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What do you mean by "better" when it comes to cabl

I have read a number of posts here and on other sites regarding cables being good or better or great or whatever. Once you use a pure copper or silver conductor, wrap it in a decent, effective insulator and terminate with quality RCA connectors, then what is it that an audiophile is looking for the cable to do? In other words, how does it become "better". Is it a matter of adding colorations. Or are people suggesting that there is some signal loss over 1 meter which degrades the sound and can be restored through better cable. and how does that restoration occur, or is it simply a matter of reducing loss. Is the cable being used as a tone control? an equalizer? Are we trying to achieve something more than what a preamp or component is putting out in the first place.
I am not in the camp that claims that cables dont make a difference, because I have heard a change in my system with a different cable, but it wasnt something strong enough for me to even articulate the change accurately. It sounded "better" but I dont know how or why. what is it that the better cable is supposed to do?
manitunc
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,515 posts
 
Why does every cable thread have to turn into a pissing contest for some folks?
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Well if you use the same cables all the time then you are tuning your sound around your cables. Which is fine, if that's your game plan.

Like I said, I'm lazy, it's easier for me to buy, sell and change cables than to buy, sell and change tables/arms and even cartridges. I've only changed table/arms 3 times in 12 years. I've gone through about 8 cartridges in that time frame, but I can't even guess how many cables.
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
4,494 posts
 
"Why does every cable thread have to turn into a pissing contest for some folks"

Because the very existence of a CABLE forum is a provocation!
Cheers
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
4,494 posts
 
Think of it, as in, I 'better' hear a difference after what I paid!!
frogman
4,637 posts
 
****In other words, how does it become "better".****

1. It becomes better if, IN YOUR SYSTEM, the resulting sound brings you closer to the sound of live music. It is popular to dismiss this concept; but at the end of the day, precisely because there are so many variables, this is the only answer if the word "fidelity" is to have any real meaning.

Now, how does one determine what "closer to the sound of live" is; given how many variables there are? Answer: It's not easy, and it requires a commitment to listen to A LOT of live music; there is no shortcut. After a while, you will stop focusing on the usual variables; the audiophile stuff: one hall sounds this way or that, this engineer did this or that, my seat at the concert was at the back of the hall not the front, etc. You will start to recognize common threads: texture on a level that no recording can give you, dynamic nuance that makes very soft playing just as exciting as the loud stuff, a strong sense that what is making these sounds are humans not machines (emotion). If you put a new cable in your system, and it does more of that than a different cable, it's a better cable. Unless, what is truly more important to you is:

2. You want your system's sound to be a certain way. You simply happen to like a certain sound, and a particular cable makes it sound closer to that sound; regardless of wether it is closer to live or not. That's fine too, if that is what rocks your boat. A lot of the MUSIC is going to come through no matter what. But ....

LOTT: Kurt Elling "1619 Broadway". If you think you knew (and, like me, were a little tired of Sinatra's version) "Come Fly With Me", check out this version. Talk about different and hip. My favorite living male jazz singer. Well, Bennett, on a good day; but not too many, anymore.
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