Where can I get educated about cables?


I'm still relatively new to this "hobby" compared to most of you it seems, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I've finally gotten to the point where I am considering purchasing cables, both for IC's and speakers, but I don't know where to begin.

Here's the deal- I read alot of reviews, talk to dealers, and read threads both here and on AA, and while everyone genuinely seems to want to help, I hear alot of talk about "impedance" and "capacitance", "six-nines', etc, when they talk about various cables. Now, I'm not an electrical engineer (I'm a commercial HVAC tech by trade), but I do know a little basic electronics, and am comfortable with a wiring diagram, so I am familiar with these terms.

Ultimately, I'd like to understand how to choose a cable, and why. I'd like to know how a cables characteristics will affect the sound with my equipment, and I'd like to know what cabling changes to make if I change a different part of my system somewhere down the road. Please don't misunderstand me- I do not believe I will find the perfect combination by simply using a magic formula of some sort. I'm just looking for information on the basics to get me headed in the right direction so I can make an informed decision, and hopefully save myself some grief (and cash) along the way.

Against my better judgement, but as an example, I'll tell you that I have a Sonic Frontiers Line1, a Bryston 4BST, and PSB Gold i's. I borrowed some different IC's from a local dealer, and heard the differences between them. BUT WHY? I wanna know why! Why did cable "XYZ" sound different than cable "ABC"? And what if I changed preamps? Then what? Or my amp? This could get really expensive trying cable after cable after cable, without knowing what to look for or having a frame of reference to start with.

Please, if anyone knows a source of info, a book, a site, or an actual person who can help me, let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, if you have experience with my particular COMPLETE setup, not just the individual pieces, your input would probably benefit me here as well.

Thanks for your time.


subcoolman
Right here, that's where. Subcoolman, I take it you trust your ears, and you strike me as someone not easily fooled. And you already know about Audiogon. You're set! One of the very best aspects about this site is probably the risk-free and convenient ability to try different cables in your own system, on your own time. I appreciate your wanting to 'know answers' to your questions, but in the final analysis, all that matters is getting some wires that sound good to you in your system and that you can afford.

Audiogon is ideal for this. Cables are always plentiful around here, and cable shipping is cheap. There's not much to break or go wrong, and you can swap them in and out of your system and A/B them without too much difficulty. Any cable you are interested in, you will quickly begin to see a 'going price' on it if you look regularly in the for-sale sections. Just stick to models that have been on the market for a little while, and are from recognized brands - in any reasonable auditioning time frame, you really cannot lose on buying wires this way. Just set aside a little 'cable fund' to experiment with and start getting some candidates in for auditioning. As you make you choices, turn around and sell the losers for what you bought them at - they might well work better in someone else's system.

Don't be hesitant to get your feet wet - it's the only way to get a feel for what you're dealing with, and you'll never be able to hear anything but a fraction of what's available anyway. Unless you're one of those audiophiles who fancies himself in constant pursuit of the mythical 'state-of-the-art', it shouldn't be too long before you've found a suite of wires that sound better than what you had, that you're happy to stay with for a good while (at least until you've completed that next round of component upgrading and get itchy again!), and you won't have had to spend a fortune coming by that knowledge.
Some dealers will let you audition equipment if you give the dealer a deposit.
Listening with your own ears is the best education.
johnny7
I appreciate all of the input everyone has given me, including the emails sent outside this forum- Thanks! I've been doing some checking, learning, reading, and finally, listening! I found a local dealer who will let me audition his broke-in display cables right off his floor systems, two sets at a time, and I've begun "the search". I've also checked many of the above mentioned sites and sources and all I can say is there is more info out there than I thought! I just didn't know where to look.

Thanks again everyone!

Jim

You're Welcome Subcoolman.
Best of luck in finding apropriate cables for your system.
Cheers!
Subcoolman you asked:
The reason cable performance changes from one placement to another has a great deal to do with the primitive technol ogy the industry is married to. Every time a given cable is inserted in to an electrical device the cable reacts to the load the device is presenting, change the load and the cable sounds different. In other words, the designs are very unstable. The cause has very little to do with capacitance,impedance etc. these measurements were developed by AT&T back in the 30's for phone line service across the country, I do not think your audio cables are thousands of miles long. Electromagnetics and resonance are the real issues that are not being addressed. Cable conductors could have 60 nines purity,but without the proper field technology all thoes nines are irrelevant. Bad cable design is the major reason why audio systems still sound like audio systems. So if you feel like a novice take a ticket and get in line with everyone else.