[tomek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus I gotta say, folks, I'm enjoying the hell out of these 'so called' cable differences that I cannot possibly hear. I mean that placebo thing is really working for me today ever since the DHL guy showed up with my VD Master interconencts. In terms of the placebo effect, I'd say that they are safely 20% more placebic than the VD Nites that they have replaced.

Are they 20% more expensive?

Have your wife put a pair in for you without you knowing which it is and let us know how much better they are. It should be pretty easy since a 20% difference seems like quite a bit to me.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomek Are they 20% more expensive? Have your wife put a pair in for you without you knowing which it is and let us know how much better they are. It should be pretty easy since a 20% difference seems like quite a bit to me.

Oh, they're twice as expensive (even in the used market), but that definitely adds to the placebo effect. If I had a wife, I'm quite sure that this is one of those placebos I'd have to forego because my guess is that she couldn't hear it as well ad I can. You see, it is all theoretically impossible anyway. Just ask Steve999. He voted NO! about 20 times (if you count the Negative! and Nada! and all of those other forms of "know").

All I know is that I hear it, clear as can be: it's at least 20% more placebic, but I'm not so sure about how it sounds.

 

[Steve999]

I appreciate your allusion to my deeply held belief. The truth being, I believe those who say that cables do not make a difference; to my mind they have the better end of the argument to nearly a degree of metaphysical certitude. But I freely admit I do not have the knowledge or expertise to prove it, and thus, in many senses, I am in no better position than those who claim that cables do make a difference. Thus, I am willing to entertain opposing arguments in good humor and good fun. Especially because the placebo effect is a very real physiological phenomenon -- those trusting their senses entirely are quite likely to reach an opposite conclusion (just as is the case with burn-in, or the earth being flat). So what I did above was make a little post asserting my beliefs and reflecting the certainty with which I hold them. Just as I am quite certain the sun will rise tomorrow, though I cannot prove it and in fact I know it cannot be proven deductively -- that is, it is theoretically possible the sun will NOT rise tomorrow! But is it TRUE that the sun will not rise tomorrow? NO!

Anyway, this was inteded to be a snippy little post pointing out that I have not, and would never, contend that it is theoretically "impossible" that cables make a difference, just as it is not theoretically impossible that the sun won't rise tomorrow. It's not theoretically impossible that cables make a difference. Nor would I contend that Negative! and Nada! are "other forms" of "know."

They are other forms of NO! NO NO NO NO NO!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus You see, it is all theoretically impossible anyway. Just ask Steve999. He voted NO! about 20 times (if you count the Negative! and Nada! and all of those other forms of "know"). All I know is that I hear it, clear as can be: it's at least 20% more placebic, but I'm not so sure about how it sounds.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus All I know is that I hear it, clear as can be: it's at least 20% more placebic, but I'm not so sure about how it sounds.

My own measurement indicated about 50% more placebo effect with the Master than the Nites. I wasn't completely happy with the Nite interconnect, but the Master Series really cleaned up the part of the sound that I had an issue with (focus and fine detail), while keeping the dynamics and frequency response intact. Not that any of this is real, of course

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch My own measurement indicated about 50% more placebo effect with the Master than the Nites. I wasn't completely happy with the Nite interconnect, but the Master Series really cleaned up the part of the sound that I had an issue with (focus and fine detail), while keeping the dynamics and frequency response intact. Not that any of this is real, of course

The last few weeks have shown that the Placebo effect plays quite a "large" part in the perception of sound

 

[tbuddha]

Give me an extra order of placebo

I had to decide between two interconnects for my office system last week: DiMarzio M-Path vs. Tara Labs RSC Reference.

I have all Tara wires in my home set-up, which sounds terrific. I had the Tara ICs on approval from my favorite brick-and-mortar store, to whom I WANTED to give my business. The Taras look great and feel much more substantial. Most importantly, the Tara ICs were almost twice the price of the DiMarzio.

After a short but careful comparison session the differences were absolutely, positively clear. The DiMarzios were far better (a least with my system). Back went the Tara wires.

That's how the placebo effect works, right?

 

[Large4mat]

I firmly believe that at least 17% of the people on this site don't hear differences between cables.

They should be thankful. The money they save can be used on more music.

For the rest of the folks out there that do hear differences between cables; "I feel you pain". I feel it especially in my wallet. I hear differences in interconnects, digital cables, headphone cables, and gasp......power cables.

I think it's great that you can change cables in a system and tweak the sound so that it works for a given setup. OK; drag me outside the city walls and stone me.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch I believe it was Rotareneg who pointed out that if you think cables don't make a difference, try listening to your system without them.

Wow!!! That means that the only task of cables is to let you hear the system? Then all are alike, as any will let you do the same, any will let you hear the sound, right?

Be careful with such statements...LOL...in that case, I do not agree 100% with that Rotareneg neither........

 

[rhodyavphile]

Cables, whether they are interconnect, power or speaker all have a definitive impact on the sound... Not as critical as the hardware and software, garbage in garbage out kinda thing... But as the pieces come together in a system, good cables become an ever more important consideration in seeking audio/music reproduction nirvana....

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhodyavphile Cables, whether they are interconnect, power or speaker all have a definitive impact on the sound... Not as critical as the hardware and software, garbage in garbage out kinda thing... But as the pieces come together in a system, good cables become an ever more important consideration in seeking audio/music reproduction nirvana....

Ah yes, but be prepared... because if this is indeed true, the sun may not rise tomorrow!

Ok, I'm done. Truce. This is all in good fun, and I can agree to disagree.

 

[zeplin]

I don't know much about the science of cables and if at all interconnects make that much of an overall difference in sound. But, if the Sennheiser after market cables (Zu Mobius and others) make a difference/change/upgrade in the sound, why can't interconnects do the same??
And yes, differences are definitely heard between the Zu and stock cable. This was tested with two HD650's one with the Zu and one without. I, with the help of a friend, did a blind test where my friend presented me with any of the headphones of which I could easily identify which had the Zu and which didn't. I also have many friends who have never heard a Sennheiser headphone let alone know I was changing the cable/upgrading to the Zu on them (they had no idea I even had such a thing as a replacement cable), tell me that there was a definite difference in clarity and spaciousness with the Zu's.

So, my question is, what's so different about headphone replacement cables vs replacement interconnects?

 

[JaZZ]

I agree: the Zu Mobius sounds clearly different compared to the stock cable (as well as the other cables I've tried) -- and there's no reason why ICs should behave differently (which they don't anyway...).