2. cables
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The Science of Cables

It seems to me that there is too little scientific, objective evidence for why cables sound the way they do. When I see discussions on cables, physical attributes are discussed; things like shielding, gauge, material, geometry, etc. and rarely are things like resistance, impedance, inductance, capacitance, etc. Why is this? Why aren’t cables discussed in terms of physical measurements very often?

Seems to me like that would increase the customer base. I know several “objectivist” that won’t accept any of your claims unless you have measurements and blind tests. If there were measurements that correlated to what you hear, I think more people would be interested in cables. 

I know cables are often system dependent but there are still many generalizations that can be made.
mkgus
ieales's avatar
ieales
297 posts
 
@cleeds 
If I hear an amplifier clipping, I don't need to compare to know it.
cleeds
2,065 posts
 
ieales
If I hear an amplifier clipping, I don't need to compare to know it.
We're talking about cables here, and you mentioned your experience with Nordost speaker cables. Are you now saying that the Nordost cables caused amplifier clipping?
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
We all USED to have those variables Michael Green is writing about... They are called TONE CONTROLS. Every preamp had them. Then somewhere in the 1980s they all vanished. To make way for aftermarket cables. With tone contols, no one needed aftermarket cables. So the ’Secret Audio Cabal’ had them all removed from everyone’s preamps so millions of dollars could be spent trying to fix tone problems with cables instead of the good old tone controls.THIS MESSAGE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FOGHORN LEGHORN: "It’s a JOKE son, I say its a JOKE"
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Oh, no @elizabeth is losing all audiophile cred.

If things are too bright or too dull, you need a whole new speaker and amp combination. That’s how you do it. << giggle >>

She’s right. This is why I push people to

  • Invest in good room acoustics
  • Use tone controls,
  • DIY your own speakers so you can get a feel for how you can alter the sound directly,
The use of cables to make basic changes in frequency response is the most expensive and least effective method we use.
Even though not all tone controls are created equal, the audiophile purists is really a financial masochist.

Best,
E

prof
1,741 posts
 

erik,

I sometimes use my old Eico HF-81 integrated tube amp and I quite enjoy using the tone controls.  I don't go adjusting them for every recording of course as that level of fiddling would for me suck the joy out of music listening.   But it's nice to have them to tweak the sound a bit.

Of course, agreed about your thoughts on cables.

As I've mentioned often on the subject:  I have auditioned many of the latest, greatest speakers in the under 20K range, all of them hooked up via highly lauded audiophile interconnects, speaker cables, attached to sources with high end AC cabling...all of that.  And yet I find I get essentially just as stellar sound quality at home, with all the detail and naturalness, and a "shock guests" quality of realism.  How in the world could this be possible using bog-standard cables so dismissed by the cable-elitists?

As you say: paying attention to the things that matter most; good speakers, careful speaker positioning, good room acoustics, etc.I find it much more rewarding, not to mention financially satisfying, than spending thousands of dollars trying to find wires to act as tone controls.
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