Speaker wire is it science or psychology

Allow me to tell you a short story, my non-audiophile friend listens to my stereo all of the time and I do not tell him about upgrades because it is like talking to a roof shingle. Well I upgraded to silver cables and I of course did not tell him, well to make a short story even shorter he asked me if I had replaced drivers or amps or something major because he noticed a big improvement in sound, as did I.

The topic has to be a troll, but please consider the writer's perspective: he's looking for a Phase Linear 700! Man oh man - I sold off that junk about 20 years ago...

Bob - Have you noticed that no one, including you, has provided even the tiniest amount of verifiable evidence that the speaker wire phenomenon is anything but psychological.

Good post Metaphysics; I barely know a capacitor from a dipstick, but I can easily tell differences between wires just by listening, at least when differences exsist within the 20HZ to 20KHZ range. There is nothing unusual or exotic about my abilities either-- many audiophiles can readily do it. Learning critical listening skills is very helpful in being able to do this however. You should try it rather than spending your time debating it on-line. Cheers. Craig.

Mtrycraft, is that you hiding behind the moniker of Stevemj ??? : )

I find this type of post to be nothing more than a troll from some "pseudo-scientific spud". Someone that was truly interested in finding out if differences really do exist would simply conduct some A-B comparisons and decide for themselves. While using similar designs should result in similar results, the smart thing to do would be to try very different designs with measurably different electrical characteristics. This would then either confirm or deny that the source component was load sensitive and if the cables really did produce identical sonic performances.

If someone DOESN'T think that there is a difference, try using some standard 18 gauge "zip cord" and some 12 gauge "monster" type zip cord. Since the "wire blaspemers" claim that there is no difference and have been saying so for appr. 25 years now, you should not notice any difference in tonal balance, low frequency impact or definition, high frequency detail or definition or overall apparent volume level. This "test" should cost you well under $15 if you buy "generic" goods. Since "wire is wire", namebrands wouldn't matter anyhow. This is not to say that one is "better" than the other, simply that there ARE differences.

As an electronics tech by trade, i can neither explain nor understand why cables might have the effects that they do on an audio system or individual component. In the RF regions that i work with, cable lengths and impedances make VERY MEASURABLE differences in most systems. While most disregard the "babble" about skin effect, dielectric absorption, velocity factors, etc.. and say that we are dealing with "audio frequencies" and not radio waves, that does NOT mean that their effects are not audible or that audible differences between various designs don't exist. My ears tell me that they do and under some conditions, the differences are EXTREMELY and BLATANTLY noticeable.

It is also quite noticeable to Nelson Pass, who wrote on this very subject back in the late 1970's. He published this info in an article on speaker cables and "snake oil" in a magazine that was available on any news stand. This can be found, along with a detailed explanation and electrical measurements and pictures taken from his oscilloscope, on the Pass Labs website under "articles".

Since i am not rich by any means, i would prefer that there were NO differences so that i could simply use the cheapest stuff available that would do the job. Unfortunately, that is not the case so i am left to find what SOUNDS the best in my specific systems. While i WILL NOT pay the insane prices that many companies ask, i am not against others doing that and then having them sell it to me for a fraction of what they paid : ) I am also a big fan of "DIY" ( Do It Yourself ) designs and have had pretty good luck with the designs of a few others on the net.

I'm sure that there are MANY Audiogon'ers that are in the same boat and would beg to differ with the stance that you seem to be taking. As such, all i can say is that if there were absolutely no differences between cables, you wouldn't have people on both sides of the fence. It would be cut and dried with nothing left to decide. Since there IS a large quantity ( even non "audiophiles" ) that have heard the differences simply tells me that our measurement techniques are not nearly as advanced as we think they are. Sean
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