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Materials of Interconnects - Page 2

post #16 of 25
9/2/05 at 12:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoZX
A lot of people tend to forget this. There are some people who are ready to shout placebo when someone says they heard a difference in upgrading their cables but they don't seem to realize that the placebo effect works both ways.
Also, if people claim not to hear a difference, there is no test that can prove that they are not telling the truth.
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post #17 of 25
9/2/05 at 12:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by meat01
I just made a pair of interconnects out of 16 jumbo paperclips, scotch tape and 4 RCA connectors and could hear no difference between the 2 materials. Since paper clips are not the most conductive material, one would think that they would sound muddy or veiled. This was not the case. They sounded just as good as my copper ones. Absolutely no difference what so ever. I compared various CDs and tried like hell to hear a difference. So much so that I found myself straining to hear a difference, rather than enjoying the music.

edit: The paper clips were straightened and then soldered end to end.
What, no pics?

Personally, I don't believe resistance is one of the top factors in how cables sound. Look at those Magnan cables, some of which use bronze film over plastic, and whose speaker cables are so resistive they significantly reduce volume levels and can't be used for more than 7-8 foot.

Capacitance matters a lot in IC's, and your paperclip IC likely doesn't have much capacitance due to its naked, simple design. There are plenty of DIY recipes that use naked wire stuck on packing tape, etc. Your paperclip IC also has minimal dielectric/jacket, which helps with dielectric absorption, etc.

But remember that cable manufacturers have to sell cables that actually can survive normal usage...
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post #18 of 25
9/2/05 at 1:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Also, if people claim not to hear a difference, there is no test that can prove that they are not telling the truth.
Also, if people claim to hear differences in cables, there is no test that is allowed to prove that they are not telling the truth.

Why would I bother making a cable, test it and then not tell the truth? I would have surely posted that the volume was lower or it did not sound as good.
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post #19 of 25
9/2/05 at 1:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilS
Also, if people claim not to hear a difference, there is no test that can prove that they are not telling the truth.
If they really think they can't hear a difference then they are telling the truth.
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post #20 of 25
9/2/05 at 1:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by meat01
In your experience, do different connectors alter the signal?

from my personal experience, a resounding yes. IMO the key is a combination of everything. Not signal, Id call it the overall sonic characteristics. I used some gold plated 1/4" connectors on one of my experimental senn cables and the sound was negatively affected compared to its nickel and silver plated brothers.
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post #21 of 25
9/2/05 at 1:59am
Thread Starter 
It still seems that most people here agree that silver makes the overall experience better, no matter what material the female RCA connector on the amp or CD player is. What about the material of wire from the PCB to the female RCA connector? That is what I don't understand.

10 people can try out cable X, even though all 10 people have different headphones, amps and cd players, with different female RCA connector materials, different headphone cables, yet they all agree it improves the soundstage, bass and other things.
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post #22 of 25
9/2/05 at 2:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by meat01
Also, if people claim to hear differences in cables, there is no test that is allowed to prove that they are not telling the truth.
Tests are allowed and are conducted all the time; we just don't discuss them on this forum for reasons that have been discussed elsewhere.

Quote:
Originally Posted by meat01
Why would I bother making a cable, test it and then not tell the truth?
I wasn't suggesting you weren't telling the truth. I was just pointing out a limitation we face in general in evaluating comments by people about differences in cables. Some of the limitations go both ways; some only go one way.
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post #23 of 25
9/2/05 at 2:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by meat01
It still seems that most people here agree that silver makes the overall experience better, no matter what material the female RCA connector on the amp or CD player is.

* * *

10 people can try out cable X, even though all 10 people have different headphones, amps and cd players, with different female RCA connector materials, different headphone cables, yet they all agree it improves the soundstage, bass and other things.
I found the silver cable that I tried in my system - which was very pretty, and more expensive than my plain old copper cable - to not improve my listening experience. I went back to the copper one.
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post #24 of 25
9/2/05 at 3:39am
FWIW i found a set of radioshack gold edition interconnects laying around yesterday (3ft, looked like coax cable, $15-20?) and compared them to monster interconects (8ft shielded, leftover from a car system, $70)

cheap cable comparison if you will... anyway the monsters clearly have a larger soundstage than the radio shack. but the radio shack interconnects clearly reproduced more high frequency detail(not brighness) and were faster in bass response and impact.

but in comparison the soundstage on the radio shack felt as if i was listening within a tunnel and all the music was being projected from ahead. while the monsters depth was broad and even behind me as if i was listening in a virtual room, the instrument seperation is much more apparent.

so it was a compromise either way but i ultimately remain using the lazy but expansive monsters for now. if a good interconnect can mate detail, response, and soundstage then (sigh) i completely understand the demand and high prices... i had to make a somewhat depressing SQ compromise yesterday only b/c i wanted to continue to expereince a more 3d soundstage. that was with headphones, with speakers where soundstage is measured in meters it would have been much more obvious.

also a powercord swap for my amp recently yielded gains across the board with no negative side effects. im a believer
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post #25 of 25
9/2/05 at 10:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
There are plenty of DIY recipes that use naked wire stuck on packing tape, etc. Your paperclip IC also has minimal dielectric/jacket, which helps with dielectric absorption, etc.


But remember that cable manufacturers have to sell cables that actually can survive normal usage...
Next up, I am going to make an interconnect with bus wire and tape or heat shrink. This will also be a naked conductor with minimal dielectric and will be more durable.

Hmm, naked wire with minimal dielectric/jacket sounds a lot like these



Quote:
I wasn't suggesting you weren't telling the truth. I was just pointing out a limitation we face in general in evaluating comments by people about differences in cables. Some of the limitations go both ways; some only go one way.
I agree these tests go both ways and I am just trying to listen to differences in interconnects, not even which is better.
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