Radioshack wires.... - Page 2

Nothing wrong with the sound of RS's gold series cables. However, build quality is not so hot... I broke tabs off a male RCA connector just pulling it off the jack. They are constructed more cheaply than you might suspect, and are pretty expensive for what you get IMO.

Fwiw, headphone cables involve higher voltages/current and much lower impedances. Seems likely to me that a headphone cable would make a much bigger difference in sound than line-level interconnects.

The Heartland Interconnects made up of Belden 89259 and Eichmann bullet plugs are my choice. Being a very stiff cable it would not be the choice for tiny cramped spaces. But, the stiffness can be a plus - instead of having your interconnects drooping down and becoming entangled with each other, the cables tend to suspend themselves in seperate, graceful arcs out the back of your components. This creates some space between the cables and helps to prevent harmful electrical interactions between all seperate pairs. However, you'll need to have about a foot or so of clearance between the back of your components and the wall behind to avoid bending them too sharply...

Compared to IC's maybe but not speaker cables. But then again with lower currents wouldn't IC's be more prone to outside influences such as EMI and RF?

Also making generalizations concerning headphone cables are not really valid without reference to IC's if you are using an amp. Plus my headphones don't really sound that great unless i use a source, which connects to my headphone amp with IC's. Maybe a systems approach would make more sense? No?

As a lifelong owner/user of RatShack cables, much of the difference, IMMHO, comes from aspiring to own something better than what is available at the 'company store', but regardless of how I feel about the sound (much debated all around), I definitely feel woefully mismatched using RS cables on my (way) more relatively expensive gear.

You forgot the _colors_...

Don't we all, brother, don't we all... and this is the one fetish my wife has the hardest time dealing with... 'wires' as 'toys'... AND that they ALL don't come from RS.

i understand the point of replacement cables to a certain extent
a cable's ONLY job is to transfer the signal from the source to the heaphone/speaker, NOTHING ELSE so how is it possible to have a cable that is worth $100+? is it made out of some magical ultra conductive material?
copper cable does not cost anywhere near the prices you guys are paying
gold, silver, and nickel (only materials i know in high end cables do not conduct electricity as well as copper

placebo effect anyone?

viva la ratshack!!

Radio Shack cables are not bad at all, not my cup of tea, but IMO they could be a good starting point for audiophiles looking for the audio nirvana, cables IMO is a fancy and expensive sport, and mostly you pay at the end for look and better construction instead of better sound....I have heard and even own a few that are considered better cables, and the performance is pretty similar. I do not like the construction though as they are bulky, and I prefer the Canare for flexibility and star-quad configuration...Right now I'm using Rudi's blueshift K-1, silver plated, and I like them better, but they cost the double or more....

Of course they are not all what a cable can be, but which is??? We are still looking for it, and don't forget that cables depend on the system you have, not everybody can use silver fancy cables in their setups if they tend to be bright and your setup is also on the bright side...and so on....

eyeteeth: I thought of yet another way to make the point - if I'd bought the Belkin cables instead of Radio Shack for my speaker setup, the cable cost would've been $610 instead of $50, or to put it another way, rather more than the speakers they're connecting.

It's all in the system

Good point but then again is any headphone really worth $100 or $500 or $1000. I'm sure that many people would look at your Sr-80's and scream "Placebo Effect" as there is no way they could be worth $95 compared to the normal massumer phones, right?

Radio Shack cables are fine. Before you go spending a lot of money on wires, make sure the rest of your system is top notch first. $500 spent on getting better speakers is going to make a lot more difference to the sound than $500 speaker wire connected to cheaper speakers.

See ya
Steve

That's a bit of a straw man comparison. Most of us here have heard Grados versus department store cheapie phones and acknowledge there is a big, audible difference. Most of us here (except for a few "objectivists" speaking out of their a**) have also heard RS cables versus pricier cables, and the difference just isn't as large. There is a much bigger bang for your buck with better headphones. Same thing with speakers. You read online (not so much here, but more on Audioasylum and Audiocircle) about guys trying to tame +7db midrange peaks in their single driver crossoverless speakers by cable rolling with $700 cables. A lot of times no one has the courage to tell them they're nuts (cables make a small difference, but they will never act as a -7dB tone control). Several hundred dollars is almost always better invested in better speakers, at least in my experience. Cables only get you that last 1%, but they tend to cost a heck of a lot more than 1%, making them a relatively poor value.

This varies from person to person. I found that a change in cables in my system made a 7.3 percent difference, but the cost was only 6.2 percent more, making them a very good value, factoring in of course the current interest rate climate and various possible returns on my money.

With your calibre of gear, Radio Shack cables would be slumming it.

I cannot catch any differences with my 650's or my speakers. I've tried RS cables, Zemo's cables (haven't seen him around for a while), AudioQuest cables, and several cables at a recent meet (Grover and grandenigma's, I believe).

As far as sources, there have been several.. AV-710, EMU-0404, EMU-1212, Music Hall CD25, Dialogue II DAC, Ack! Dack!, various cheap CDP's..

Whatever the case, there was just no discernable difference to me.

From everything I've read, you need some sort of super-resolving system for cables to make a noticeable difference.. and from the prices that I've seen named off for setups like this, they are not likely to be anywhere in my future.

A straw man? Not really. I am not trying to say that cables make more difference than transducers, or even that headphone cables make more difference. What I am reacting to are ridiculous assertions such as "cables only carry a signal therfore there cannot possibly be any difference". That is a statement born of ignorance not experience. How much difference any change in a system will make will be dependent upon the totality of the system and more importantly the interactions (or synergy or lack thereof if you will) among the components. When you take all those variables into account it is pretty easy to see that blanket statements about the differences imparted by components are doomed to be wrong from the start.

The actual value of a cable is also not under debate. Value is an even more subjective criteria, What I consider a good value is probably a lot different than what you think a good value is and extremely different than what Bill Gates thinks is a good value. But, I have said it many times before, as have many others, get the rest of your system in order first then go for the last little bit which will be cables and other tweaks.

Is that 1% or 10%? I am not so arrogant as to presume to tell someone how much of a difference a cable will make in their system. All I can do is relate my own experiences, but if you feel comfortable making that kind of assertion based upon what you perceive as scientific truth, then go for it. As a scientist I find those kind of "truths" distasteful.

Fair enough. I was not questioning the fact that you heard no difference, I was just trying to put that statement in a context that was a little more meaningful to me.

As for my own part, I never really heard much difference among components until I started to get a more stable system. Only when I had components in my system for months and years could I reliably (to me) discern differences among components and tweaks. I still do not hear differences among all the cables I have tried, but I have heard some differences.

As far as the one I did not hear, I would never be some presumptious as to state categorically that they could not hear the difference. the most I could say is that in my system there was no audible difference that I could detect. I always try to keep an open mind about what others hear (or don't hear).

Anyway, enjoy the ride and above all, enjoy the music.