[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chops All I have to say is that I highly doubt that Monster Cable, KimberKable, Cardas, Analysis Plus, Sraightwire, and all those other major companies made their millions just on myths and psychoacoustics.

Why not? It happens all the time in other areas than audio (e.g. psychic hotlines, the placebo affect with drugs, etc).

Another example (audio related) -- Bose. They are highly overpriced and often crappy, so wouldn't you say they've made their millions on myths propagated by advertising?

BTW, there's more to cables than sound... capacitance issues, shielding, overall quality of the cable and connectors, good looks, etc. And of course, people who have an expensive system often want expensive cables to feel like everything matches price-wise and quality-wise -- absolutely nothing wrong with that. The only area subject to debate is sound, and that's where I have my doubts.

 

[Orpheus]

you know that the diamond on your wife/gf's finger is worth a zillionth of what you paid for it? (blame it on the de beers)

you remember that war that was fabricated out in the ocean about 1/2-1 century ago cause some media tycoon just made it up? (sorry, not good at names... but i think you know what i am talking about)

you remember the hysteria that was caused when "War of the Worlds" was printed?

you'd be surprised what people are willing to believe if one sets one's mind on it.

EDIT: ha ha.... yes, Psychic Hotline is the perfect example. (they recently got sued big though..... so i think they're going under.) and yes..... BOSE.... all marketing. yup, Hearst sounds right. you remember the incident?--it's been a long time since i read about it.

 

[usc goose]

william randolph hearst?

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vertigo-1 I've not really heard a silver cable that was liberally brighter than a copper cable. Most silver cables on the other hand have had greater treble extension.

What does extension mean?

Does this suggest copper cables are rolled off in perspective?

 

[D-EJ915]

he means that it's frequency range extends farther up than copper

1066!!

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by D-EJ915 he means that it's frequency range extends farther up than copper

I'd love to see a few measurements (but I know I never will)...

 

[D-EJ915]

haha...."the copper cable tops out at about 5.0*10^8Hz whereas silver tops out at about 18.2*10^15Hz"...lol

 

[pigmode]

The few silver cables I have owned were not only extended in the upper registers, but that extension had such a stong effect on the overall balance that the first thing that comes to mind is the word bright. Thus far I've found the trade-off to be a thinner midrange. The Grover ICs I currently have are more moderate in that sense, yet that extension is still there to some extent.

If I wanted sweeter mids, I wouldn't look at silver.

 

[Sean H]

I don't buy the "treble extension to be the cause of brightness" thing. Humans can't hear much above 16khz, not to mention at 20khz. At those frequencies our ears aren't nearly as sensitive to those tones, and what instruments that are able to hit notes that high are way down in level or are not sustained very long. Brightness is usually caused by emphasized frequencies somewhere from the upper mids into the mid and lower treble range.

A are conductor of copper and silver may measure the same response but it's when you cover them with loads of **** around them, in different geometry configurations with different types of connectors, is where you will start to see "cables" measuring differently.

 

[kuma]

I think material used for conductor alone can't determine how they sound at the end. It seems many other variables influence the outcome.

As for the measurements, you can probably get the stats to a certain point, but after that, you gotta start listening.

i have heard various good copper, silver, silver/copper as well as bad ones.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean H I don't buy the "treble extension to be the cause of brightness" thing. Humans can't hear much above 16khz, not to mention at 20khz. At those frequencies our ears aren't nearly as sensitive to those tones, and what instruments that are able to hit notes that high are way down in level or are not sustained very long. Brightness is usually caused by emphasized frequencies somewhere from the upper mids into the mid and lower treble range.

Hate to say it, but the idea that a cable could emphasize certain frequencies is a little more far out than the idea a cable could roll off frequencies (which maybe could happen in extreme cases of capacitance issues with the cable).

These are not transducers, they're electrical conductors -- they do nothing but conduct electricity.

Look at it this way -- imagine you've got input and output jacks on a headphone amp. Between the input and output jacks are nothing but a bunch of thin traces on a circuit board, with some electrical components in there that have tiny, thin leads on them. I can't conceive how connecting a silver cable to the input and output jacks would do anything with those tiny, thin circuit traces and aluminum component leads in between the two. Not to mention when the signal passes through an op-amp, which contains some almost microscopic transistors, etc. You want to put a thick cable on the input and output, what's that gonna do?

 

[braillediver]

I went from Audioquest Copperheads- a low end copper cable to AudioTruth Lapis X3- High End pure silver cables and the difference was pleasent and very noticable. The silver cables were brighter and fuller in the higher frequencies.

What do measurements tell you about sound? Frequency responce is only a small fraction of the actual make up real sounds? How about Phase angle across the audio band? Where does a sounds attack and decay come into play when using a spectrum analyzer? How do you measure Timber, Pace, Rythm and Harmony with a spectrum analyzer?

Have you ever listened to music through a spectrum analyzer? And a spectrum analyzers impedance would probably be linear across the audio band where headphones or speakers wouldn't be.

They still use human vision to check the quality of displays because the human eye is more discerning than any automated equipment made. The human eye can check more parameters more accurately than machine vision.


Mitch

 

[yidimsum]

For a speaker setup, I like combining silver and copper to get the right balance. I've been using silver ICs for the source to preamp, copper ICs for preamp to amps, and silver speaker cables. It seems to strike a good balance between detail and body behind the sound. For source to headphone amp, I like silver.

 

[usc goose]

just curious, has anyone tried solid gold ICs? cause i've seen what some of your stuff is worth and damn... it's possible.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

We got to hear Cardas Golden Reference's at one of the previous meets at Hirsch's Headphone Museum...I mean, his condo...I think he had it hooked up to the...Blockhead?