[Erieg]

Question, I needed to get the right angle plug on my customs replaced with a straight plug due to how my rig is setup. I purchased a Oyaide straight plug and a guy I know soldered it on for me. Since then the brightness increased by a factor of 3. Did the guy somehow screw it up or is that normal when replacing the plug?
 
 

 

[slowpogo]

I replaced the plug of my RE-Zeros with an Oyaide plug, and I experienced a bit of the same thing. It wasn't a 3-fold increase as you describe, but I immediately thought "brighter" when I first listened - a minor but definite change. The plug I got is the rhodium and silver-plated version - is that what you have? Or do you have the gold version? Silver wire is often said to sound brighter than copper, so it makes sense that putting a chunk of silver in the signal chain - in the plug - might make that same difference.
 
This is why I don't believe people who say "The signal has already traveled through miles of 'cheap' wire before getting to you - so your choice of material will not affect the sound." I easily hear changes just when using a different plug, so I don't know what to say to that.
 
Also, FYI, I'm not aware of any way that a person could 'screw up' soldering on a plug, and the result be an increase in high frequencies. As long as you're hearing music and the channels aren't reversed; and it doesn't cut out or sound static-y when you move the cord; and it stays attached to the cord, he did his job right.

 

[Erieg]

Ok, three fold is an exaggeration. But it is definitely much brighter. It's the gold plated version and I swear up to this point I would have never believed that changing a plug would cause this.
 
Is this going to lead me down the patch of buying excessively expensive cables now that I think they might actually have an effect? Great. My wallet is now gently weeping.

 

[slowpogo]

Well, when I make my own cables, I might get silver wire instead of copper (at least for the signal wire), which adds a few $. I think the various wire materials, and to a lesser extent, different dielectrics, do sound different. But I don't think a $300 silver cable is necessarily any better than the $50 silver cable I made myself.
 
So, it doesn't have to deplete your bank account. I think that within the people who buy crazy-expensive cables, there is something psychological at play, beyond just a belief that cables are not all identical. I think that belief, in itself, is pretty reasonable and not crazy. You can accept that, without going the extra step and swallowing the audiophile marketing kool-aid and believing that the more expensive a cable is, the better it must be.

 

[Erieg]

How to tell the difference between kool-aid flavored cable and an actual upgrade is where my problem would be. I can't solder due to a tremor in my right hand so experimenting by making cables myself is out of the question. I understand the point about cost (be it high or low) but it seems to me to be a guessing game. Trying to go off of what I read on these boards is a path to no where I fear.

 

[nikongod]

If the ground is not soldered properly the music sums and you are left with out of phase components, which generally means artifacts in the upper frequencies. Its an interesting effect on certain recordings, but generally just fuxored.
 
Check the impedances around the plug. If they make sense (right to ground, left to ground, and left to right with nothing hooked up to ground) ignore me until the next time it comes up.
 
Dont feel bad, I had an adapter cable that I could not debug for YEARS because of this. Oops.