Cables

[Pwner_2130]

Who thinks cables matter? I have found that i can't hear the difference between
a $45 Monster speaker cable and the plain-jane speaker cable from Radioshack. Does anyone know if the high priced speaker cable is worth it?

 

[avaserfi]

From what I have read and heard personally its not about spending a lot of money on cables its about getting good cables that are built well. For this check out bluejeanscable.com they sell good stuff for cheap. Better then monster and far less then half the price...

I think you will hear the same from other people on the board. This is where I heard about them after all.

 

[BMXTRIX]

BlueJeansCable.com and www.monoprice.com are about the only places I buy cabling from. Monoprice hits that magic between providing some well built cables for bargain basement pricing, while BlueJeans will always deliver quality for a fair price.

When I do most of my installations, I go with stuff I make custom on site, using Planet Waves cabling, but this is typically because I don't want to guesstimate the cable lengths prior to an install.

The key in all of this is quality for the dollar and not getting ripped off.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Who thinks cables matter? I have found that i can't hear the difference between
a $45 Monster speaker cable and the plain-jane speaker cable from Radioshack. Does anyone know if the high priced speaker cable is worth it?

Well, it is worth it to the company that sells them But, not the consumer.
Bias controlled testing of the past shows no audible differences between comparable cables. A 24ga is not comparable to 12ga or 16ga, hence they can be different.

 

[indcrimdefense]

i have either bought or demoed cables from monster (m850 rca & xlr), audioquest (copperhead xlr, king cobra rca, jaguar rca - analog interconnects, digital avm3 & avm5), kimber - 8tc speaker & can't recall interconnect, rivercable (analog - gold plus rca & xlr, digital - gold plus, speaker - starflex), & tara labs air something or other xlr, & either have been able to tell no difference or preferred rivercable to anything else i have purchased or demoed. i do think quality cable matters, but it should not cost what most cable companies want to (over)charge for it. i found out about rivercable from this site & have been very happy with all of their products & will buy from them again in the future.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I've heard that monster cables sound appreciably better than standard cables, but not until after you've allowed for a thorough 'break-in' period.

 

[Warpdrv]

I've heard that monster cables sound appreciably better than standard cables, but not until after you've allowed for a thorough 'break-in' period.

good one there buckeye....

 

[skizzerflake]

Cables matter but not nearly as much as cable sellers claim. It's important to have well built cables with good connectors and heavy enough speaker wire. Clean contact surfaces, can make a huge difference. It's not a bad idea to periodically clean and reconnect all of your wires and cables because a small amount of dust or corrosion can be a big sonic detriment. As for expensive and super-expensive cables, interconnects and speaker wire, you go down a weird road there. My theory is that once you have spent $1000 for a pair of 3 foot interconnects, cognitive dissonance won't let them NOT sound better. Unless you have a real well developed feeling about this, the good looking Radio Shack cables will do quite nicely.

 

[Ampdog]

Pwner 2130,

It would have become clear by now that one should not waste money on this cable thing. It is, in fact, one of the biggest hype-producing areas in audio.

On this very site you will find a very good and thorough investigation of cables, if you go back to Home, select Pro-reviews, go to Cables and Switchers and select Cable DIY-shootout (apology for not giving a direct route). To sum up, I have done dozens of tests similar to the above before I joined this forum, and have never found any half-decent audio cable, interconnect or speaker, where properties like inductance and capacitance come even close to having any effect on audio - one is talking about typical domestic lengths of some 10m (30 ft.). (E.g. some interconnects bandied about as "low capacitance", had that parameter higher than most, etc.)

The message is: Don't waste your money. Nobody is saying that cables have no effect; we are talking of audio. Also one does not advocate bell-wire; as other members said, at least buy good quality connectors etc. But go to the above reference.

And oh yes; if I do not step on to too many toes: There is not really something as cable burn-in, di-electric settling, gas discharge or whatever (I have used cable both in audio and at 150 MHz r.f. - different types, of course!) Respect for what folks report as audible, but hearing is subjective. Such tests cannot be realistically done by doing a simple once-off comparison only - it is far more complicated.

Sorry ...there you have a screen-full of well-intended advice, simply in an effort to stop you from wasting your money. But this business can just sometimes get a little sick.

 

[pikers]

Like anything, cables are a part of the system that can limit performance. Although cables cannot make equipment perform better than it's capable, it can be a limiting factor if not chosen wisely.

That said, there is a certain cap that makes sense, given the level of gear chosen. Frankly, it takes pretty good gear capable of resolving deep detail (audio and video) to make a cable swap noticeable. This is often why people say "there's no difference"--because in their system, there isn't.

Some of the most fun that can be had (if you're inclined) is to make sexy-looking and good-performing cables that are comparable with Tributaries, Monster, et al. However, there is something to be said for the predictable reliability and build quality of a well-made interconnect, and that piece of mind is worth money IMO.

 

[Bassman2]

Speaker "wire" (cables my ***) can shift some frequencies around and sound different from one another but not better or worse, except on your particular system. But the same "cable" will be different on each system. And the differences will be very small. So you will just as likely prefer a cheap wire over an expensive one of the same size. It's about capacitance and inductance matching NOT "quality". This is just about the only thing I know for sure about audio because I researched it years ago as a musician.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And to make matters worse, you could like one thing about one cable and something else about another! Like the bass on one but the softer highs on the other. Just get the monoprice and be done with it. IMO of course.

 

[davidtwotrees]

Don't know about sound but they sure look..

HOT!
Being the shallow, self centered person that I am, cables make a difference in looks. I often linger by my rig just gazing at the perfect cable job behind the rack. The red diamond pattern of the Encore II StraightWire Sacd analog interconnects, the red tech flex on my powere cords from element cable, the black and red tech flex on my Canare 4S11 speaker cables, the white cable with purple terminations of my Blue Jeans SubWoof Cable.........
So, does it sound better than the stock red and white cables? Pffft. I don't know. But it sure looks cool........

 

[Ampdog]

Bassman2,

This is an honest effort to find out why certain things are often reported, even though according to basic electronic theory it is as impossible to happen as fitting a Ferrari with a bicycle braking system and expecting it to stop. It is not a slugging match (you might be bigger than I am!), but I would like to get more detail if I can, also as you normally post reliable reports. It is not about trying to prove that you must have been mistaken as things always seem to turn out for one party or the other. (Such threads have been here ad nausiam with no tangible results; I have no intention in starting another one.)

Speaker "wire" (cables my ***) can shift some frequencies around and sound different from one another but not better or worse.....

When you say this, what exactly do you mean by "shifting frequency around"? Notes changing in pitch, loudness or what? Are there measurements with regard to this, or if subjective sensations, please try to define in greater detail?

It's about capacitance and inductance matching NOT "quality". This is just about the only thing I know for sure about audio because I researched it years ago as a musician.

Again, the same problem. Capacitance and inductance matching in what sense? As a musician I accept that you may be talking about how things sounded, and in your case perhaps not on a once-off basis only. But you may also have measured something. Did these setups involve log wires as you often use?

I hope you detect that I am trying to find explanations that fit, as I did before but never seem to get enough together on either side to start thinking.
I will be obliged for your further imput.

 

[emorphien]

HOT!
Being the shallow, self centered person that I am, cables make a difference in looks. I often linger by my rig just gazing at the perfect cable job behind the rack. The red diamond pattern of the Encore II StraightWire Sacd analog interconnects, the red tech flex on my powere cords from element cable, the black and red tech flex on my Canare 4S11 speaker cables, the white cable with purple terminations of my Blue Jeans SubWoof Cable.........
So, does it sound better than the stock red and white cables? Pffft. I don't know. But it sure looks cool........

that's pretty funny, but for many people that's all that matters and I say more power to them. If that's why you're spending money on it, at least you're really honest with yourself.