[xnor]

Quote:

Would you be so kind as to describe the sonic differences between different cable materials, (leaving aside connectors) in terms of frequency characteristics, noise levels and timing issues as I can accurately measure all these characteristics in a system in use (not just scopes) to within a few ps or a few 1000ths of a db across a 20 - 20K range, and have done so for Silver, SPC, Stranded copper and Solid copper. We can compare these findings, I can also provide music samples created using very different types of cables, it should be trivial for you to tell these apart as some cables were unshielded 77c monoprice jobbies and others well made shielded solid copper or silver, thanks in advance.

No answer also is an answer. 

 

[milosz]

I will pay anyone $500 (five hundred dollars)  US who can reliably (10 out of 10) identify 1 meter of silver wire vs 1 meter of similar copper wire interposed between a headphone amp and the headphones in a double blind test, providing they will pay me $500 if they CAN'T.
 
In other words, headphone amp is cabled to the test box by a .25 meter jumper of headphone cable of your choice, the test box has a relay in it, in the test box are eight conductors: two pair (for stereo) of 14 gauge solid copper 1 meter in length and two pair of 14 gauge solid silver 1 meter in length. The relay selects which pair is in the circuit.  The test box is wood, long enough to contain the one meter wires stretched flat. The test box has a headphone jack on it.  You plug the test box into your favorite amp and plug your favorite headphones into the test box.  You supply the music and the D/A converter if you want, or I can.
 
A third person  switches the relay from another room in A/B/X fashion, and writes down "silver" or "copper" for each trial.   You get 10 tries. 
 
You supply the silver wire, the .25 meter input jumper,  I will do the rest. You have the right to refuse to participate after inspecting the test setup if you feel it is somehow not right. You also have to come to Chicago, where I will hire an impartial third party to conduct the test, hold the money and judge the results.  Decision of this third party to be final.
 
 
 
 

 

[kingtz]

 
Quote:

I will pay anyone $500 (five hundred dollars)  US who can reliably (10 out of 10) identify 1 meter of silver wire vs 1 meter of similar copper wire interposed between a headphone amp and the headphones in a double blind test, providing they will pay me $500 if they CAN'T.
 
In other words, headphone amp is cabled to the test box by a .25 meter jumper of headphone cable of your choice, the test box has a relay in it, in the test box are eight conductors: two pair (for stereo) of 14 gauge solid copper 1 meter in length and two pair of 14 gauge solid silver 1 meter in length. The relay selects which pair is in the circuit.  The test box is wood, long enough to contain the one meter wires stretched flat. The test box has a headphone jack on it.  You plug the test box into your favorite amp and plug your favorite headphones into the test box.  You supply the music and the D/A converter if you want, or I can.
 
A third person  switches the relay from another room in A/B/X fashion, and writes down "silver" or "copper" for each trial.   You get 10 tries. 
 
You supply the silver wire, the .25 meter input jumper,  I will do the rest. You have the right to refuse to participate after inspecting the test setup if you feel it is somehow not right. You also have to come to Chicago, where I will hire an impartial third party to conduct the test, hold the money and judge the results.  Decision of this third party to be final.
 
 
 
 

Hasn't someone already made this challenge for $1 million?

 

[khaos974]

Except that the 1,000,000$ challenge has no penalty if you loose, and no one has done it yet.

 

[xnor]

Ha ha. 

 

[BIG POPPA]

But did the one putting up the money back out? That is what I understand. How old is that challenge again?

 

[ffdpmaggot]

Milosz, I would revise your plan a bit, if you let the tester change the settings, excluding the wire being used, you could REALLY get screwed over, a pair of 8 ohm headphones at full volume would sound louder with silver than with copper, silver is more conductive, quality won't change, just volume.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

Asking people to identify the unknown in an A/B/X strains auditory memory a bit too much.  Instead, just present the listener with a system, then once they get acclimated to it, play a song telling them that you may or may not have flicked a switch changing the cables.  Ask them to identify whether ya did or not.  Rinse and repeat a few times.  This way you're more directly addressing if cables can impact the sound at all.

 

[ffdpmaggot]

Like I've said, silver has less resistance than copper, theoretically with a low impedance pair of cans, playing at a high volume, the difference between .5 and .55 ohms of resistance in the cable creates a noticeable change in volume, furthermore, the longer the cables, the more pronounced the effect. Lets say silver is 1.1 times more conductive. With cable measuring less than a foot, that difference in negligible, with cable that are miles long, 10% more conductivity makes a big difference, because if we lose .1 Db per foot, and the cable was one foot, no one would be the wiser, at 1000 feet though, the silver wire delivers 100 more Db. You need to come up with a way to test the quality specifically, adjusting the volume to compensate for that extra volume.