Who is a big high end cable manufacturer

Mapleleaf-I find it interesting that you refer to drug dealers when this is a hobby about audio. Is there some hidden agenda here?

Before 1980 cables cost max $100 or so.
Now one can find several that top $15,000.
The hype about cables is that they make a difference.
I say spending that same cash on better equipment in the first place is a far better investment. (and using modest cables in the $100 to $200 range)
The modest cables give you 99% of what the expensive ones do, and in relation to what that extra few thousand total can do for your basic equipment, I find the cable 'problem' to be a hinderance to fine audio reproduction rather than an enhancement.
Beginners are bamboozled into thinking they "need" expensive cables. That is a bad thing IMO.

In 1980, equipment didn't have the kind of resolution it has today, so that's a moot point. True, one's money is best spent first on acquiring the best components; if the equipment isn't up to it, the extra resolution provided by top notch cables won't be heard anyway.

I agree (sort of) with Elizabeth that it's a better approach to work up to great electronics and speakers, and hold off on cable expenditure until last. But when you can go that last financial mile, do it!

Hi Dc.

Impossible to remember one cable sound from another if the tests are not done at the same time.

Perhaps this is a useful thought: Listen with your heart. You are absolutely correct when you say it's impossible (for most) to remember one cable sound from another when not done at the same time. That's an analytical process and is really quite sterile if not useful in certain situations.

Listening with the heart is different in that it demands an emotional response where analyzation or reason has little value. It is what it is regardless what the intellect says. Fairly easy to remember your strongest emotional reaction when comparing the different responses. Choose cabling that elicits the strongest favorable emotional response.

Music appeals to the heart...the emotions, not the intellect. I think for a lot of us guys, we have to train ourselves to be sensitive to this. I think it's easier for us to get caught up in the analytical, figure out the whys and come up with "the answer"...ask your wife! Not a very useful process to enjoy music by or for calming your wife when she's had a stressful day. Music never came up with Einstein's theory of relativity but it certainly can inspire.

Hmmm....maybe if we're not successfully relating to our wives, it may be the same reason many of us are constantly and forever buying audio toys but never quite happy.

Anyway, my little (and probably slippery) soapbox. Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers!

Robert
RSAD

>>In 1980, equipment didn't have the kind of resolution it has today<<

BS
LOL