John Dunlavy On "Cable Nonsense"

No JH, just having a little fun. Remember that is was once proven scientifically that it is impossible to travel at faster than the speed sound. The cables used all "measure" the same, but that only means they are the same for the things measured. Can anyone be sure they are measuring the right things or all things that influence sound. What is "Golden Ears"? How do you measure that? Or is it just Golden Egos?

Why is it that several of the above posts hurl aspersions at John Dunlavy, yet not one post has hinted at any semblence of concern or displeasure with the cable manufacturers? Can someone explain the psychology at work here?

Dunlavy talks about the transmission line properties of the cables he designs. I guess I have not forgotten as much as John Dunlavy because I clearly remember my Electrical Engineering professor saying that an audio cable would have to be many miles long before transmission line properties would come into play. It is at 100's of megahertz that a 1 or 2 meter cable can display those properties. I feel that that we need to investigate better methods of measurement.

One should dig through the archives at AA and read how badly Mr. Dunlavy was "scorched" after making similar comments. One does NOT have to have "ultra hi-end" gear or the utmost in resolution to hear some cable changes while others are minimal at best. Sean
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I hate getting involved with religious debates (although I am in this case), but my own experiences agree entirely with John's assertions about speaker cables. As yet, my system shows no real improvement over 12 gauge wire with any higher end cables that I've tried. However, with respect to interconnects, I've found pretty big differences in many of the low to mid-line cables. In fairness, I haven't tried very many higher end IC's, and it wouldn't surprise me if the differences beyond a certain point were somewhat less than dramatic. However, between cables such as Radio Shack Gold, the MIT Terminator series, and Nordost Blue Heaven (relatively low cost cables), I've found that the differences are clearly audible.

As always, your mileage may vary, and I'm willing to accept that other folks do indeed hear differences that I do not. However, since personal musical enjoyment is my only goal, I'm content to spend a wee bit more on IC's where I do hear a difference, save my money on the speaker cables where I don't, and spend the rest of the time sipping wine and playing music.

Cheers,
Ken