[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

:::stands up:::

:::winces:::
 
se
 
 
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Don't knock em till you've tried em. Otherwise you have egg on your face

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

We're opening up a can of worms here Peete

 
The big box chain electronics cables are almost without a doubt Monster Cable. That's their wheelhouse, selling overpriced junk to people who are told they "need" them, and how Noel Lee affords his Ferraris. MITs are not as exotic as they seem. The metals they use are nothing particularly special (mostly silver plated copper), and at least inside the Shotgun and Magnum lines are just zobel networks. It wouldn't cost a fortune at all to make that kind of thing, just a bit of electrical know how. The Oracle boxes I think are a bit more involved, they better be for that kind of cash. MIT has never been known as being any kind of great value, in fact if you're looking for somebody to blame for the current environment of 5 figure cables, well you can lay that blame at MIT's doorstep.
 
That said, Spectral swears by them, and I definitely have respect for Spectral's audio engineering chops. I really don't like Nordost's flatline cables because they are so darn delicate. Also, the Nordost house sound is bass lean and treble tilted, which doesn't appeal to me at all. The stuff that Audioquest sells for a few hundred bucks is decent, but I wouldn't go much further than that with them. Audioquest never changes their wire geometries, ever. They just change names and colors, and they added that silly and useless battery system to make a buck.
 
Brands I like: Audio-Magic, Kimber Select, Kubala Sosna, and Siltech. I've also heard extremely good things about 6Sons Audio, but I have no personal experience with them. In my system I use Kubala Sosna Emotion and Siltech Classic Anniversary.
 

Agreed... a can o worms for sure.
 
MIT's designer used to be Monster's first really good engineer who left Monster when Monster wanted to sell lesser designs for more money. I have some first gen Monster IC's and they are still better than anything MC makes today, not surprisingly.
 
It's hard to argue with Spectral...you may be entirely right about the Zobel's complexity but it's hard to argue about the end result (from where I stand after going through tons of cables over the years). My best purchases (where cables are concerned) have been on closeout specials (all of my MIT stuff was heavily discounted due to newer lines coming out the following year). As for the Zoebel parts the inductor coils used in these IIRC are all custom wound to exacting specs which makes copying them an expensive prospect not worth pursuing.
 
As for the flat line series...I agree they are fragile but with careful handling they do provide a very good overall result with the gear/system I have assembled. I use BH II speaker cables which I had to buy at full cost but I definitely do not have thin bass, nor bright treble....it's a perfect compliment to the system I feel.
 
With cables in general it's tough to figure out what would be suitable from a beginner's perspective since experience and research are what is required to limit costly mistakes. One resource that I swear by is Used Cable dot com...it's an invaluable service IMO for trying without buying while gaining insight what works with your setup and what doesn't. The only drawback to such an approach are the shipping costs and the time involved to reach a decision. A quick way to whittle those choices down however is to research sound sig's for each type, evaluate your system and choose accordingly. The Internet has made such info readily available for anyone who wants to take the time to read (some pretty boring stuff).
 
If one is one a very limited budget skip the box stores and buy from BJ Cable or Markatek (SP ? ) or Mono price....any of those 3 choices will equal or better what any box store has and will likely be better for 1/4 the cost.
 
Peete.
 

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Now if all HDMI cable reviews were like this one
 
http://hdguru.com/all-hdmi-cables-are-the-same-or-are-they-full-test/4373/
 
they would be worthwhile. It tests HDMI cables to see over what length do they start to fail and with what equipment.

 

[Hennyo]

I agree that HDMI cables are the most fake, unethical, immodest product on the market, however that doesn't mean other cables make no difference, not by a long shot. HDMI is primarily Video anyway, nobody uses it for 'meaningful' audio so it's not even worth going over. It's a marketing scandal for business managers and the like who might want one in their cinema at home. It in no way affects what other cables can do and shouldn't have anything to do with how they're thought of.

 

[Willakan]

So HDMI cables cannot make any difference at all, but USB cables and the like are fine?

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

With cables in general it's tough to figure out what would be suitable from a beginner's perspective since experience and research are what is required to limit costly mistakes. One resource that I swear by is Used Cable dot com...it's an invaluable service IMO for trying without buying while gaining insight what works with your setup and what doesn't. The only drawback to such an approach are the shipping costs and the time involved to reach a decision. A quick way to whittle those choices down however is to research sound sig's for each type, evaluate your system and choose accordingly. The Internet has made such info readily available for anyone who wants to take the time to read (some pretty boring stuff).

The parent company of Used Cable (The Cable Co) runs a lending library that can also help one try different brands/kinds of cables to figure out what sounds good and what doesn't. The problems I have with Used Cable are that their prices don't reflect real market value, and the condition of their cables is often pretty poor. Anything less than what they call "very good" condition is likely to be beaten up pretty badly, and yet you may still be paying double or even triple Audiogon prices for it. Doesn't make any sense. If you go to resell through them, unless you are trading in for something else, the prices they offer to buy are basically an insult, a third of what the cables are worth.
 
I'll give you a prime example. The market value of Audioquest's Sky interconnect has flat-lined, and they are now going for under $600 a pair on Audiogon for flawless condition cables, which is actually a pretty good deal. I can guarantee you that Used Cable would still try to sell them for $1200-1500 a pair.
 
The one area where Used Cable does make sense are their new overstock specials. There seems to be loads of perpetually discounted brand new MIT cables, and they also often have JPS, Purist, and Synergistic new with pretty big discounts as well.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

So HDMI cables cannot make any difference at all, but USB cables and the like are fine?

For devices that transfer in block mode like hard drives, all USB cables work fine. It's streaming audio where you need a high quality USB cable.
 

 

[Willakan]

Actually, I would say the people who designed the entire USB specification probably know best and they think such cables are a load of crap (see Sound Science).
As for Gordon Rankin, what a totally unbiased source with absolutely no interests in anything to take you opinions from.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Gordon Rankin?

You might as well consult a witch doctor or your local palm reader.

Though he has a lot of credibility from being around so long. Similar to how everyone takes alchemy seriously because it has been studied for centuries. Someone is bound to transmute base metals into gold because science hasn't proven it impossible, just like how no one has ever passed a blind cable listening test.

Since science hasn't proven it untrue, we should assume that is sufficient proof that magic exists and anyone who disagrees is a "hater."

 

[DaveBSC]

Whatever guys, believe whatever you want to believe. Enjoy your $2 cables. Those of us that trust our ears and experience will enjoy ours.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

Whatever guys, believe whatever you want to believe. Enjoy your $2 cables. Those of us that trust our ears and experience will enjoy ours.

The other side is
 
"Whatever guys, believe whatever you want to believe. Enjoy your $200 cables. Those of us that trust science and experimentaion will enjoy ours"
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Yup. I have absolutely no interest in this debate anymore. It's pointless, as both sides are intractable. We might as well work on world peace instead.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Another genuinely useful HDMI cable review
 
http://hdmi-cables-review.toptenreviews.com/
 
The winner, for obvious reasons is the Monster cable at $35 and because of the supporting evidence I would buy it over the Monprice cable at $3.50.
 
Now, if I was a salesman I would get a copy of that review, show it to customers and I would sell tons of £35 cables, for good reason. If Audioquest found out though, they would not be so happy, but what do expect with a cable selling for $134.75 which cannot do as much as a $15.49 one.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

The winner, for obvious reasons is the Monster cable at $35 and because of the supporting evidence I would buy it over the Monprice cable at $3.50.

I hope you're not being serious.