For those non-believers out there just ask yourselves this obvious question: if you believe that cables do make a difference then why would a USB cable be any different? In fact Audioquest went on record recently that HDMI cables are their single biggest seller. All audiophiles spend hours A-B testing and comparing stock cables with specialty cables. The fact that the likes of Audioquest and Wireworld and Synergistic Research have been around in business for decades speak for themselves. At the last 2 CES shows, some cable manufacturers have even swapped cables in their hotel suites to show the effect of their cables vs other cables - and this is in the presence of the professional audiophile media who listen to such equipment for a living!
Please see my post recently on the Audioquest Coffee. It is a good cable but not an outstanding one. The Audioquest Diamond is a HUGE leap forward - I believe you would not even have to try hard to spot the difference it makes.
Having said the above, I do believe the cable manufacturers do deliberately price their top cables out of the reach of 99.99% of consumers. Why? So that they have a trophy cable that others can lust after but never afford. And if we mere mortals cannot afford the trophy cable then we try to buy into the brand by purchasing one of their cables a few notches below the trophy cable. It's like if you cannot afford Ralph Lauren Black Label why not buy Polo Sport?
I recently tested the Nordost Valhalla 2 digital and analog cables. They were great but were they 3 times better than Audioquest Diamond? Not to my ears at least. I A-B tested them for an hour giving my ear time to rest and also tested them using different materials from classical to rock to jazz to SACDs. I tested Audioquest's top digital cable WEL vs the Aidioquest Diamond - I did not like the WEL. With e WEL everything immediately sounded louder, clearer, spot lit - like switching on a floodlight. It was not subtle. Perhaps my ears were just not sophisticated enough to appreciate the sound (like someone drinking super fine wine for the first time) or it could be that the panel had not been run in enough...
Wireworld vs Audioquest? I tested both the Wireworld Silver 7 and their Gold 7. They are both good - with the Gold markedly superior but also at twice the price. If you re comparing the Wireworld Silver vs the Audioquest Coffee I would say Wireworld. But the Audioquest Diamond is a bargain worth considering, The USB is THE conduit from your very first source so you need to ensure that all the data gets through with the minimum jitter. Better still, if your equipment has the sockets, invest in a master clock. It's like upgrading your entire system in one go. I too was a non-believer in the effects of jitter until I heard a system WITH and without a clock. And if that was not enough I was then dumbfounded that a cable that connects the clock to the transport or DAC (which conveys clock not music data!) itself makes a huge difference to the already great improvement from the clock.
Hope this helps. Happy listening!
