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Re: What's the difference between these statements?

> When objectivists are asked for proof that all wire sounds the same,
> they correctly respond that there is no way they can prove this
> because to do so would require them comparing each and ever wire in
> each and every system.

Here you betray your lack of knowledge about the basis of science. Scientists and engineers do not reason by performing experiments, they reason using laws that have been observed to hold (although often within limits). In fact, the ability to predict is not an option but a requirement for doing science.

In order to answer your question you probably need no more knowledge than a school child opting for the science streams (which may let you off the hook?). A knowledge of the basic lumped electrical characteristics of the wires, input and output impedances and speaker efficiencies will allow you to determine a dB versus frequency difference due to changing cables. Comparing this against published data on audibility studies (proper data in peer reviewed scientific journals not the promotional nonsense in audiophile publications) will allow one to establish where the differences due to the cables lie relative to the threshold of audibility.

So long as the worst case combination (easy to determine for simple electrical circuits) for the range of electrical parameters under consideration creates differences well below the threshold of audibility then the case is proven so long as the laws and assumptions made hold.

Of course, for "normal" combinations of audio components the predicted differences will lie below the threshold of audibility. This requires the cable believer to prove the assumptions are wrong and not just slightly wrong but substantially wrong. Now claiming that science does not hold when applied to audiophile hardware may be quite common in audiophile circles but it would be fun seeing someone try to make it stick in the real world or a court of law.

Of course there are caveats which is why the word normal or some equivalent needs to be included. In fact, it is not particularly difficult to exploit the abnormal to win the money from the cable challenges that allow you to use your own equipment, cables and sources. I am slightly surprised that nobody has done so although the few thousand typically on offer is not a lot and there must be quite a high probability that the individuals putting up the money would get annoyed at being "tricked" and not pay up.


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