The Science of Cables

@teo-audio

Actually, I am sure - It's Not!
But still, enlighten me...Jim

+1vwfan
Well said....Jim

+2vfwfan53 . I have tried many cables and have always come back to my Mogami . Just a well balanced wire all around . It works well with my King Sound King stats , it has underperformed with other speakers though . Some dull sounding speakers sounded , well dull using the Mogami and wires that boosted highs worked better in those cases .

What is the audio equivalent of adjusting “contrast” (like in a photo / image editor)? When I have rejected a lot of cables and power conditioners  (very expensive ones included) it is because I find them artificially boosting what I can only describe as “contrast”. Like in photography, boosting contrast can makes images look better (sharper, clearer, punchier, etc...), but kinda just for an instant. Over the long term, you kinda lose interest in the artificial boost and just want your images (or music) to look (sound) natural. In a sense I find a lot of cables trying to sell themselves on a sonic gimmick of sorts. That said when you find the right cable it can sound so “natural”, “balanced”, “uncolored”, “organic”, etc...

partly i I ask this question and make this comment because I don’t feel I hear a vocabulary around the “sound” of cables that corresponds to my experience. I do agree with the previous comment re: modern tone control... I have noticed that too. But more so in the negative... I find many deficient cables lacking in a proper tonal balance and the most synergistic cables pretty balanced across the spectrum, perhaps with a bit of extra weight in the mid-bass that seems to be my personal preference (or tolerance for a lack of perfect balance.)

@cleeds 

Who cares? Measurementalists are free to conduct their own tests.

I'd expect this kind of mindless quip from you. The OP asks a very rational question that clearly went clean over your head. How do you properly pair components if you don't know what the measurements on them are like? I suppose you'd suggest "Go blindly groping in the dark and sample all the snake oil for yourself" rather than use some basic analysis to narrow your options.

Teo, I'm not sure what stone age you're from. Not only can we measure the movements of electrons, we can measure their spin. We can most certainly measure the motion of atoms with more precision than the human ear. Just because you don't have the tools to do it with doesn't mean it's impossible. The entire reason we invent tools of measurement is because these tools measure with greater precision than our senses do.