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Problem of compensating with cable a component tone problem?

This thread was actually from a kind of rant by teo_audio in another thread. That post was really the start of a whole other thread. and so here it is.                           
The notion is that some folks err when they buy cables to compensate for tonally odd equipment. Say your preamp is dark sounding. So to may it ll good you buy a 'bright' IC cable. Later you buy a different preamp, and  now your system sounds bright, so you buy a dark sounding speaker cable.. On it goes. all messed up.      
So what is you 'defense' against this kind of error upon error?                       
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To add fuel to the fire. here is a large part of teo_audio original post:                             
""" It’s a careful balancing act of understanding the gear and the cable.

Eg, dark system so you get a cable which exaggerates highs in an edgy fashion and then you thinly you’ve got clarity and balance...but no....

What you’ve really got is two wrongs eq’d out against one another... and the perceived clarity is not signal, it’s actually signal based hash, distortion, and noise.

First the signal is gone missing with the dark gear and then what’s left is distorted into false highs and transients that are bloated and dirty, via the screechy cable. It’s a grotesquery.

Figuring this sort of thing out can take a bit of time.

In the example above, it would be best to start with more neutral gear and then more neutral cables, instead something that plays out like two cars tied together with a rope and each doing burnouts trying to pull each the other way.

When you do it right, then... more music of various quality becomes listenable and you get to train your ears and brain is what is RIGHT, instead of flavored distortion. You have to have the correct signal representation there in order to recognize it, so it’s a catch 22 of a sort. It will take time to lean to hear it.

It’s a big deal, a very big deal, it’s the whole freaking enchilada.

We need more people recognizing these issues in this way.  """
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elizabeth
bigkidz
1,784 posts
 
First I am not sure what neutral sounds like.  I do like harmonic distortion.  I love how my Les Paul sounds like through an old Marshall - see Allman Brothers Filmore East for the sound I like.

That being said, you can influence the sound of any component by swapping out a few resistors or capacitors.  For resistors my favorites are Caddock, Shinkoh, and Vishay.  Capacitors so far my favorite are V-Caps Oil & Copper.  To me this is a much cheaper option that any cable.  You can even get away with caps that are cheaper.  Once you hear the differences, you can tailor the sound to what YOU prefer.  It is really quite simple even if you have little to no idea of what you are doing.  PLUS it is fun to hear the differences and once you know them, then you can adjust the sound as YOU please.  I built a preamp with a selector switch so that you can switch the output resisters on the fly.  That was fund to see the look on peoples faces when they asked, what did you just do.

Happy Listening.
mechans
2,999 posts
 
The problem lies in an assumption.  That your, or any system can produce "live sound" music, from a recorded medium on your system no matter how fabulous correct or perfect any of them are. Live sound BTW is variable for the most part, not always. Think of one venue versus another in a string on tour.

After that all bets are off and all personal preferences should be accepted. There is no one correct answer.  I would go on but I really don't want to aggravate people.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
3,718 posts
 
Well put, @mechans .


ieales's avatar
ieales
297 posts
 
@ghosthouse Spot on!

@elizabeth a larger amp from the same manufacturer may not give the same sound as it may have a different [output] topology. It will most certainly be running a different thermal profile on the same speakers.

ALL cables are tone controls and there is no way to avoid it. As such they alter phase and frequency response. Most speakers have terrible phase response and most users have never heard a phase coherent system so they focus solely on frequency response.

ALL electronics interact uniquely with cables. To build a great system requires experience with live acoustic sound, an understanding of the system failings, what is possible and what cable effects are likely given the electronics and transducers. Even the very best systems fail in many areas compared to a live performance.

Most cable advertising copy is utter nonsense. Anyone can claim anything. Engineers laugh at the claims and weep for the ill educated customer.
inna
5,245 posts
 
Compensating - no, fine tuning - yes. 
Not much to talk about, very simple.
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