[Starfire]

So I've been reading about upgrading cables, and just had a hard time believing there could be that much of a difference, so I decided to experiment on my HD280s.
 
I guess some might ask why bother on a cheaper phone like the HD280, but I've owned these for years, and for quite a few of those years as my only headphone so I know how they sound with my music.  Also I recently purchased D5000's so wasn't so afraid to mess up the 280s, I was planning on selling anyhow.
 
I bought some wire 26 gage Teflon Silver coated from navships, and some gold plated interconnects, upon disassembly I noticed I could easily add a 1/8" connector directly in the headphone so cable switching would be easy.  The cable can be multipurpose since I was able to just terminate each end with a 1/8" plug thanks to the addition of the jack in the headphones.  The cable is litz braided and about 8 feet long, I didn't add any protection since this is just a test for now.  Also I rewired the whole headphone from driver to connection, so everything is now the new wire.
 
The results?  I could tell a difference within 10 seconds of listening with the new cable, everything is clearer, crisper, and more detailed, highs sparkle more and I can hear more detail in about everything, from Tori Amos's voice sounding like I'm sitting at a concert to the crunchy detail of Testament's guitars, I am impressed!  Also soundstage and separation were vastly improved.
 
There is simply more sound, things I never noticed in songs.  I did try a pre-made 1/8" interconnect cable from my computer and the sparkle and detail was reduced, though still better then the stock cable, I've always hated that curly stock cable anyhow.
 
So I guess I'm a believer, it's not placebo, there is a difference.  I did measure the resistance of the stock cable, the computer interconnect and my homemade cable.  The stock cable had a 2.5 ohm resistance, the computer interconnect measured 2.2 ohm and my homemade cable measured only 1.6 ohms, even though it was much longer, whether or not that translates into a audible difference I have no idea.
 
I would love to cable my D5000's but they come with a nice stock cable so I'm not sure there will be improvement, but the 280's sound so much better now that I'm not selling them anymore!
 
Here is a picture, obviously I need new pads also!
 

 
 
 

 

[kyoshiro]

Yep cables make a difference! Im a believer too. Didn't believe it could make a difference until I actually tried different cables myself. 

 

[wakibaki]

You changed the cable, had a listen, and now you're a believer?
 
Did you try a switched arrangement where somebody else does the switching and you have to identify which cable is which sight unseen?
 
If you didn't you're just adding to the noise surrounding this subject, making it more difficult to get to the truth of the matter...   but then you knew that anyway, didn't you?
 
You... believers.
 
w

 

[Iniamyen]

You don't need to provide this much data when none of it is sufficient "proof" for a non-believer to be convinced.
 
What you've done is basically written an essay about how much healthier Big Macs are, compared to Whoppers, and provided a bunch of anecdotal tasting data as evidence of this.

 

[Starfire]

No I haven't but I know my music through these headphones.  Also I do plan on building a little circuit that will use an arduino to randomly switch a relay between two cables so I can simply push a button and it will pick a cable.  I'll call it the cable game LOL

 

[wakibaki]

I don't understand. Whoppers don't taste nearly as good as Big Macs, doesn't that mean they are healthier? What does an anecdotal taste like? Can you get them at Wendy's?
 
w

 

[Head Injury]

This thread would be better (just as uninteresting, but more honest) if you didn't use "Experiment" in the title.

 

[Pingupenguins]

Now I was chastised for the same reaction to Navships SPC on the DIY cable gallery. So I will add this to my list of SPC lovers, the 4th. People say SPC is "out of phase" and "colored". I thought the same as this user when I started to make cables and my friends had the same impressions as this user and myself. 
 
What I can say though is my cMoy BB v2.03 only provides more volume, not a better tone as I had hoped. Oh well!