Cables or something else wrong?

[Foxchapeliron]

I have an anthem str pre amp and amp, good speakers etc. running a node 2i on Ethernet with tidal MQA’s. I have a 40$ optic cable and decided to try the “amazing” audio analysis 1.5 meter digital crystal coax and their chocolate rcas. Since the node streams all ports simultaneous I can flip inputs quickly and not fall victim to short audio memory of my ears and mind. I am hearing zero difference between the three inputs. Nothing after hours of playing all genres and at very loud levels listening to quiet spots, detailed voice sections and instrumentation sections I know by heart. Is there something I am missing or have set up wrong? The node is fairly basic in setup, I’m running fixed volume level. Str is my volume. I am thinking I am returning the $580 of cables I bought and returning to basic good quality cables and realize it’s a marketing game even though they claim all the science and engineering. It’s no different to my ears

 

[Pogre]

Wow. I'm... impressed.

Yes, take those cables back, it's a scam and complete snake oil. 99.9999999% of the time folks will buy the cables and not even come close to actually testing for a difference the way you did. They all convince themselves it sounds better and help spread the myth! The marketing and placebo effect are what's at play here and gets a lot of people. You might have bit on the marketing but you sir, are not a fool. I commend you for your fairly rigorous testing and honesty.

 

[lovinthehd]

Glad you discovered for yourself the great amount of bullshit in the "high end" cabling. I'd worry if you didn't come to this conclusion personally....

What science and engineering is claimed versus what is real science and engineering are different matters.

 

[Pogre]

And don't let anyone tell you your speakers and system "aren't resolving enough" or that you need cable risers, DAC... or anything else really, without doing some research first. Audioholics hang their hats on truth in audio and dispelling the many expensive audio myths in the industry, like cables. I get all of mine at Monoprice and they perform just as good as any out there.

 

[lovinthehd]

Your room and speakers define most of what you're hearing.....so concentrate on that. Were you just chasing "possible" increases in performance from what you read in the largely bullshit audio media these days?

 

[Foxchapeliron]

Your room and speakers define most of what you're hearing.....so concentrate on that. Were you just chasing "possible" increases in performance from what you read in the largely bullshit audio media these days?

Absolutely I was. Make the sound better, push it to the next level, etc. it’s my hobby and I like to learn and test. I move speakers and subs, read tons of articles and reviews and I bit on one guys testing of these cables. He was extremely convincing in logical discernment of why these cables are good and what he actually heard. I’m guessing he was a paid patron. They are being returned I tried em and actually enjoyed proving it and testing it in front of me on good equipment capable of hearing those subtle improvements. These were not. I will say I like the svs sound path ultra speaker cables. Not budget but not stupid expensive and they clearly got me more detail than my budget 12 gauge low voltage plain wire. They really did improve it. 45’ run I have, vertical then across ceiling and down on a 12’ ceiling. It’s an odd set up but those cables at $90 each with nice ends and good shrink wrap heavy construction etc sound nice. I’ll have them till I’m dead

 

[Foxchapeliron]

The sound paths on the song Helluva by cihanger ciniva : opens with background chatter and deep base. Quiet moving around and odd things happening. I have heard that song 1000 times as it’s fun instrumentation on a good system. I heard a voice I never heard before in the background and it spooked me. I replayed replayed replayed and absorbed how much 3D kind of detail they brought out. My budget wires simply were not getting as much clean signaling through or my soldered bare wire ends were not binding enough surface area to get it all there. Could have been one or the other. Anyway it’s fun finding improvements that you learn from and really fun when you find cheap ones! The str stuff is amazing. Hats off to anthem. Rock solid heart of my system.

 

[lovinthehd]

Absolutely I was. Make the sound better, push it to the next level, etc. it’s my hobby and I like to learn and test. I move speakers and subs, read tons of articles and reviews and I bit on one guys testing of these cables. He was extremely convincing in logical discernment of why these cables are good and what he actually heard. I’m guessing he was a paid patron. They are being returned I tried em and actually enjoyed proving it and testing it in front of me on good equipment capable of hearing those subtle improvements. These were not. I will say I like the svs sound path ultra speaker cables. Not budget but not stupid expensive and they clearly got me more detail than my budget 12 gauge low voltage plain wire. They really did improve it. 45’ run I have, vertical then across ceiling and down on a 12’ ceiling. It’s an odd set up but those cables at $90 each with nice ends and good shrink wrap heavy construction etc sound nice. I’ll have them till I’m dead

You're going to have to expand on that wire experience.....sounds like bullshit to me. SVS cables are more expensive than they need to be, but aren't horrible. They're not magic, tho.

 

[lovinthehd]

The sound paths on the song Helluva by cihanger ciniva : opens with background chatter and deep base. Quiet moving around and odd things happening. I have heard that song 1000 times as it’s fun instrumentation on a good system. I heard a voice I never heard before in the background and it spooked me. I replayed replayed replayed and absorbed how much 3D kind of detail they brought out. My budget wires simply were not getting as much clean signaling through or my soldered bare wire ends were not binding enough surface area to get it all there. Could have been one or the other. Anyway it’s fun finding improvements that you learn from and really fun when you find cheap ones! The str stuff is amazing. Hats off to anthem. Rock solid heart of my system.

Oh not the hidden content....I hate when wires hide content.

 

[Pogre]

The sound paths on the song Helluva by cihanger ciniva : opens with background chatter and deep base. Quiet moving around and odd things happening. I have heard that song 1000 times as it’s fun instrumentation on a good system. I heard a voice I never heard before in the background and it spooked me. I replayed replayed replayed and absorbed how much 3D kind of detail they brought out. My budget wires simply were not getting as much clean signaling through or my soldered bare wire ends were not binding enough surface area to get it all there. Could have been one or the other. Anyway it’s fun finding improvements that you learn from and really fun when you find cheap ones! The str stuff is amazing. Hats off to anthem. Rock solid heart of my system.

Still clinging to the magic cable idea, even after a demonstration proving otherwise..? The only science behind those claims is of the pseudo variety. I mentioned that your testing was fairly rigorous, not just rigorous, and that's because I didn't see you mention anything about a double blind. If your methodology included that it would be even more revealing. Here's an interesting write up involving a double blind test comparing entry level gear and hgh end gear to see if folks could consistently pick which was which.

Matrix HiFi --> Blind testing high end full equipments

matrixhifi.com

 

[Foxchapeliron]

Still clinging to the magic cable idea, even after a demonstration proving otherwise..? The only science behind those claims is of the pseudo variety. I mentioned that your testing was fairly rigorous, not just rigorous, and that's because I didn't see you mention anything about a double blind. If your methodology included that it would be even more revealing. Here's an interesting write up involving a double blind test comparing entry level gear and hgh end gear to see if folks could consistently pick which was which.

Matrix HiFi --> Blind testing high end full equipments

matrixhifi.com

The sound paths brought so much out I changed treble and base levels. They actually did make a difference. I honestly think my bind post connections were part of it and possibly my old wires could have performed better but I couldn’t find god spades to solder to them so I just decided to try svs because of the 45 day try and buy. The change was in a not so desirable path at first till I adjusted the settings.

 

[lovinthehd]

 

[Pogre]

The sound paths brought so much out I changed treble and base levels. They actually did make a difference. I honestly think my bind post connections were part of it and possibly my old wires could have performed better but I couldn’t find god spades to solder to them so I just decided to try svs because of the 45 day try and buy. The change was in a not so desirable path at first till I adjusted the settings.

As long as it's pure copper and the right gauge for the run that's all you need. All cables do is move electrons. Unless your old cables were damaged or compromised somehow. In which case replacing them with something like this would give you the same results.

Monoprice Speaker Wire, Oxygen-Free CL2 Rated, 2-Conductor, 12AWG, 50ft - Monoprice.com

Get the most out of your home audio system with high quality, oxygen-free, pure bare copper speaker wire from Monoprice!This speaker wire features two conductors made of high purity (greater than 99.9

www.monoprice.com

That's all you need, and 12g is even really overkill for my 10 foot runs.

 

[Pogre]

*Punches HD in the chest and begins compressions*

Hang in there! We got an ambulance on the way!

 

[ryanosaur]

Can't believe the Russel hasn't been dropped yet! You guys are slipping. *shakes head disapprovingly

Speaker Wire

 

[TLS Guy]

I have an anthem str pre amp and amp, good speakers etc. running a node 2i on Ethernet with tidal MQA’s. I have a 40$ optic cable and decided to try the “amazing” audio analysis 1.5 meter digital crystal coax and their chocolate rcas. Since the node streams all ports simultaneous I can flip inputs quickly and not fall victim to short audio memory of my ears and mind. I am hearing zero difference between the three inputs. Nothing after hours of playing all genres and at very loud levels listening to quiet spots, detailed voice sections and instrumentation sections I know by heart. Is there something I am missing or have set up wrong? The node is fairly basic in setup, I’m running fixed volume level. Str is my volume. I am thinking I am returning the $580 of cables I bought and returning to basic good quality cables and realize it’s a marketing game even though they claim all the science and engineering. It’s no different to my ears

Yes, Something else is wrong! It is unscrupulous sales people ready to defraud you of your hard earned cash.

 

[Pogre]

I'll actually be a little bit surprised if he can return them. I thought a lot of snake oil dealers didn't do returns. They'll prolly just tell you they haven't "burned in" yet...

Don't fall for that sh!t either. Burn in is another audiophool myth.

 

[ryanosaur]

I'll actually be a little bit surprised if he can return them. I thought a lot of snake oil dealers didn't do returns. They'll prolly just tell you they haven't "burned in" yet...

Don't fall for that sh!t either. Burn in is another audiophool myth.

They'll just end up discounted in the outlet!

 

[Foxchapeliron]

I agree I didn’t need the sound path cables to get better sound but I was in a rush and had done some new 12 gauge runs from the breaker box across my shop and 20 amp receptacles so I was sick of wiring and decided to let someone else make up the ends. I like them for the durable ends and build quality but realize they are not necessary. They are not stupid expensive so I’m good with them. My balanced connections are all monoprice cables and work great. Happy with the decently priced node and life is good once I get a return label for my expensive cable experiment

 

[ciotime]