Have cables become somewhat of a snake-oil topic.


I've invested many tens of thousands in high end 2-channel home audio gear and cables. I'm also a musician who has recorded and created mixes in many of the top recording studios in LA, NY and Nashville. These studios most often use the highest quality power treatment, tube condenser microphones, pre-amps, EQ modules, AD/DA converters, compressors, monitors, etc. Obviously, the goal in a recording studio is to capture the realism of the live studio performance for both vocals and instruments, and create a final mix-down that highlights the natural subtle nuances of the performances of each musician.

With that said, my 20 years of informal research inside these studios says that virtually NONE invest in high priced specially stranded balanced interconnects or speaker cables. Instead, various models of a particular Japanese cable is considered the studio "gold standard" and is WIDELY used in the top studios across the country. Now any good mixing engineer is at least AS interested as any audiophile, in all the audio characteristics and variables we discuss ad nauseum in these A-gon threads. So if recording pros are willing to spend hundreds of thousands on electronics and speakers, to capture the natural and neutral sound of a musician's studio performance, why is it that expensive cabling is seen as the snake oil equivalent in the recording industry. (Moreover, I could go one step further and ask why some home audio D/A converters far exceed the cost of the most sought after professional studio D/A converters?.......we'll leave that for another discussion.)

I DO NOT disagree that substituting a Nordost, Siltech, Cardas or various other high end brands into my personal studio rig do not make a difference. There are indeed audible differences between the brands in terms of bass extension, smoothness, imaging, graininess, etc. However, these DIFFERENCES are not necessarily equivalent to an IMPROVEMENT in capturing the natural/neutral details of a given performance.

(I intentionally will not address the mastering process since that has everything to do with radio and marketing execs commercial sales expectations, rather than a true to life presentation of the musical performances.)
jymc
Zenblaster, That is a really good question, and I asked myself that same question as I compared the cords. Read my answer to Charles1dad above, then let me add the following.

I bought the two new cords for my monoblock Cary amps. Rather than put an arbitrary number rating on the difference, let me put it this way. When it came time to return my friends borrowed cords, I took them out of my system one at a time. I took the two away from the amps last, and was just appalled. Pretty much one of those "No, this isn't going to cut it at all" moments. Now, before I borrowed the cords, everything sounded just fine. After hearing what the Cary amps sounded like with the Airsines, then putting the Signals back in, it just sucked all the life out of the Carys. I ordered my two Airsines 3 days later, after I discovered that I was not going to be satisfied until I had recaptured what I had lost. That was a huge step back. If it was 100 with the airlines, it was maybe 65 without them. The Airsines simply turned the Carys into new amps.

The AirSines cost 15 x what I payed for the Signals. Are they 15 x better? Yes, maybe for me they are. Tonight, a used 4' Airsine was offered for sale and I bought it immediately, so once that arrives, I should be in really good shape. It will go into service supplying my Audio Magic MiniRef II.

It is all system dependent. For me, the AirSines distinguished themselves in 3 out of 5 applications. I've got my 3 Airsines now, and life is good!
Brown, think you have captured the essence of this mainia perfectly. You
change to X on a leap of faith, not knowing in advance whether or how it
should make any difference. At all. And at the end of the experiment, you
think to switch back. And at that point, you either find yourself thinking (a)
meh, whatever; or (b) holy shit, I've just unwittingly removed something I'm
no longer willing and/or interested in living without, any capacity to quantify
or explain it be damned. I've found myself in both positions, and am in no
better a position either to explain or predict for the experience. I resort to
Justice Potter Stuart and the "you know it when you see it"
definition of pornography -- principally because I have nothing better to
offer. You never really can know what will make you go all smiley when it
comes to this shit. But I think you owe it to yourself to experiment and find
out. And, in the process, retain the courage of your convictions to tell the
rest of us jackasses to get f-ed when you find it. 'Cause, at the end of the
day, you're the one you're answerable to when it comes to getting all
smiley.... It either makes you happy or it doesn't. Full stop.
Mezmo,
Well stated, personal endeavors are just that, personal. The entire point of
building a system is to obtain the sound you enjoy and prefer for the music
you love to listen to.The pornography analogy fits correctly, when it sounds
right to you, you'll know it.What others think of your choices are totally
irrelevant and shouldn't have any bearing on your decisions.

It's very difficult to place some arbitrary value on things of this nature. If
you find a product that deepens your emotional connection to music and
heightens this involement, buy it and increase your pleasure. Brownsfan
found a power cable that caused a significant improvement in the sound of
the Cary amplifiers and this increased his enjoyment to the extent the cost
was worth it. Nothing more needs to be explained and certainty not
justified. How do you assign a price on contentment? The same immense
fun and happiness I get from my 8 watt tube amp someoone else is
experiencing with their 2000 watt class D amplifier. It doesn't matter how
you get there as long as you arrive.
Regards,
Brownsfan,

Well said! I nominate your last reply as the "Reference Standard explanation":o). I think it is what a lot of people try to convey when making replies, but it is hard to put into words. I agree with it 100%.

Again, very well said.
Brownsfan, in a sense I understand completely what you're saying, but at the same time you're not making much sense. You put together a very high quality system that according to you sounds fine, but after switching power cords in and out the system now has all the life drained from the sound and you're appalled? If for some reason after auditioning the new cables you were not able to purchase them, what would you do? Would you stop listening to music? Would you be forever dissatisfied every time you cue up an album? I cannot imagine that you would respond "yes" to either question. I suggest that you take more time to do your comparison. I realize that as a practical matter this is not always possible. Swapping components in and out without long term listening can be very misleading.

You're very happy with your new power cord, but I'm reminded of the character Don Draper's comment about happiness -- "it's the moment before you need more happiness."