Head Injury, thanks for the link.

I read the thread just now. Has any magazine/web site dared to publish a similar test?

Does this forum have a pass-around section?

The site admin people could collaborate to get a manufacturer or two to send a sample of equipment for testing that could be shipped from member to member that signs up to do the tests.

Some outdoor equipment forums I belong to do this.

Typically, they limit the tests to long-term members that are more involved than the average guy.

They routinely pass around stuff that costs 500$ to 1000$ with no trouble.

That could work with cables at least.

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You need to make a choice, it would seem. However, what about those who can do both, rather than have funds for only one of the two? In your situation, getting more CD's or improving your amp/dac or cans would be the no brainer.

I have found that the Rhodium IC's and Rhodium over silver plated power cable make my amp sound its best. Can't explain it, just the way it is. Sounds are subjective. Everybody likes different music. The same song will do different things to different people. Just like power cables and IC's. If you demo enough cables you will find the right ones for your rig? Some people like Blue Jeans Cables, some what more from their cables. I want more from them. And I know how to get it.

I recommend changing the discussion to how to teach fish to recite poetry, or something.


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Its actually nothing like that at all.

If you are going to take a completely scientific hobby (building amps, speakers, computer, sources, etc, didn't come from nowhere, science is the only reason this hobby exists) and dumb it down to the point of blind ignorance, you might as well just pick your gear based on color, grab some skull candies, and call yourself and audiophile.

We are talking about cables. You pick the right ones they will make your rig sing. How can you measure something that sounds good to you? How do you measure the value a song that makes your toes tap? The point that I was making is that with cables there are qualities you can't measure but they sure make you happy.

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Honestly, of all the arguments the pro-cable crowd makes, this is the one that just rubs me the wrong way.

If there's a difference between cables then that difference will be an electrical property - quantifiable and measurable. If there is some hitherto unknown force responsible, well, that's a Noble Prize waiting to happen. Scientists and universities the world over would be working to find this mysterious property in the name of fame, fortune, and scientific knowledge.

Funny how they aren't. Funny how the only people who talk about this mystery force are the ones who stand to profit from its supposed existence.

Call my a cynic, but I smell a scam.

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What do you mean a scam? Just because I have done the homework and pleased with the results with my rig? What do I have to gain? Nothing! Just sharing my opinion.

Ha, I don't mean you're trying to scam us. I meant that the boutique cable companies, whether through intent or ignorance, are trying to scam us. Sorry if you mistook me.

But the previous point still stands. When the only people claiming that cables make a difference are the ones who stand to profit from them, I get suspicious. Since scientists and universities aren't fighting to discover this force and win themselves that Noble Prize, I can only come to the conclusion that the cable makers are running a scam.

When we apply a healthy dose of cynicism to life, we stand to profit (or in this case save money).

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Whoa, quantum mechanics, that's usually when I have to stop, it's just too complex.

But when you are at this level there are a multitude of other things that are going on that just as well could impact electrow flow. Like the photoelectric effect. A photon hits a part of the conductor, like the bare metal on the RCA plug, and knocks out an electron. It must be akin to an earthquake on this scale.

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Thanks for the link to Patrick's posts.

The thread about his rabbits eating his power chord us the funniest I have ever seen.

Does anyone know why he has been banned?

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Big Poppa, I am thinking of making my own cable.

Do you know how I can give it these mysterious qualities, or are they a trade secret?

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No. The sounds we perceive are subjective, or what the sounds do with regards to our emotions. The physical property "sound" is very much objectified. And the physical property of cables, according to the scientific method, blind tests, and nick_charles's experiment, do not in any audible way affect the physical property "sound".

You're falling back on the same "subjective" and "emotions" argument. That's not what (most) of the "anti-cablers" are arguing against. You can have whatever reaction you want to the sound coming from your cables. That does not and will not change the fact that it's physically identical. Everything you get from your cables, your mind is adding on its own. We are not trying to deny you your emotions. We're trying to explain that those emotions are not in any way tied to the actual physical performance of the cable.

I emphasize physical because that's what's important in the OP's question. You, on the other hand, are emphasizing emotions and subjective qualities because you experience them. They do not, we argue, come from the cables, so cables make no difference.

I really should duck out of this thread. I don't have the scientific background that can truly support the "anti-cablers" and sway "pro-science" "pro-cablers", and I don't have the experience that will convince (or help to convince) "anti-science" "pro-cablers". Also, I feel dirty.

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I'd also like to know the electrical manifestations of the perceived sonic effects. But think of amps: The signal differences among them are minuscule, below any accepted hearing threshold, yet there are significant differences not even disputed by many objectivists (after all sonic differences caused by amps are more plausible than those from cables).

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I make my own cables, but don't sell them. So your statement is at least not entirely true. On the other hand, I don't really talk about a mystery force.
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I've wanted to read a thread on this issue for a long time.