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I used to be president of the hard science, anti-cable club. And it made sense as a worldview, it gave me a solid footing in the world, it made me comfortable.
Then I bought a used amp. The seller was so knowledgeable and so persuasive and so passionate about cables, that I figured, what the hell, I'll get a decent pair of speaker cables. Besides, although I like science, an awful lot of seemingly smart, sincere people swear by quality cables. I can't wave my hand and dismiss them all.
So I went looking around. Not for anything fancy, just a step up from Blue Jeans. I found a used pair of Twisted Pair by AA's own Jon Risch for $60. (I had no idea who Jon Risch was at the time.) Low opportunity cost so, I jumped.
I hooked them up and immediately noticed that they sounded different from the old ones. That wasn't supposed to happen, according to the science crew. But there it was.
Different, but not necessarily better. I called my guru. Of course they don't sound good yet, he told me. They have to burn in.
Burn in? The other great audiophile myth? This was all getting to be a bit much. But sure enough, after running my iPhone on repeat for a couple of days, they sounded great.
Interconnects were next. I already had a decent pair so there wasn't much difference when I bought another pair. Finally, power cables. Even in my newfound pro-cable weltanschauung, these seemed like a reach. But I ordered two cheap Chinese models from eBay, one for the amp, one for the CD player.
The cables, when they arrived, were certainly impressive looking. At least an inch thick, they seemed like something Con Ed would use.
The amp cable made an immediate difference. More clarity, more bass. But as it burned in, that new sound seemed to retreat back to the factory standard.
Now, there's a million reasons for that to happen, the leading candidate being that I just got used to them. But now that I'm pro-cable, I'm not supposed to dismiss these differences with psychological phenomena. Anyway, they sound like the factory standard.
The CD cable was also industrial grade, although it was discongruous that this huge cable ended in a tiny little plug that fit into the CD player. The sound was off from the start. Cramped, stifled, no heartfelt base. I must have the only CD player in the world without a "repeat" button so it's not quite broken in. I'm hoping it'll loosen up or I'll go back to the factory model.
This cable journey has had it's bright spots but it's left me feeling quite unsettled. Being anti-cable made sense, it had logical and scientific underpinnings. Believing that cables are different seems just random and idiosyncratic.
Of course, that's no different than any other piece of audio kit. Who agrees on the way a pair of speakers sound? And if John Atkinson showed you a frequency response chart, even the most scientific guy in the world would just wave it away. But I still feel like I'm floating in space. I want to plant my feet firmly on something. I certainly don't trust my first-hand experience.
I dunno. Let's just hope this CD power cord burns iin.
Follow Ups:
"Being anti-cable made sense, it had logical and scientific underpinnings." Wrong logic and wrong science. Welcome to the real world. IMO other than looks, Temco 10awg solderable solid magnet wire is a good starting standard for speaker wire. Oddly enough Anti-cable is actually a name of a cable company and their reviews are remarkable and for good reason, IMO. In the beginning they used essentially a supposedly custom magnet wire with no "normal" type insulation, just the mag wire coating.
Denied facts are still facts.
I was happy with my speaker cables but ordered a pair of Anticables on a whim. I was startled to see two seemingly bare and stiff copper wires. I had no idea. I guess they have a thin and transparent covering of some kind.
I had trouble getting the banana plugs inserted in the speaker terminal and in the amp terminal, in fact, I emailed the owner and told him they must be the wrong size. He said, no they are just a tight fit, they'll go in. I used some Caig contact cleaner as a lubricant and got them in. Anyway, the next surprise was the sound. Fantastic on first hearing. Just a clean, clear, neutral sound.
Power cables from Ebay? I bought a cheap one, never heard a difference.
But boy, those from AliExpress (I'm cheap) when chosen well, now we're talking (seriously, the best power cables I own come from there, but I digress)
Just because a cable is thick and looks fancy doesn't mean it will "work". Just because the two power cables you own don't work doesn't mean power cables don't work (have you tried to put back the stock cable? sometimes you just get used to an improvement)
Besides a new DAC, all improvements I've made to my system during the last twelve months were cables. Speaker cables, interconnects, power cables, digital cable, even the wire inside the speaker cabinets; and I can tell you, my system sounds now COMPLETELY different than it did before, and much better.
I have bought several different types, from ones that look like Kimber cable, to copies of Nordost, and all kinds in between, which ones have you found to be reasonably good?
.
Well, there's a grey cable from "Audiomeca" (they sometimes spell it "audiomica" on the website) that sounds great on SOME of my devices ( I use it on the external PSU of my high-pass amplifier)
There are the fake Nordost Odin (I have one built by "Yter") power cables, the one I have is on the preamp and, after a couple weeks of a very rocky burn-in period, is now really amazing
and a guy I know really likes the flashy green "Xangsane" power cables.
I have a couple of the "accuphase" branded cables, they are incredibly cheap and not "bad" but the above mentioned are just much, much better and their effect more obvious. In the end you get what you pay for, even on Ali.
Recently bought a Viborg MBU1501 power cable from Amazon. A shade over $100 depending on chosen length. The best of the "cheap" power cables I've tried by far. This includes the AudioMeca already mentioned. Will race it against my $400 TWL power cable this coming week. YMMV, but it's easily returnable thru Amazon if it isn't your cup of tea.
The "Accuphase" cables seems like the very same cables Underwood is selling as their "Valiant Gold" power cord, like you said, they're not bad, better than gimme and Volex...
I've got one of the "Automecha" on the Berkeley Alpha DAC
I have one of the 15 core "Nordost Valhalla" clones on my KWA-100SE
I have one of the so-called "Krell cryo" cables on my Audible Illusions.
Another guy I work for besides my "real" part-time gig, has a couple of the "Odins", a fake Shunyata, and a few of the Kimber 8AG looking ones that are nice and flexible, can be routed out of sight, and sound pretty darn good on his Pathos Classic.
The Chinese cables have an incredible range of designs, and as you said, take quite a while to settle in...I've used the power cable burn-in device from Hagerman, the FryCorder, to help that process...
I've made a lot of DIY designs in the past three decades and brought home several different manufacturer's products to try...for me, the two best I've tried on my Modulus 3A was years ago a TOTL Audio Magic and the Audioquest Hurricane when it first came out...I was reluctant to take that one back but, being on a fixed retirement income, well...sigh...even at dealer cost was more than this old man felt like spending...
Thanks for your reply, KanedaK
.
While I'm thrilled to get the feedback, I think my post was misunderstood in some quarters. First, some seem to see an eagerness to learn more about this subject. If that was in anything that I wrote, I must inform you that it was unintentional. I've come this far without knowing what capacitance or inter-chasis potentials are and I plan to go to my grave with that deficit intact.
Please don't read think that I lack intellectual curiosity. The French Revolution, Ethel Rosenberg's role in the Klaus Fuchs spy ring? Love it, wan to read more of it, can't get enough. But I'm going to leave the subjects with numbers in them to the experts.
Next, Jon Risch himself writes that "You seem to think that there is little scientific basis for cables sounding different." That is a perfect summary of my old view. My new view, as I tried to explain, is this: I don't know what to think.
My old view had a scientific basis, an inner consistency, it was elegant, to use a term that mathematicians love. My new view just leaves me floating around in space.
I have first hand experience that different speaker cables sound different. More different than scientists would allow for. It's not just that one cable has a thicker gauge or anything like that. They just sound different. But they shouldn't. If I give up that belief, I might as well pull the vaccine out of my body, move to Idaho, and vote for Trump.
As for interconnects and power cables, my first hand experience is not sufficient for me to give up my default view, which is essentially whatever the consensus of physicists tell me it should be.
paul6001.
You seem to think that there is little scientific basis for cables sounding different.
I have posted an annotated cable bibliography before, see:
https://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/18/40899.html
Some of the links are broken, others have had the pages moved to another address, etc.
Google the main topic or the old URL, and it may provide a current URL/link to the item of interest.
The articles about capacitance are with regard to the cable capacitance being less than perfect, the articles on inter-chassis potentials relate to cable grounding and shielding, the articles on resistance and copper crystals and grains relate to the conduction of the signal, etc. and so on.
Note that the DIY notes and posts at Geocities are gone, but the content can be accessed via the Wayback Machine (Internet Archive website).
All of the Audio Asylum posts should still be accessible.
I also want to point out that I not only provided a darn good recipe for DIY speaker cables, but for interconnects, digital cables and power cords as well. These are mostly of the "best-bang-for-the-buck kind of projects, and yet provide surprisingly good sonic performance, a cut well above just the standard cables and cords that are out there and come with the product. An inexpensive way to try out some high performance cables to see if you feel it is worth pursuing further.
Jon Risch
... who has consistently offered valuable information and DIY means to explore wire technology. Thank you Mr. Risch for your service.
I am using the Belden cross connected speaker cables in my system for my mids and tweeter section of my system. Great resolution.
Thanks Jon
Paul - it sounds like you would like to read comments on wires and cables from Allen Wright and Chris VenHaus. Allen was one of the people pushing the minimalist movement, small gauge solid wire, low mass connectors, and foils. Chris tends to follow that but also makes some higher end stuff and is a sponsor of the Asylum. I learned a lot from both of them. Chris also does DIY designs and supplies materials for same. I can promise you that his silver DIY interconnects are way better than Blue Jeans and not too expensive. I had a 100% loom of the low impedance Blue Jeans stuff for years and I recommend that to friends who have good but not great hardware as all they will ever need.
I was a cable denier for a long time. Then I replaced the stock cable
of my headphones with one from Cardas, and the improvements were obvious.
Why? Well the Cardas cable was thicker. Maybe that was all there was to
it. I don't know. Then recently I replaced my 14 gauge stranded name
brand speaker cables with 12 gauge solid different name brand speaker
cables and the improvements were obvious. Was it the heavier gauge wire
or was it the solid composition of the wire or both that caused the
difference? I only know what I hear.
But the biggest difference is not the wire. I am now using an AC power
regenerator (PS Audio P3) and it's a game changer. And I'm not even using
some ho-daddy power cord to plug it into the wall, just a Volex 17604 14
gauge pc. I might get around to buying another pc sometime, but am not
feeling the need right now.
Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. - Albert Einstein
I'm a fool and I think that previous post just made me realize it. When I was installing the new power cord, I did a little tweaking, a little straightening up. Somewhere in the process I moved the speakers an inch. Just an inch but any audiophile worth his salt knows how much difference that can make.
Just moved 'em back and all my problems are solved. I'm. getting bass like I was in the Paradise Garage. (There's a reference for you New Yorkers of a certain age.) All is well, problem solved. More listening will be required to determine if the new power cord makes any difference.
I have a friend who has an engineering background. A long ago he told me that an electric lawn mover cable will sound the same as a $3,000 dollar cable. He recently didn't bat an eyelid when I explained the value of the cables in my kit as, somewhere in the intervening years, he invested in good kit and is on a similar journey to yourself.
Burnt in, warmer, cooler, brighter etc. sound is entirely subjective and some folk will never hear it or have themselves convinced that they wont hear the subtleties.
I'm glad to hear you have broken free of your doubting shackles. Welcome to the quest for "your" perfect sound.
Consider upgrading outlet(s) if you haven't already done so.
I found that improvements from new PCs weren't fully realized until I changed outlet to Oyaide R1. Then BOOOM. All was revealed.
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