[rusitnpiece]

So what is so flawed about our testing methods as opposed to yours? 

 

[Bullseye]

Hahaha 

 
This beeman458 is hilarious, for stated reasons 

 He takes generalizing to new levels! 
 
And he does not know how to argue... Beeman458, if you want to get to any valid point you should answer to everything that the other person is telling you. You get nowhere if you skip some points you have no idea how to rebate, and the ones you answer you keep repeating.
 
rusitnpiece, I wouldn't expect a clear answer from him. He will just say they are "for stated reasons". (Stated where?)
 
And putting a beer chug emoticon at the end of each message doesn't give us the idea that you are relaxed when answering. It's kind of offering a high five to someone, and no one giving it back. 

 

[beeman458]

rusitnpiece wrote:
 
So what is so flawed about our testing methods as opposed to yours?
 
They've already been stated, over and over and over.
 
Bullseye wrote:
 
He will just say they are "for stated reasons". (Stated where?)
 
In oh so many past comments, over and over and over and over and over........  You may enjoy badgering someone, I don't.
 
It's kind of offering a high five to someone, and no one giving it back. 

 
No.  It's an old school behavior thingy and means here's to getting along with other people's differences, have another beer.  In realtime, people were clinking beer mugs together, with many different meanings to the action, long before the internet and high 5's were created.
 
Part of what you've yet to grasp, I don't care if you choose to accept what I've written.  Why?  What you or others think regarding cables or my musings, doesn't affect what I or others hear.  My point is that you're a militant lot and you need to grasp this point as you're quick to show your displeasure with those who don't hold your mindset and you get all fussy when somebody doesn't agree with you.  I know, I know, you have your tests and I don't.  Having your test results in hand doesn't make your methods or findings correct.
 
What you've failed to grasp, the fact you have your tests and data to back up your thinking, fails to phase me in that you're using flawed testing methodology and flawed premises in which to base your evaluations on.  What you fail to grasp, I'm good that you want to go that way and it doesn't upset me that you've decided your bias thinking is the way to the truth and the light.  Where you cross the line is when you think you have the moral authority to tell others how to think, all because you can't hear what they hear.
 
In regard to the OP's question, I think quality custom headphone cables are a wonderful thing to have and to behold and I'd encourage "everybody" who has decent headphones and knows what they're looking for in a sonic signature, to have their headphones recabled as it will enhance their listening experience.
 
I'll let you or others trounce all over my above with your anti-cable rhetoric as it's obvious you're only wanting a one-way, your way, cut off all positive cable conversation style of conversation.
 
Currently listening to K.D. Lang: "Calling All Angels."

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Hahaha 

 
This beeman458 is hilarious, for stated reasons 

 He takes generalizing to new levels! 
 
And he does not know how to argue... Beeman458, if you want to get to any valid point you should answer to everything that the other person is telling you. You get nowhere if you skip some points you have no idea how to rebate, and the ones you answer you keep repeating.
 
rusitnpiece, I wouldn't expect a clear answer from him. He will just say they are "for stated reasons". (Stated where?)
 
And putting a beer chug emoticon at the end of each message doesn't give us the idea that you are relaxed when answering. It's kind of offering a high five to someone, and no one giving it back. 

 
Contrary to what you may think, I do find beeman's posts to be very credible.  He's remarkably persistent, patient, and relentless in his style.  This is proving to be very annoying for some, but his presence here is amounting to be an important one and I personally enjoy it.  It provides balance.  Those with their egos at stake will benefit little. It's those with no agenda and more likely, the quiet readers here that benefit most as they read both sides.
 
It took me a while to understand why 'beeman' would consider DBT's to be flawed and the whole business of analog vs digital systems of perceiving sound.  It again, took me a while to understand what he's getting at as it relates to the attitudes exhibited by some of the more vocal anti-cable enthusiasts here.  In a sense, he needs to make himself a reflection for these types, in order to bring himself and his message across.  In so doing, he becomes very offensive to some.
 
Uncle Eric has been the least affected since he's been the most level-headed of the lot that I've read here and by a long country mile at that.  He's quite secure in his views and also overall, as an individual.  He's not easily swayed by personal slur that's all too often unintended as such.

  Be that as it may Eric, even with all this admiration on my part, and don't forget my love for your poetic prose, I can't help but sense that you've grown a tad protective of your reputation here and that your open and repetitive opposition to the views of cable believers is more about this and not to mention, your personal inability to detect differences among cables.  I find nothing wrong with this being the case in any way whatsoever.  However, I do have a problem with painting it in an altruistic shroud or getting others to spend their money more efficiently.  Can you or anyone else here really realistically achieve such a thing in the world of audiophilia, or is it really appropriate to do such considering what audiophilia is about?  Even in your own arguments you have to point to self-examination and basic behaviour issues that may account for one's findings in audiophilia, including whether or not cables make a difference.  In the same way, I can't avoid bringing up this aspect of things since we're humans here.  I point at you specifically because of how much I do value your POV.  I hope that, as usual, you don't take it in an unintended way.
 
There's nothing really economical in the world of audiophilia where you have enthusiasts willing to start investing in cables worth hundreds of dollars.  We can go on a long and unending, impractical and impossible mission of trying to validate the worth of each component one wishes to purchase because of his/her satisfaction with the cost/pleasure analysis.  Furthermore, being able to demonstrate differences on an oscilloscope between two pieces of gear does nothing towards comparing their subjective value for each individual.
 
I do agree with Beeman that envy is a strong, hidden and deep motivator for some of the strong opposition one witnesses whenever some choose to publicly share their positive experience with a particular cable.  Another is ego, in that if I can't hear it, then the other is imagining it. The available scientific data to back up such an attitude makes it a truly disruptive behaviour.  No wonder, it's outlawed in most discussion groups here.
 
I'll never understand why a man would come along, kick a dog minding its own business, and then call the dog viscous when it turns around and attacks him.
 

 

[beeman458]

aimlink, thanks for the positive feedback.
 

 
Funny you should mention the dog analogy.

 

[Bullseye]

 
 
Quote:

Contrary to what you may think, I do find beeman's posts to be very credible.  He's remarkably persistent, patient, and relentless in his style.  This is proving to be very annoying for some, but his presence here is amounting to be an important one and I personally enjoy it.  It provides balance.  Those with their egos at stake will benefit little. It's those with no agenda and more likely, the quiet readers here that benefit most as they read both sides.

 
 
Well, I forgot we were in the cable forum (no DBT allowed), etc etc, so it was to be expected someone actually thinking beeman's answers were well founded and not coming from a defensive/repetitive position. 
 
Does it really provide balance if he is constantly insulting "anti-cable" people (being that name already pejorative)? Demonizing all of us with our supposedly evil goal? Is adding to the ignore list and showing how happy he is for having done that really balanced? Blocking other people's opinions because you don't like what you hear? Check back for his posts, he did it. It is showing the other thing around. So don't know what you have been reading...
 
I assure you it is not annoying at all. In fact it is the other way around, I am enjoying myself when I see how he's unable to answer back without falling into the same negative anti cable and positive pro cable people (at least that's the image he is trying to make of us all the time since the first post).
 
The quiet readers are not getting from both sides, as this forum is already blocking one side with its anti DBT policy. If they wanted to read from both sides they can go to the sound science forum, where both sides speak without getting warnings when mentioning DBT.
 
 
 
Quote:

It took me a while to understand why 'beeman' would consider DBT's to be flawed and the whole business of analog vs digital systems of perceiving sound.  It again, took me a while to understand what he's getting at as it relates to the attitudes exhibited by some of the more vocal anti-cable enthusiasts here.  In a sense, he needs to make himself a reflection these types to bring himself across.  In so doing, he becomes very offensive to some.

 
 
Wow, how could I miss that from his posts? (Irony) AFAIK he hasn't answered to any question of other people asking him for his method or for why he does think DBT is flawed or any other question we have asked him without another response other than how evil we are. And again offensive is not the word, it is more like boring.
 
 
 
Quote:

There's nothing really economical in the world of audiophilia where you have enthusiasts willing to start investing in cables worth hundreds of dollars.  We can go on a long and unending, impractical and impossible mission of trying to validate the worth of each component one wishes to purchase for each individual.  Furthermore, being able to demonstrate differences on an oscilloscope between two pieces of gear does nothing towards comparing their subjective value between two or more individuals.

 
 
Are you getting equipment for free? If that's not the case then it is always economical. That you don't mind wasting all that money is a different story, but that someone is filling his wallet due to your interest is part of the business. 
 
Subjective value is dependent on each subject. As so it can sometimes be rationale and others not. 
 
 
 
Quote:

I do agree with Beeman that envy is a strong, hidden and deep motivator for some of the strong opposition one witnesses whenever some choose to publicly share their positive experience with a particular cable.  Another is ego, in that if I can't hear it, then the other is imagining it. The available scientific data to back up such an attitude makes it a truly disruptive behaviour.  No wonder, it's outlawed in most discussion groups here.
 

I'll never understand why a man would come along, kick a dog minding its own business, and then call the dog viscous when it turns around and attacks him.

 
 

Jeez, that excuse keeps getting older and older. We have already mentioned in a lot of threads (even your respected member called Uncle Erik) that envy takes no place in this discussions. Yet you keep coming back at it, again and again. 

 

[Bullseye]

So, as I had read -I think in this thread- that this guy called beeman458- had been banned from another forum, I just checked on his recent activity and found this:
Quote:

What are the other components in your rig?
 
ASUS, Xonar STX, a new power supply, custom 10' Double Helix Cables attached to a Sen HD-650 listening to Red Book CD standard music ripped at 192Kbps, played back at 44.1kHz.
 

 
The thesis of the sojourn was no boxes on the computer table allowed so as to keep additional clutter down.
 

Quote:

Do you hear a sonic difference between lossy and lossless files?

Quote:

No, because I ripped them at 192Kbps so they're pretty much the same size files as they are on the CD.  My understanding, no compression.
 
Never did a lossy comparison.  I read that lossy was bad, so I didn't go there.  Sooooo, no sonic differences.
 
What's your thinking?
 
By the way, does anybody have any appreciation they'd like to show for their headphone cables?
 
???

Quote:

Not a clue.
 
As I wrote, they're about the same size file, by a few bytes, as what's on the CD.  So if there's any lossy going on, it's only by a few hundred bytes.  A 2:15 minute recording is 3.1mb.  A 4:01 minute recording is 5.5mb.  A 4:28 minute recording is 6.1mb.
 
???
 

Quote:

My 9N copper armor gives me complete protection.
 
That's good to read.  Personally, I've lost respect for that crowd so there's no point on my part.  But having lost respect doesn't mean that I can't stop by and read what's being left for others to read.
 

 

Aimlink, is this really the guy you just praised? I guy who doesn't know what a lossless file is? Who thinks a 192 Kbps file is what a CD has?
 
And also a guy who has "lost respect for that crowd"? Does that show how balanced he is?

 
What a waste of time. He doesn't know what he is talking about yet he comes saying how sorry he is for the rest of the people. 
 
I don't have anything else to add. He speaks by himself.
Enjoy your beers... 

 
 
EDIT: Ignore the A's, happened as I copied from other threads.
 
Quote:

What are the other components in your rig?
 
ASUS, Xonar STX, a new power supply, custom 10' Double Helix Cables attached to a Sen HD-650 listening to Red Book CD standard music ripped at 192Kbps, played back at 44.1kHz.
 

 
The thesis of the sojourn was no boxes on the computer table allowed so as to keep additional clutter down.
 

Quote:

Do you hear a sonic difference between lossy and lossless files?

Quote:

No, because I ripped them at 192Kbps so they're pretty much the same size files as they are on the CD.  My understanding, no compression.
 
Never did a lossy comparison.  I read that lossy was bad, so I didn't go there.  Sooooo, no sonic differences.
 
What's your thinking?
 
By the way, does anybody have any appreciation they'd like to show for their headphone cables?
 
???

Quote:

Not a clue.
 
As I wrote, they're about the same size file, by a few bytes, as what's on the CD.  So if there's any lossy going on, it's only by a few hundred bytes.  A 2:15 minute recording is 3.1mb.  A 4:01 minute recording is 5.5mb.  A 4:28 minute recording is 6.1mb.
 
???
 

Quote:

My 9N copper armor gives me complete protection.
 
That's good to read.  Personally, I've lost respect for that crowd so there's no point on my part.  But having lost respect doesn't mean that I can't stop by and read what's being left for others to read.
 

 
 
 

Quote:

What are the other components in your rig?
 
ASUS, Xonar STX, a new power supply, custom 10' Double Helix Cables attached to a Sen HD-650 listening to Red Book CD standard music ripped at 192Kbps, played back at 44.1kHz.
 

 
The thesis of the sojourn was no boxes on the computer table allowed so as to keep additional clutter down.
 

Quote:

Do you hear a sonic difference between lossy and lossless files?

Quote:

No, because I ripped them at 192Kbps so they're pretty much the same size files as they are on the CD.  My understanding, no compression.
 
Never did a lossy comparison.  I read that lossy was bad, so I didn't go there.  Sooooo, no sonic differences.
 
What's your thinking?
 
By the way, does anybody have any appreciation they'd like to show for their headphone cables?
 
???

Quote:

Not a clue.
 
As I wrote, they're about the same size file, by a few bytes, as what's on the CD.  So if there's any lossy going on, it's only by a few hundred bytes.  A 2:15 minute recording is 3.1mb.  A 4:01 minute recording is 5.5mb.  A 4:28 minute recording is 6.1mb.
 
???
 

Quote:

My 9N copper armor gives me complete protection.
 
That's good to read.  Personally, I've lost respect for that crowd so there's no point on my part.  But having lost respect doesn't mean that I can't stop by and read what's being left for others to read.
 

 
 
 

Quote:

What are the other components in your rig?
 
ASUS, Xonar STX, a new power supply, custom 10' Double Helix Cables attached to a Sen HD-650 listening to Red Book CD standard music ripped at 192Kbps, played back at 44.1kHz.
 

 
The thesis of the sojourn was no boxes on the computer table allowed so as to keep additional clutter down.
 

Quote:

Do you hear a sonic difference between lossy and lossless files?

Quote:

No, because I ripped them at 192Kbps so they're pretty much the same size files as they are on the CD.  My understanding, no compression.
 
Never did a lossy comparison.  I read that lossy was bad, so I didn't go there.  Sooooo, no sonic differences.
 
What's your thinking?
 
By the way, does anybody have any appreciation they'd like to show for their headphone cables?
 
???

Quote:

Not a clue.
 
As I wrote, they're about the same size file, by a few bytes, as what's on the CD.  So if there's any lossy going on, it's only by a few hundred bytes.  A 2:15 minute recording is 3.1mb.  A 4:01 minute recording is 5.5mb.  A 4:28 minute recording is 6.1mb.
 
???
 

Quote:

My 9N copper armor gives me complete protection.
 
That's good to read.  Personally, I've lost respect for that crowd so there's no point on my part.  But having lost respect doesn't mean that I can't stop by and read what's being left for others to read.
 

 
 
 

 

[beeman458]

Does it really provide balance if he is constantly insulting "anti-cable" people (being that name already pejorative)? Demonizing all of us with our supposedly evil goal? Is adding to the ignore list and showing how happy he is for having done that really balanced? Blocking other people's opinions because you don't like what you hear? Check back for his posts, he did it. It is showing the other thing around. So don't know what you have been reading...
 
You really do make things tedious in your above, responded to in the below since it's me, a real person, you're writing about.
 
Does it really provide balance if he is constantly insulting "anti-cable" people (being that name already pejorative)?
 
At no time am I using "anti-cable" as a pejorative.  It's simply being used to describe both a group and their behavior or attitude being exactly what it is: anti-cable, and nothing more.
 
Demonizing all of us with our supposedly evil goal?
 
Nobody is demonizing anybody other than to restate what many have stated their goal is, to stop the manufacture and sales of custom or high end cables and altruistically, saving us from ourselves.   And yes, this outwardly stated position does come under the heading of nefarious.  But stating a fact is not demonizing and being overly controlling is evil.
 
Is adding to the ignore list and showing how happy he is for having done that really balanced?
 
Actually, it is.  Part of the growing up phase is learning to ignore people and there's nothing wrong with being happy about ignoring somebody who delights in being a thorn.  We teach our children to ignore irritable people and we ignore neighbors who are intentionally irritable.  No difference here.
 
Blocking other people's opinions because you don't like what you hear?
 
I'm not blocking their opinions, I'm blocking their efforts to be irritable.  Nothing more than we do in real life.  And despite the positive support of the Mods, I'm sure the Mods are happy that I learned how to use the ignore feature.  Use of the ignore feature, in an effort to keep the vitriol down, is a good thing.
 
Check back for his posts, he did it. It is showing the other thing around. So don't know what you have been reading...
 
Just as I've stated that I've posted comments in the past, now you're doing the same thing when you tell another to check with what I've posted in the past.  Very sporting of you.  I don't deny taking delight in using the ignore feature.  And I felt it relevant, for the first few posts that followed, that it was being civil to notify detractors that they were now being ignored so they'd understand why I wasn't responding to their posts.  After that, being that the word was out, the notifications stopped.  Things were getting unnecessarily harsh around these forums.  Use of the ignore feature helps maintain civility.  Nothing wrong with that.
 
Wow, how could I miss that from his posts? (Irony) AFAIK he hasn't answered to any question of other people asking him for his method or for why he does think DBT is flawed or any other question we have asked him.....
 
And I did answer the questions, over and over and over and over.  Enough answering.  It got old.  So now I state that I've answered the question and if you don't like that answer, look up my posts and you'll see that I did, many times.
 
As to my not responding to "all" questions posed to me, there's not enough time.  Tit-for-tat exchanges get longer and longer, as you know, just as my response here is showing.  So forgive my unwillingness to respond to even a full half of the questions or challenges posed; past, present, future.
 
Back to the OP's question; custom cables are good.  If you have decent cans, custom headphone cables do enhance the listening experience.  If you will, custom cables are part of a chain of events and are not a be-all-end-all tool as they're simply part of a chain of events that starts all the way back at the power generation plant where you get your electricity from.
 
Here's to getting along and having another beer.

 

[beeman458]

My 9N copper armor gives me complete protection.
 
That's good to read.  Personally, I've lost respect for that crowd so there's no point on my part.  But having lost respect doesn't mean that I can't stop by and read what's being left for others to read.
 
Ahhhh, yes.  There's that lack of context again.
 
And now the rest of the story.  I was writing how I purposely was staying out of Sound Science and how I respected him for being willing to deal with the crowd there.  His 9N copper armor comment (a joke) was a substitution for "flame suit."  Yes, due to the behavior and comments such as yours and others, I have lost respect for the anti-cable crowd.  Nothing wrong with that.  And considering the conditions that exist, it's perfectly understandable.  Holding onto civility, is the act of a stable person.  In this case, on my part, holding onto respect after what has recently transpired, would be the act of an unstable person ready to go postal.
 
As I've written, or stated in the past, my experience has been with tubes, SS, transports, speakers and interconnects, not formats one can rip a file in.  Now, I've downloaded programs, tested them out, working on the learning curve and have found out there's software conflicts which poor coding causes, which can and does affect music fidelity.  I had never done a comparison between different ripping formats vs CD's (never had need to) and when I did, immediately heard better fidelity.  As a result, I reripped in WAV (1.41Kpbs) and then added additional albums to the library.  I still have three albums ripped in 192Kbps in the onboard library.  The original CD's are at another location and it'll be fun to listen to the differences.  All this is a rational thing to do.  As it is, I'm finding conflict between lossless (WAV or foobar2000) and direct from the CD.  I still have EAC and FLAC to check out but even there, I'm reading much good-n-bad.  The point, there's no pat solution, irrespective your level of experience.
 
In your effort at character assassination (the last bastion of scoundrels), try to keep your sights on the truth; context.  At this point, considering your above efforts at using a "straw man" defense, I'm sure you better understand the benefit of the ignore feature as now your purpose seems to be to stop me (or discredit me/intent to cause me personal harm) as opposed to simply sharing your thoughts with the OP regarding your views on custom headphone cables.  And yes, I understand, they don't do anything for you, so they're not for you.
 
Here's to getting along and having another beer.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Aimlink, no offense taken. I think you're very respectful, too. Look, I can't explain why I don't hear differences. I spent most of my younger years (9-22) playing seven or eight instruments in various marching bands and orchestras. I don't have perfect pitch, but my relative pitch is good. I can dial in brass and woodwind instruments, know when I go sharp or flat and pick out bad notes from others. I still hear live performances a couple of times a week and have listened to lots of equipment. And I still don't hear a difference.

I'm not alone there, either. That might not be a popular opinion with some, but I think that people reading this forum should know that cables don't work for everyone, and that you can fully enjoy good equipment while spending $10 or $20 on connecting them.

Also, having built gear (and quite a bit more when my workshop is done in a few months), I've used the opportunity to focus on what really matters inside. I've tried some fancy RCA jacks - which are nice - but they were the same as the pair I got for $1. I've tried inexpensive Hammond output transformers, but they don't perform like the good ones from Sowter, Electra-Print, and others. Therefore, I think good output iron is important. Likewise quality output caps, but the filtering caps in the power supply don't have to be anything special. Internal wiring doesn't make any difference, but Teflon is nice because it doesn't melt if you accidentally touch it with your iron. Sure, you can spend a lot on custom and boutique stuff, but a lot of it won't change the sound. From what I've learned, amplification circuits are more important than the parts used and transducer quality is very important. It's not just the cables that don't provide a benefit, but also a lot of other boutique parts. I don't think Teflon sockets are any better than the less expensive ceramic ones. Even plastic sockets aren't bad.

You have to critically look at each part and only spend money where it's needed. I do this with everything - you have to work through a calculus of practicality, actual benefit and cost. It's OK to drop money, but there has to be a direct benefit. If some hear the difference in cables and some don't, that tells me that the differences are very slight, if any. Also, since no one has heard a difference in unsighted tests, that tells me that, even if a difference exists, it is very difficult to tell. The reasonable conclusion is to buy the least expensive cables with good construction.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

 The reasonable conclusion is to buy the least expensive cables with good construction.

Uncle Erik says this all over this forum, and I agree 100%.  I can blind test headphone cables, and easily pick out an upgraded cable. However, I can't tell the difference between $200 and $100 cables. My recommendation, is that if you are hearing "wild improvements" with cables, to blind test them yourself. Have someone help you. You might be surprised how little of a difference there is.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Aimlink, is this really the guy you just praised?















 















 















 

Your behaviour here is worth only acknowledgement as being noted.  I'll certainly not entertain it.  As I said, our reflections can be most aggravating and unpleasant when presented for us to see.  Look what beeman has shown up in you!  

  I suggest that you learn from it and not create trouble where it doesn't exist.

 

[beeman458]

FWIW, maybe you anti-cable guys are sonically looking in the wrong direction.  Live music doesn't have the constraints of recorded music and once recorded, stating the obvious, it's no longer the live ideal.  When listening to evaluate cables, you're listening to a very minute select sections of the recording (two, maybe three seconds in length and while in the evaluation stage, overall, you're probably ignoring ninety-seven to ninety-nine percent, if not more of the recording.  As everybody knows, at this level, it's about the nuances.  What it's not about is the actual musical piece itself as you're dissecting the musical piece into fractions of the recording, and you're dividing that fraction into sonic component parts so you can evaluate a cables benefits.  What you're not doing is evaluating the music itself.
 
I don't know how everybody listens to their music but in the case of evaluating the benefit of a cable, you're focusing on air and presents as you're listening for sound reflections and evaluating the depth of the sound stage in the recording environment.  You're listening for instrument/singer placement.  You're focusing your listening efforts on the decay of an individual string.  You're listening to the depth and decay of a single piano chord, trying to separate out each individual piano string the chord comprises of as the sound waves decay in the process.  You're listening to resonance.  You're listening for levels of clipping in the high notes of a voice, musical note or chord.  You're listening to smoothness of individual tones and on and on but you're not listening to the actual musical piece being evaluated.
 
Many times you'll have to play a chord and even if you know which cable you're listening to, you may have to listen, many, many more times to verify that indeed you're hearing more sonic information.  Sometimes I have to ignore my ears and move into the sub-conscious level where the emotions reside and evaluate the emotional response to the change, for confirmation.  This isn't something one picks up on an oscilloscope or DMM.
 
After the evaluation period is over, the critical listening phase is shut down and the enjoyment of the sound coming to your ears begins.  One can't hang in the critical listening phase all the time and not expect to lose connection with reality.  It's about relaxing with the music, knowing that you've made your best effort, based upon environmental considerations, that you have the best sound possible.  Unless willing to do the above, you're not going hear a difference.
 
I hope my above has given some listening insight.
 

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Aimlink, no offense taken. I think you're very respectful, too. Look, I can't explain why I don't hear differences. I spent most of my younger years (9-22) playing seven or eight instruments in various marching bands and orchestras. I don't have perfect pitch, but my relative pitch is good. I can dial in brass and woodwind instruments, know when I go sharp or flat and pick out bad notes from others. I still hear live performances a couple of times a week and have listened to lots of equipment. And I still don't hear a difference.

I'm not alone there, either. That might not be a popular opinion with some, but I think that people reading this forum should know that cables don't work for everyone, and that you can fully enjoy good equipment while spending $10 or $20 on connecting them.

Also, having built gear (and quite a bit more when my workshop is done in a few months), I've used the opportunity to focus on what really matters inside. I've tried some fancy RCA jacks - which are nice - but they were the same as the pair I got for $1. I've tried inexpensive Hammond output transformers, but they don't perform like the good ones from Sowter, Electra-Print, and others. Therefore, I think good output iron is important. Likewise quality output caps, but the filtering caps in the power supply don't have to be anything special. Internal wiring doesn't make any difference, but Teflon is nice because it doesn't melt if you accidentally touch it with your iron. Sure, you can spend a lot on custom and boutique stuff, but a lot of it won't change the sound. From what I've learned, amplification circuits are more important than the parts used and transducer quality is very important. It's not just the cables that don't provide a benefit, but also a lot of other boutique parts. I don't think Teflon sockets are any better than the less expensive ceramic ones. Even plastic sockets aren't bad.

You have to critically look at each part and only spend money where it's needed. I do this with everything - you have to work through a calculus of practicality, actual benefit and cost. It's OK to drop money, but there has to be a direct benefit. If some hear the difference in cables and some don't, that tells me that the differences are very slight, if any. Also, since no one has heard a difference in unsighted tests, that tells me that, even if a difference exists, it is very difficult to tell. The reasonable conclusion is to buy the least expensive cables with good construction.

Ah... no offense taken? Great!  I appreciate that.
 
I do 110% agree that people reading this forum need to know that cables don't work for everyone.  This message is of paramount importance and I'll always be the first to parrot this to anyone who happens to come to me asking about cables and cable-rolling.  
 
However, unfortunately, addressing this very point isn't what these threads eventually turn out to be, is it?  It turns out to be heavily ego driven and about 'I know better than you' or 'I have sympathy for you since you're so fooled by your own mind' sort of exchanges
 
Additionally, no matter how critical you get, there's that subjective side that's inescapable with all audio gear.  None of us are free from it in our audiophile gear choices though some seem to feel so 'free in their minds' that they need to impose their enlightenment.  Unfortunately, the self-righteousness in this regard is astounding to behold at times.  Our audiophile choices are so subjective in primacy, that it's just a feel good thing, IMO, to consider one's choices somehow always better because a technical appraisal may say so or be involved?  Isn't it about what your ears say... it either sounds great or it doesn't, and that's all that matters in the end.  
 
One may say that with a technical examination of the parts and R&D involved, then a particular piece of gear should be worth X.  But then, what if the simplicity does lead to a winning combination that beats the complicated box Y.  Are we charging for pleasure or are we charging for nuts and bolts?  Are we charging for ingenuity of design or are we charging  for sheer nuts and bolts?  I'm not referring to cables here, but the rest of gear that we all spend a lot for and don't spend threads upon threads trying to justifying the amounts we pay for them.

 

[Cymbal Monkey]

Cables are stupid as these voltages, maybe if we were dealing with a mile of cable or 100mv then it'd matter.