[mbriant]

I'm running this Poll in the General Interest forum as opposed to the Cables forum as the results will be more reflective of the general membership this way.

Feel free to leave comments if you wish....except comments regarding my original spelling of Poll.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant I'm running this Pole in the General Interest forum as opposed to the Cables forum as the results will be more reflective of the general membership this way.

Good thinking, mbriant -- running it in the cable forum might limit the respondents to cable-heads like me.

My vote, by the way, was that interconnects make some difference. I have heard big differences between interconnects before, but, generally, the differences are not as noticeable as, say, with different headphones.

 

[dhwilkin]

mbriant, are you limiting the poll just to interconnects, or does it also includes things like speaker/headphone wire, power cords, etc...?

 

[flashbak]

Mike,
Absolutely they do!

 

[Voyager]

Interconnects do make a difference. A big one. This is most noticable when changing from really cheap stuff at radioshack to something that isn't so cheap. After about $100 dollars, I think that the point of diminishing returns starts kicking in. However, the proper cable can change the sound enough, even if in a small way, to make a good system sound great.

 

[JohnActon]

I agree; in a high-resolution system, I've found that changing interconnects can make as big a difference in sound quality (or bigger) than source component changes. Still not as big a difference as headphones (or speakers), though.

 

[ian]

The important thing is that it is agreed that they DO make a difference. For the record, I voted for big difference

 

[Ross]

My vote is for a big difference. I've heard the same system(s) go from almost unlistenable to fantastic, and back again, just by changing cables.

I would add that, although the difference between cables is not as immediately obvious as the difference between speakers, it is a more fundamental difference, and can radically affect the extent to which you enjoy listening to your system over the long term.

 

[jude]

Maybe I agree with Ross more than I indicate, because I think I'm digging these Taras. Warm yet detailed. Me likey! (anyone else here watch Sex And The City?)

 

[thomas]

i guess i can hear the difference between interconnects, but for now, spending money on them will not provide as much of an improvement as getting a new source or better speakers....

I guess it would be kinda stupid for me to spend several hundred on wires for my system, which is mainly DIY, and the wire inside the amps only cost a few cents...

I found some really nice interconnects made by "audio acostic disigned in USA"... they're cheep chinese imatiations of real interconnects, but i cut them apart, and they seem to have all the same "features" as good interconnects-OFC copper wire, foil sheilding, braided copper sheilding, gold connectors, etc... I did notice a slight improvement in sound over every other interconnect, and they only cost $5/ 1m (canadian, $3 US!)

 

[KR...]

I have tried 8 different cables in my setup, only two of them sound the same, and the rest sounded completely different. The MIT T2's sounded the best, amazing sound.

 

[Ross]

So where have all the cable sceptics gone?

 

[aos]

Cable sceptics are still here. I myself voted for "some difference" because I can hear some. Interestingly enough, cheap stuff that I got for free (we all have many of those lying around), you know, stuff that sells in dollar stores, it outperformed my home made cable with 24k goldplated nonmagnetic connectors and some Japan-made hi-purity shielded cable and some entry-level IXOS (supposedly brand name) I got just for kicks. But the difference was small. My cable however can be routed right by power supply cable and there's no buzz whatsoever. Cheap cable generates very loud buzz - logical since it has no shielding.

"Outperformed" is subjective. Maybe headphones or amp have too much treble and the "good" cheap cable rolls it off. Someone else might have expensive silver-plated cable that (probably) attenuates treble less than other frequencies and brings the "airiness" into the music (read: corrects a flaw of their amplifier/headphones). So cable is used as a cheap (or expensive) equilizer. I'd buy a decent neutral cable and spend rest of the $$$ to get a component that doesn't have flaws in the first place.

 

[Rotareneg]

I skeptical that the differences between two different uber-expensive cables is an actual improvment, IMHO they may actually be degrading the signal, but in such a way as to make the music sound better, kinda like tubes vs. solidstate.

Plus there's also the possibility that there is an electrical (capacitance, and whatnot) interaction between your cables and the things it's plugged into. A cable that sounds good on one system might sound bad on system with different, but otherwise equaly "good" equipment.

Don't forget what kind of wiring that signal has to go though before and after it gets to your $1,000+ interconnect, not to mention the incredibly tiny wires that extend from the voice coil in your headphones to the cable.

 

[acidtripwow]

I voted for a big difference after installing my MIT 2s. It was like making a tube change in my Micro-Zotl. I can hear more details than I heard before and a smoother overall sound.