What About Loom Theory?

Hi Al:
The principles you refer to are unassailable and indeed important variables in cable selection. One other principle that my ears taught me over the years is that a Nordost cable has a different sound than a Cardas cable and, absent an extreme mismatch, that sound will be consistently audible with a large variety of different components.

The original poster asked for an explanation of what loom theory was, so I provided the only documented source that I know of where it is explained. I'm not promoting it or saying that it's the answer for everyone, just trying to answer the poster's question.

>>Given all of these component and system-dependent variables, happenstances, and dependencies, it is hard to conceive of how, as a general rule, a single-manufacturer loom would necessarily stand a greater chance of being optimal than a mixed set. For that matter, it would seem likely to have less chance.<<

This may be the case, but given that very little is necessarily true in audio, that gives the claim much less interest or force. Where do we stand if we throw out the word "necessarily"?

It kinda sounds like the claim is saying: because there are so many variables and possible combinations the odds of any single set of power and signal cables working optimally in all possible systems are better for a randomly chosen set of wires than a specific loom. How could we test that?

Or, does the claim say that a loom of power and signal cables selected from the same manufacturer has less chance of working better in a specific system than a random set chosen by, say, a monkey? :) 
 

The audiophile world is filled with anecdotal musings. In some ways it is a positive, but it is also a great flaw.

Jtimothya, the intended meaning of the concluding paragraph of my last post would have come across more clearly if I had worded it as follows:

"Given all of these component and system-dependent variables, happenstances, and dependencies, it is hard to conceive of how, as a general rule, a single-manufacturer loom would stand a greater chance of being optimal than a mixed set. For that matter, it would seem likely to have less chance. These conclusions presume that the mixed set is optimized by a combination of experimentation, research (including exploration of what cable types other users of the same components have found to be optimal for use with each of those components), and development of as good an understanding as possible of the technical factors that are involved."

Gpgr4blu, thanks for your comment. I have no doubt that your observation about Nordost vs. Cardas is correct, based on a great many anecdotal reports I have seen, and on their very different design approaches and technical parameters. My compliments on the fact that you have carefully qualified your statement by indicating that your loom experimentation has not encompassed power cords and digital cables. I would emphasize to others that the technical factors, design considerations, and component dependencies that are involved in the transmission of analog audio signals are pretty much completely different than those that are involved in the transmission of digital signals and AC power.

Regards,
-- Al