in music and movie sound post production (e.g. sound mixers) who are audiophiles, and who buy audiophile cables for their home systems (though rarely the super expensive stuff), along with many who do not.

The fact that any engineer, or studio, chooses to buy more expensive audiophile cables doesn’t establish that the cables are any "better."It’s not like placebo and various bias effects just stop if you are in the sound business. That would be like saying "because I’m a scientist, my hypothesis is true." But of course scientists are wrong all the time about their hypotheses. That’s why it’s the method that counts, not the person.

For an engineer who claims some set of cables are better than another, it would come down to what method he used to judge that. Usually good engineers would have a technical hypothesis that can be measured.If we are talking about sound engineers (not EEs or whatever) simply selecting new cables because "they sounded better to us" then that’s just the same anecdotal evidence that any other audiophile uses to select cables. And anyone is susceptible to bias effects.


Am I saying the cables selected by the studios you named are in fact no better than other industry standard cables? No. I wouldn’t know that.(Although I’m skeptical). All I’m saying is that piling on more of the very anecdotal-style evidence that I find questionable doesn't really help.

And as I’ve said: the point I’ve been making about standard studio cabling (which is all over the map, insofar as I’m referencing variety of sources that audiophiles listen to, spanning decades and decades of recording), is that boutique-style audiophile cables are not required for extremely high fidelity signal transmission. Is it possible that *some* audiophile cables are even better quality than most ever used for recordings? I suppose it’s possible. But, even if true, it does not seem *necessary* to spend that extra money in order to have your cables transmit extremely high fidelity signals, given "standard" cable is used to do this all the time.