Who thinks $5K speaker cable really better than generic 14AWG cable?


I recently ordered high end speaker, power amp, and preamp to be installed in couple more weeks. So the next search are interconnect and speaker cable. After challenging the dealer and 3 of my so called audiophile friends, I think the only reason I would buy expensive cable is for its appearance to match with the high end gears but not for sound performance. I personally found out that $5K cable vs $10 cable are no difference, at least not to our ears. Prior to this, I was totally believe that cable makes a difference but not after this and reading few articles online.

Here is how I found out.

After the purchase of my system, I went to another dealer to ask for cable opinion (because the original dealer doesn't carry the brand I want) and once I told him my gears, he suggested me the high end expensive cable ranging from $5 - 10K pair, depending on length. He also suggested the minimum length must be 8-12ft. If longer than 12ft, I should upgrade to even more expensive series. So I challenged him that if he can show me the difference, I would purchase all 7 AQ Redwood cables from him.

It's a blind test and I would connect 3 different cables - 1 is the Audioquest Redwood, 1 is Cardas Audio Clear, and 1 my own generic 14AWG about 7ft. Same gears, same source, same song..... he started saying the first cable sound much better, wide, deep, bla...bla...bla......and second is decently good...bla...bla...bla.. and the last one sounded crappy and bla...bla...bla... BUT THE REALITY, I NEVER CHANGED THE CABLE, its the same 14AWG cable. I didn't disclosed and move on to second test. I told him I connected audioquest redwood but actually 14AWG and he started to praise the sound quality and next one I am connected the 14awg but actually is Redwood and he started to give negative comment. WOW!!!! Just blew me right off.

I did the same test with 3 of my audiophile friends and they all have difference inputs but no one really got it right. Especially the part where I use same generic 14awg cable and they all start to give different feedback!!!

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?
sautan904
@randy-11

I wasn't referring to a "scientific" or "mathematically significant" test result.  Music isn't math.  Music isn't science.  Music is an art and the appreciation for sonic differences are inextricably tied to the emotional reaction to music in the same way a piece of art will move one viewer and leave someone experiencing the same exact work cold and uninvolved.  A system wired with one set of interconnects could evoke an aesthetic reaction within one listener different from another listener.  My guess is that most of us have been there with this experience in our time as audiophiles.  An example for me personally is hearing the exactitude of notes reproduced by top level electrostatic transducers but being unmoved by the overall gestalt of the music in total.  I "hear" the accuracy, but the music fails to engage me emotionally. It's an intellectually informed experience rather than one of the heart and soul.  I'm always going for the latter. 

If you need the math to substantiate what your ears transmit to your heart then have at it.  Just doesn't work for me.



Double blind tests have a place in medicine, at least that's what they say. They certainly have no place in audio. At least inasmuch as they actually prove anything about a device under test. 

dynaquest said: " Not sure you recent post accomplished anything other than taking another personal shot at me."

The AudiogoN community has many people of many beliefs, most I believe are in the "cables make a difference" category. You and others are not and that is fine. Above, you are accusing me of taking " another personal shot at me." I added a few quotes below from this thread that you made at different times. I am offended by many of your posts because of your tone and condescending attitude. You say that we are being "duped", " fleeced ", "suffering from expectation bias & placebo effect ", " preys on those with some sort of an audio quality addiction that causes them to ignore science and get sucked in by slick marketing, bright and shiny cables and other butterflies and rainbows."

I have been in this hobby for 46 years, have had hundreds of pieces of gear, owned scores of all types of cables. I experiment wilh my gear, my friend’s gear too. I have done more serious listening to music than you have and from my EXPERIENCE, amps, preamps, speakers, the parts inside and cables sound different, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Those results are obtained from actual, long term listening, noting the results and sharing them with others.

Other than rudimentary measurements that were developed scores ago and quotes from a few articles, what has been YOUR experience, regarding the sound of cables in your system?

dlcockrum’s question is spot on dynaquest; "Do you think that your trite and worn out contentions, repeated ad-nauseam, are helpful to anyone, dynaquest?"

Below are some quotes from dynaquest in this marathon thread:

1/4/17 - Think I’ve made my opinions known so I will leave this forum now. If anyone needs the final word, fire away.

... if that was only true

1/4/17 That these exist is almost laughable. That someone would have so little respect for the value of money to buy them is incomprehensible to me. That otherwise intelligent "audiophiles" would fall for the "science" that goes into these WIRES is just funny.

1/2/17 - Crazy-expensive cabeling is proof positive that, on some products, if you overcharge you will sell more to the duped masses.

3/20/16 - From recent posts, it seems like many of the responders are "in the business" of selling audio equipment; that would include relatively expensive cables/wire/interconnects. I can’t help but believe there HAS to be bias in their expressed opinions.

1/18/16 - On the other hand.... who praises the significant, if not impressive, improvements in sound quality that can be achieved by buying very expensive "high end” cables? Two groups. Those that manufacture, distribute and sell these products at a serious profit and those who were talked into drinking the Kool Aid and would NEVER fess up to being fleeced. Actually there is a third group. This group gulped the Kool Aid and are victims of the incedious audio placebo effect that causes you to hear the advertised, albeit impossible, sound quality enhancement.

1/13/17 - Well...perhaps you need to read more than the past ten posts. This thread is NOT about the audio industry nor the audio "hobby" nor audio systems; it is about the audio cabling industry that preys on those with some sort of an audio quality addiction that causes them to ignore science and get sucked in by slick marketing, bright and shiny cables and other butterflies and rainbows.

1/10/17 - Now....if you have nothing of significance to contribute to the subject ($5K expensive cables), why just just sit in the crowd and refrain from useless, personal comments.

And....I really don’t think I am being "snarky;" but feel free to take it that way if it helps you sleep.

2/7/17 - My opinion continues that if you have decent cables to begin with, any improvement in sound quality, if any (and I don’t think there will be any) is going to be so subtle that the only way you will be able to discern a difference is with an instantaneous A/B switch. Hardly any consumer has the capability to do this so improvements are more likely to be the result of expectation bias.

1/24/17 - 5. Expectation bias (placebo effect): It is absolutely amazing what the brain can imagine. Once an “improvement” (new equipment/accessories) is added to a music system, one listens – this is a physical and, of course, mental process. You cannot isolate the brain from the experience for a number of reasons, and the more that is spent, the greater the expectation for improvement. The placebo effect will always be there because the listener/big-spender knows that there has been a change. Since virtually no consumer does, or has the capability to perform, an instantaneous AB test (the only kind that are really valid) on the old/new equipment, his expectation will allow him the pleasure of experiencing superior performance – even when there is none. In almost every case, once very basic requirements are met, more expensive cables, ICs and speaker wire do nothing to improve sound quality. It is science. Wowwow, voodoo magic wire is a scam.

1/23/17 - @ dlcockrum: I may have missed your point but I doubt seriously I missed the point. That point is that before people spend hundreds or (even) thousands of dollars on pretty cables with shiney connects, that come in felt bags and wooden boxes, that they are aware of the insideous power of the subconscious that will lead their ears to justify the money they spent on accessories that are incapable of improving audio signals. That psyco-effect is real. To deny it is sophomoric.


dill.....Really?! What are you trying to accomplish here? Can’t imagine how long it took you to search, cut and paste all those snippets. I think... "Thou dost protest too much."

We would all be better served if you would stick to the subject and not to me.
A trolling we will go, a trolling we will go, hi ho the derry-oh, a trolling we will go.