treebeard1
02-04-2017 11:15am
To me 1s and 0s are just that, but @geoffkait makes a very good point about just being representations of 1s and 0s. That tells me it’s about the source, not the cable. Personally, I think one must consider the resolution of the system. Maybe a difference with $10k components but probably not $2k components.
My primary system would price out at roughly 10k. I bought 3/4s of it secondhand, so I spent a little more than half that much. I’ve done the testing and I cannot hear the difference. And you can buy decent secondhand cable at bargain prices from guys ’upgrading’ their cables. That’s what I did. But I didn’t spend more than $25 for a pair of used interconnects.
Logically, you have to say to yourself that if high-end audio component manufacturers don’t use pixie-dust wire inside their components then I don’t need to either. Something that faithfully carries a signal and rejects interference is the only requirement. And that same metric stands for every connection made in the system. A fancy braided jacket and reams of wholly unsubstantiated marketing jargon do absolutely nothing to improve a signal. The manufacturers know this because they know the science and have done the testing.
If spending up to $5 (w/bulk purchasing) for some braided covering over Belden, or similar quality wire, made a measurable -- by any metric -- difference over jumper bars, don’t you think a speaker company would install them on their speakers in excess of $1000 a piece? Certainly on $5000 speakers, right? But they don’t. And probably because they value their integrity enough not to claim that glossy picture worthy jumper cables open up and warm the soundstage without sacrificing depth or richness of timbre while making their cat happy or [insert more marketing horse**** here]. It’s simply something a company with class would not want to risk.
What you have in consumer audio concerning cable is exactly what you have on the music-making side with the endless G.A.S. people who claim they’re "searching for the sound in their head" when all they’re really searching for is another way to use their credit card.
