Question for cable/wire naysayers.....

Different speaker cables, for example, sound differently from one another because each ALTERS the signal giving you the illusion of more air, deeper soundstage, more bass, etc.

If you truly want to hear what your amplifier sounds like, the most logical approach would be to have speaker wire that is exactly the same wire that goes to your amp’s binding posts. Also, the same wire should go from your speaker’s binding posts to its drivers.

One must use some common sense here. Adding some boutique speaker cables does not unlock something magical hidden inside your amp. Also, and I dispise when people use this expression, cables don’t "get out of the way of the music". That’s the biggest load of BS in audio. In fact, it's just the opposite. The differences in cabling you hear is the cable doing something to the signal.

Newsflash: Your audio components do not have $4,000 wiring inside. If you truly wanted to get out of the way of the music, your interconnects and speaker cables would be the same as what’s inside. The sound you perceive to be different is because boutique cabling alters the original signal to the point where it’s so manipulated you hear more of this, or less of that.

I wish I read a post like this 21 years ago. Maybe some young audiophile will read this one.

Indeed

I was a sceptic once. Used blue jeans ICs and SCs..

Now I DIY my own stuff using quality materials. There is an easily discernable difference. I'd never go back.

You nays can throw as much pseudo science around as the cable manufacturers do, just from the other side. I understand that the absurd prices are absurd. But we’re not talking ROI, we’re taking efficacy...

Some say they hear a difference, some say they can't.  The ones who hear a difference claim the ones who can't are deaf, and the ones who can't say the ones who can are just trying to justify their purchase.  I don't recall if anyone ever tried to defend the cost/markup of 5K+ interconnects and 20k+ speaker cables, even if they think they sound amazing.  So that's pretty much it, as far as I can see. 

My perspective is this: there are two separate arguments here, using the same words, and people keep talking past one another.

Many people seem to be against cables because of two main things: high (absurd) prices and crazy, hyperbolic marketing copy from manufacturers. This is often the main knock against cables, once you get through all the posturing and 'electrical engineering' junk.

Those that are for them can often come from the opposite perspective: spending money on something means it's good. More money means more good. And then the idea that if it's a professionally made, special cable, it has to sound good, so they listen, hear a difference, and start spouting ad copy.

I'm too cheap to spend good money on stuff I can make myself. So I experiment and have heard the differences in different architectures and materials while not being too attached to whatever I'm using. If I see a better idea or better materials that aren't stupid expensive, I'll try it and see..

Many naysayers walk in with a contrarian attitude, reacting to silly prices and hyperbole. Many supporters aren't critical enough of what they're hearing or separating cost from performance.

And then the are many like me, who are just curious and play around, keeping an open mind and not getting too wrapped up in marketing or prices. But our middle of the road view, that can accept the truths from both sides while dispensing with their absolutism, is mostly unheard because of the shouting from the fringes.

Huh, does that sound like anything else going on in our world right now?