What do audiophiles want from a cable?


What should a high quality interconnect or speaker cable do to the sound of a system? Make it more transparent? Improve the sound stage and focus? Soften unpleasant highs? Tighten the base? Bring out the mids?

To me, a good cable should reveal more of what is on the recording and more of the true nature of my components. So when trying new cables, I look for more detail and accuracy without becoming cold and clinical. This seems logical, and yet after reading reviews and trying a few of the cables in the reviews, I find that the cables that have received glowing endorsements are not especially transparent or revealing. They modify the sound, but they don’t take me where I want to go. I wonder if the reason I don’t hear what the reviewer heard is that I don’t know what to listen for. Am I too focused on cable accuracy and resolution, and not enough on actual sound quality? Or is it just a case of no two systems sounding alike so why trust a review anyway? Thanks.
mward
randy-11
163 posts
10-30-2016 3:27pm
"by NASA dude, you must mean you live near NASA

your above post is a mix of some truth with untruth"

what’s the diff to someone like yourself, Zippy?


Hi inna,

Whatever Jim decides to do is fine by me. I have gotten my money's worth from these cables many times over. Maybe the Ferox will make them sound, uh, "Zippy"...

Best to you inna,
Dave

Ferox will make them quieter, will increase resolution a little, and the bass will be more poweful. The loss will be in the area of soundstaging and fluidity, but not by much. At least that's what happened in my system. Ferox is a sort of a macho stuff. In any case, give them 200-250 hours of burn-in time after the refill to sound their best.
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Hi Adam (waxwaves): I see you have your Jade Vermeils up for  sale on Audio Asylum Trader. What will you be replacing them with ? Jeff