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Does extension cable defeat purpose of cable upgrade?

post #1 of 7
11/24/12 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 

If I use an extension cable like the Grado one, does the defeat the purpose of having an upgraded headphone cable?

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post #2 of 7
11/27/12 at 12:03am

A good question - to which I don't know the answer. Shame that no one else has piped in yet.

 

What I do know is that an extension cable can degrade the SQ slightly - based on when I added a 5m Stax (non-ribbon) extension cable to my 4040 Stax rig a few years back (giving a total of 7.5m). I subsequently upgraded that 5m cable to Stax's superior 2.5m ribbon cable. And have deliberately never done a comparison test of the new extension cable because the extra freedom of movement is very important to me - so I simply don't want to know if that extra freedom is at the expense of SQ.

 

Based on my cable experience in general, I would guess that it's all cumulative: So yes, the extension cable will lose some (but not all) of the SQ gained by the upgraded main cable. But in the wider context of your whole listening experience, I wouldn't worry about it. 

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post #3 of 7
11/27/12 at 1:24am

upgraded cables don't have that much of a purpose to begin with, so I think you should be fine.

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post #4 of 7
11/27/12 at 4:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eisenhower View Post

upgraded cables don't have that much of a purpose to begin with, so I think you should be fine.

I would argue that the extension cable does defeat the purpose of an upgraded headphone cable.
Basically, it comes down to, can You hear a difference in your upgraded headphone cable?
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post #5 of 7
11/27/12 at 4:22am
It depends, only if your headphones and system are resolving enough to pick up the difference. Same with cable upgrades for that matter.
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post #6 of 7
11/27/12 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris J View Post


I would argue that the extension cable does defeat the purpose of an upgraded headphone cable.
Basically, it comes down to, can You hear a difference in your upgraded headphone cable?

 

Well if I accept the premise that an upgraded cable improves the sound, then I would agree with you.

In any case, using an "upgraded" cable with an extension cable is pretty silly.

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post #7 of 7
11/27/12 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the input all, makes sense. 

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