Cables more hype than value?

Danoroo,
There is a thread here, somewhere, where Douglas Schroeder (a reviewer) tried out a high end Van Alstine ABX Comparator Switchbox and it was like a cold bucket of water in the face as it was impossible to tell the difference between amps with levels properly matched but the kicker was the biggest difference was between cables. It was very easy for him to hear the differences.

So use your ears and try out some within your budget and you'll find some that suits your needs.

All the best,
Nonoise

"There is a thread here, somewhere, where Douglas Schroeder (a reviewer) tried out a high end Van Alstine ABX Comparator Switchbox and it was like a cold bucket of water in the face as it was impossible to tell the difference between amps with levels properly matched but the kicker was the biggest difference was between cables. It was very easy for him to hear the differences."

And people wonder why I don't trust audio reviews. So all our amps will sound the same if we match our levels? But our cables won't? No wonder people buy cables that cost more than their components.

I expected such a response.
We're all reviewers of some sort, no? What makes us, here, so special? I tried to find the thread here where he mentions it but couldn't.

My memory wasn't as good as I thought so I went and dug up the article and after quite an exhaustive set up and conditioning, he could discern differences but they were slight. Repeatable but slight. There were enough clues to go on but how many here go to that length?

I'm in no way going full Pete Aczel here but if you if you do match levels and don't clip the amp, the cables will make a bigger difference.

It''s so easy to be an armchair warrior.

All the best,
Nonoise

"09-12-15: Nonoise
I expected such a response.
We're all reviewers of some sort, no? What makes us, here, so special? I tried to find the thread here where he mentions it but couldn't."

It was one of the silliest I've ever heard. It makes no sense. Your minds already made up, so it would be a waste of time discussing the matter.

I'll make 1 quick point. I went over to his website and had a look at a few of his amp reviews. In his own reference system he has a $31,000 amp. And when he compares the differences in sound between them, they are anything but small or subtle.

Its the complete opposite of this.

"My memory wasn't as good as I thought so I went and dug up the article and after quite an exhaustive set up and conditioning, he could discern differences but they were slight. Repeatable but slight. There were enough clues to go on but how many here go to that length?"

Which is it? If the differences are so small, why buy a $31,000 amp? He's clearly not taking his own advice.

I have a good deal of respect for Mr. Schroeder's reviews, and certainly for his sincerity. However, when a single isolated experiment yields results which fly in the face of both technical understanding and the overwhelming preponderance of reported experience-based belief, there are two possibilities:

1)The applicable technical understanding and reported experience-based belief are flawed, for reasons that are unexplained and probably unexplainable.

2)The experiment was flawed, for reasons that are unexplained and perhaps unexplainable.

Which is more likely?

Best regards,
-- Al