What makes people belive so much in cables?

[Mikado463]

Oh yeah or the new Monster? More like Monster on steroids. I hate to admit it, but I have one of their entry level interconnects in my system the Tower between my CD player and my receiver. No need to replace it as it works fine but I won't buy another AQ product.

Agreed, especially when you probably bought it used for pennies on the dollar !

 

[davidscott]

Agreed, especially when you probably bought it used for pennies on the dollar !

Actually, I bought it in 2015 or so to replace my monster interlink 100. It did sound much better but I'm sure the monster cable was old and had problems. I think I paid about $20 for a half meter cable so not too expensive.

 

[fmw]

You can also look up the terms "placebo effect" and "expectation bias" and maybe read up on psychoacoustics. Basically, if someone convinces themselves that a cable is going to make a difference, their mind will give the perception that it is different, regardless of whether or not science shows that there is in fact no difference. Companies selling these cables are preying on the hopes of people chasing audio nirvana but you will never find any double blind tests to substantiate their claims. Sometimes it's the rich who convince themselves that if you spend enough money it must be better and they like the bragging rights. As they say, a sucker is born every minute.

Indeed. I lost my audiophoolery over the concept of digital cables having a sonic characteristic. I knew it was impossible and went to the trouble of testing it. Placebo effect is very real and very powerful. The poster couldn't hear a difference because he hadn't developed any bias. Nothing happens until you read the rantings of high end audio reviewers.

 

[MrBoat]

Indeed. I lost my audiophoolery over the concept of digital cables having a sonic characteristic. I knew it was impossible and went to the trouble of testing it. Placebo effect is very real and very powerful. The poster couldn't hear a difference because he hadn't developed any bias. Nothing happens until you read the rantings of high end audio reviewers.

I find that as time goes on and nearly 50 years in on this hobby by now, I care even less about the audio mystical and magic, or higher-ended aspirations of any sort. I don't even have a bucket list pair of dream speakers beyond what I already own.

For instance, last night, I didn't even bother turning on (I meant to) my main system. I got to fiddling with trying to pair my phone (it wouldn't for the last couple days, within my level of patience) to the cheapie Aiyima pre-amp feeding the Denon AVR, finally got it and ended up getting hooked into a 5 hr bout with random Amzon music streaming (based on one Steely Dan song) while slumming it with the budget 8" JBL monitors. By the end of it all, it occurred to me that I could have been listening to the best speakers in existence and I would not have felt any differently. Everything was hitting just right and by the end of it, I was just musically spent and satisfied. All this with just 12 gauge speaker cable and nanner plugs.

You know it's good if you can't get up from a spot that offers nothing else but the music. No computer screen to look at, nothing. I didn't look at the phone other than to skip a song or to peek at msgs every hour or so. I simply could not pry myself from it, as ghetto as it may appear otherwise. These are the situations I find myself in that keeps me from fixing or improving things too much. I meant to swap the speakers at one point to arrange the tweeters outboard for a change, but there just was simply nothing wrong with the way it was.

I feel so fortunate to find this level of satisfaction with so little. Those that are imagineering their way around what amounts to subatomic hallucinations, may never be ultimately satisfied beyond the actual constant chase of perfectionism that simply does not, or need not exist. While others are chasing unicorns thru cables, I am simply hoping what I have doesn't just die on me and having to try and find it again with something else. Is why I maintain this stuff as if it cost a million bucks.

 

[fmw]

I remember one day my piano coach was visiting at my house. I asked him if he wanted to hear my audio system and he said "of course." I put on a recording played through my high end Stereophile approved system and then I asked him what he thought. His comment was "I like the way he played the left hand." It wasn't about the sound. It was about the music. He had it right.