2. cables
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The Science of Cables

It seems to me that there is too little scientific, objective evidence for why cables sound the way they do. When I see discussions on cables, physical attributes are discussed; things like shielding, gauge, material, geometry, etc. and rarely are things like resistance, impedance, inductance, capacitance, etc. Why is this? Why aren’t cables discussed in terms of physical measurements very often?

Seems to me like that would increase the customer base. I know several “objectivist” that won’t accept any of your claims unless you have measurements and blind tests. If there were measurements that correlated to what you hear, I think more people would be interested in cables. 

I know cables are often system dependent but there are still many generalizations that can be made.
128x128mkgus
taras22
236 posts
 
@geoffkait 

No, worries, you weren’t my intended target  

Its all OK I was feeling guilty anyway.
douglas_schroeder
1,824 posts
 

Bright yellow.


glupson, so, do you consider yourself a cable agonstic (undetermined, or qualified participant in regards to the question of efficacy of aftermarket cables) or an adherent to one side or the other?



geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Oh, boy, get ready for some fun! Next up, the always entertaining Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby routine. Smoke if ya got em.
prof
1,741 posts
 
glupson

Does anyone else see this thread as religious? One side is sure, the other one is sure it is not.



Well, bit of a broad brush there glupson. At least some of us (e.g. myself) do not take a stance of ’religious’ character in terms of dogmatically accepting things without critical inquiry. Or dogmatically claiming others "must be wrong." I have often written, including in this thread, that I’m open to the claims about cables, but look towards better evidence than is usually supplied. And as I said also, I made no judgement either way on Douglas’ new cable method.



But, yes, in the audiophile world, especially when it comes to cables and other more tweaky areas, there is quite an analogy to religious thinking - a particularly confident belief in one’s own subjective experience as an arbiter of reality, vs trying to get beneath or around our biases.




elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I would dd the type of thinking each contributor does is how some posts have that religious fervor,and some are dry as dust. Some ramble on repeating the same drivel. Some folks rely on the physical senses to make meaning of the World. Some think logical thinking is the only way to make sense of the World. Some believe whatever emotionally strikes them as 'meaningful' (with no hard thinking or checking reality is how to see the truth of the World.Good luck.
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