[goodolcheez]

Answer to question #1, due to labor costs.  It will cost the manufacturer more to go through all that process and time.  As for the rest of your questions, I didn't read them so don't bother me i'm busy
 
The solid silver core cable took me good 500- 700 hours before it started to shine and get me analytical metallic sound.   Try not to move these cables around too much or bend it or stress it. The sound can change, negatively.  You'll need burn-in again for it to thaw out again.
 
As for the Wireworld Oasis-6 RCA cables ($109), it didn't seem to need much burn in at all. Sounded incredible right out of the box.  Still sounds good.
 
 
cheez

 

[x838nwy]

Answer to question #1, due to labor costs.  It will cost the manufacturer more to go through all that process and time.  As for the rest of your questions, I didn't read them so don't bother me i'm busy

cheez

As far as i'm aware, it' only a matter of plugging the cables to a machine and switching it on. Surely if cables as selling at high 3 figures US (even 4 figures in some cases) then surely this would not add significantly to the selling price. Moreover, they can simply offer a "factory burn in" option for a price or something?

I must say I'm with se on this - he sells cables and has done so for a while, so i guess he knows his stuff. I use his cables on my lcd3 - unaware of his views prior to yesterday, mind - and hi cables work very well imo. So i think he knows what he's talking about.

As for not bending the cables or whatever, i see how one can easily damage some cables by over-flexibg them and so forth, but surely just moving them around?? What about headphone cables or even mic cables in studios? I'd think it's important not to put i/c's near power cables or transformers (?) but that's about it(?) if the sound changes when one moves cables, why are only negative changes observed? Were they optimally arranged to start with? How was this arrangement achieved? Pls. Let me know; i'll arrange mine and report on results.

 

[goodolcheez]

^ I donno man. The analytic and metallic sound signature was lost on those same songs after moving the cable and some flexing. I really loved that sound. Incredibly good.  For solid cores, especially the silver, BE CAREFUL WITH IT.  Don't do any bending. Leave as is f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  I don't know about headphone cables... as I have experience with Mini and RCA interconnects for my source and speakers.
 
 
cheez
 

 

[Bob Sireno]

I wrote the article for Bound for Sound. The difference in cable-influenced sound is measureable as long as one measures the frequency response where they listen and don't fool themselves into thinking that measuring the electrical signal of the cable is what they need to do. You need to have a high end system capable of reproducing sound accurately. I used a pair of Legacy Focus speakers, a pair of Parasound HCA-2200 mk.II amps, and a Joule Electra LA-200 preamp. A $1000 Best Buy stereo won't be sufficient to hear any subtle differences or to measure the air movement. You can use a hand held dB level meter mounted in a spot close to where you normally sit. Do not move this as doing do would invalidate the comparison. 
 
My favorite comparison was to replace a pair of Kimber Kables between the preamp and amps with other cables. Try it. Borrow some cables from your local audiophile store and test this for yourself. No need to theorize on how stupid or gullible other people are. You can become your own voice of authority.
 
Get a frequency response CD, DVD or generator and play it trough your system at a level of about 85 dB (pretty loud). Record the reading at each octave starting at 20 Hz, up to 20,000 Hz. You can add more frequencies' to make the test more accurate. Record the results. Then change a pair of cables to a different brand, or different price range  Repeat. Look at the results.
 
If you don't have access to a high end stereo ask various store owners if you can test using their equipment. I never met an audiophile shop owner that wasn't interested in sonic truth.
 
 

 

[Speedskater]

  I wrote the article for Bound for Sound. The difference in cable-influenced sound is measureable as long as one measures the frequency response where they listen and don't fool themselves into thinking that measuring the electrical signal of the cable is what they need to do.
.....................................

So while the electrical signal to the loudspeakers stays the same, the sound at the listening position changes. Either that's magic or poor measurement technique. I'll go with a poor, low resolution, hard to repeat measurement technique.

 

[Bob Sireno]

I'm saying that if you want to measure the sound you do it in air, with pressure level meters. You measure what you are actually hearing, If you hear a difference you can measure the frequency response at your ear. If you really want to be a scientist, act like one.

 

[liamstrain]

  I'm saying that if you want to measure the sound you do it in air, with pressure level meters. You measure what you are actually hearing, If you hear a difference you can measure the frequency response at your ear. If you really want to be a scientist, act like one.

 
Measuring the signal as Speedskater suggests doing is less error prone than SPL meters and microphones - which vary widely with placement, angle, and any other number of factors (and typically have a wider margin of error). He is right in that if the signal is identical (and there are no LCR differences in the cable), then there is no reason for the speaker to produce different sound. 
 
But certainly you could record the two signals at the listening position and compare them as well. You would just have to be very careful and use well calibrated equipment. Several ways to skin this cat. 
 
There are also many many threads devoted to this topic in the "Sound Science" sub-forum. 

 

[bfreedma]

I'm saying that if you want to measure the sound you do it in air, with pressure level meters. You measure what you are actually hearing, If you hear a difference you can measure the frequency response at your ear. If you really want to be a scientist, act like one.

Sorry, but that is simply incorrect. Open air vs, electrical measurement brings along a bevy of environmental issues that can impact open air. Most of these including temperature, air pressure, and altered room acoustics are highly variable.

Additionally, an SPL meter is generally no where near accurate enough. If you want to attempt something even marginally relevant scientifically, you need a calibrated microphone and a log of the environmental conditions that you can later use to evaluate any differences in the readings between sessions.

Or you can measure correctly by using the signal.

 

[Bob Sireno]

Cables "burn in", the extent of which depends on the cable build. The insulator can have capacitive effects unless it is pure air, the wire itself may have few or many crystal junctions, where electrical pressure works to create the shortest pathway over time, leading to a longer burn in. Ion impurites in the wire can cause jitter.

 

[bfreedma]

  Cables "burn in", the extent of which depends on the cable build. The insulator can have capacitive effects unless it is pure air, the wire itself may have few or many crystal junctions, where electrical pressure works to create the shortest pathway over time, leading to a longer burn in. Ion impurites in the wire can cause jitter.

 
I completely disagree with everything in that post in regards to audibility but I'll leave it there.
 
Would be happy to discuss it more in the Science Section where it's possible to have such discussions without violating Head-Fi rules.