[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlhm5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif When an objective source does DBT testing of cables, and Blue Jeans loses out to the high priced spread, then and only then would I think of paying more than $20 for a cable.

See below for rule against discussion of cable DBT's.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=229729

 

[ericj]

Yup. Science aint welcome in these parts. If you can prove it, we don't want to hear about it.

 

[flecom]

if the wires were properly designed and impedence matched with the equipment the wire wouldent have a sound... wire shouldent have a sound becuase its just a means of transporting electrical signals, it shouldent change them in any way...

does that mean that all wires sound the same? no... there are some very poorly designed cables that do sound like poo

the sennheiser 580/600/650 headphone cables are a great example... if you strip one it looks like the same wire thats used on $.99 earbuds...

so of course changing them to anything that isnt as bad is going to change something... but that dosent mean it should cost $300... the most expensive wire i have ever used is some nice silver plated copper twisted pairs... i buy it bulk per roll and that wire comes out to cents per foot really... plus good connectors are like $3

you do the math

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup. Science aint welcome in these parts. If you can prove it, we don't want to hear about it.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=229729

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flecom if the wires were properly designed and impedence matched with the equipment the wire wouldent have a sound... wire shouldent have a sound becuase its just a means of transporting electrical signals, it shouldent change them in any way...

I think one of the best things I ever read was on one of the rec.audio newsgroups, by Bruno Putzeyes (sp?), ex-Philips digital engineer and one of the founders of Grimm Audio, who stated that as an engineer, he knew that cables shouldn't sound different, but that he did hear differences. This bothered him of course, and he speculated that impedence mismatch(es) were the primary cause for this. Some cables are designed to deliberately alter frequency or other response characteristics (what is in those MIT boxes? etc.).

BTW Phil, I didn't see any reference to the dreaded D-word since you first link posting... I was under the impression that they weren't allowed in the cable forum, but were more or less fair game elsewhere? Hmmm....

 

[Televator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup. Science aint welcome in these parts. If you can prove it, we don't want to hear about it.

on the contrary... here's proof that objective scientific proof can/is allowed to gather a solid following here on HeadFi

(no, this has got nothing to do with cables, but it still is funny

)

 

[Pars]

LOL! That was great!

 

[Dreamslacker]

IMHO, the differences, if any, are similar to why headphone amplifiers that we build/ buy general improve the sound over an in-built headphones driver chip you get on a player.
I think that the difference in sound has got to do with how much distortion is produced when the driving stage attempts to drive the cable akin to how well an amp drives a pair of headphones.
So theoretically speaking, an ideal driving stage should allow your interconnects to all sound the same regardless of whether they're zip-cords or US$13K MIT's.

As an example, my buddy recently acquired his second rig and the source was an Eastsound E5 CDP. He was using the Kimber Selects KS-1020 interconnects between the E5 and the integrated amp. He also has a pair of KS-1030's.
In the past, when we used the 2 pairs of interconnects on other CDP's, the differences in sound was very subtle. But swapping the pair of cables when using the E5 on the setup made a huge and instantly audible difference.

When we replaced the E5 with a Creek CD60 on the same setup, the differences in sound became very subtle again. So I firmly believe that the differences in sound caused by cables are due to how well the driving stage can drive varying loads.