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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.
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Say good-night, Gracie.

Good-night, Gracie
glupson
1,794 posts
 
taras22,

I have no team, but I also have not seen participants in disagreement with you being trashed wholesale at all.

My remark about jhills being in the lead was about his statement that no other industry uses $1000/foot cables. NASA was implied at some point and it turns out that even those are cheaper.
glupson
1,794 posts
 

douglas_schroeder,

I do not really consider myself anything when it comes to cables. I am not an agnostic, I am aware they exist and they need to exist. I do not belong to either side in this thread and leave it open that there may be something to it, but am not religiously accepting it without suspicion. That position makes me a bit more credible than anyone who has any investment in cables. No conflict of interest, minimal bias.

I read this thread as something informational, a window to others' views and emotions about cables. I stay away from commenting about actual differences between cables here, or theories about them. I have not tried many and am not planning to. It would take a lots of time and effort and it is not my thing. As this thread is not only about cable technicalities, but touched marketing, pricing, etc., I mentioned a few things that I noticed. Price of NASA cables and praises that make claims less believable than they may deserve to be. Once changes are "spectacular" and "dramatic", not many will convert or seriously consider it. They will think it is a joke. Less dramatic descriptions or agitated responses may yield better responses and more fruitful discussion.

taras22
236 posts
 
@glupson

So let me get this straight, cables are generally dismissed because they are perceived to produce only incremental differences across brands, and any differences are written off as just more marketing hyperbole that can’t be believed.

But when some real performance differences are produced by innovative cable designs those claims are also dismissed as just more marketing hyperbole that can’t be believed.

So the takeaway from this its all just more marketing hyperbole that can’t be believed all the time.

And the funny thing this belief is maintained with a concurrent effort to actively ignore any possible evidence to the contrary even though such evidence is dead simple to access and really inexpensive to apply,

Audio used to be exciting....with designers/builders producing innovative equipment that created the audio market and innovative buyers who explored any and all avenues to get better performance out of their systems. Now its reduced to a crowd of fundamentalist naysayers who just sit on their hands and decry any perceived threat to their entrenched beliefs. Whats that line about only dead fish go with the flow and don’t cause any waves, or is it boats or something...but youse get the idea ?

OK, the conservative element in audio is doing what conservatives all think they are doing, and if the strict definition is applied they think they are preserving or conserving something ( like say the rule of some law ). Well, unfortunately in this case they are suffocating the spark that led to the creation of high end in the first place, and that spark is innovation which by its very nature breaks rules and preconceptions, or at least interpret in a wholly different manner ( just remember theory has two ways of being understood...its either something seemingly solid....or its just a theory, read a wild guess....and don't look now but the history of science is littered with the remains of solid theories that over time morphed into wild guesses...)


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geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
There it is! The Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby routine! Did I call that one or not?
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