A Repository of links to Myth-Debunking Articles

[mbhangui]

An actual MIT research paper (you can jump to Chapter 4 for conclusion and summary). A expensive cable may sound better because of Psychoacoustics.

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/46225/41567257.pdf

After reading FM experience that cables do matter, I have been buying few expensive cables from Forum members who have these for sale. So far I have not been able to perceive any difference between a cheap home made cable and their costly counterparts. Maybe my hearing is impaired :sad:

Will resell these cables after I do more tests

 

[Staxxx]

I have no wish to argue with the FMs who feel that their well-priced and well-selected cables and interconnects are fine and perhaps cannot be bettered by anything else....certainly not something more expensive or exotic, God forbid!

However, I do wish to point out that this is not a discussion of value, which seems to get lost sometimes in this discussion at times. What may be bad value to one can be perhaps perfectly acceptable value to another. I have tried lots of cables and the ones that I have now are certainly not the most expensive that I have owned, although still in the five figures in $. It just seemed to work best with the system I have currently and I have no wish to change them having had to spend a fair amount of time and resources auditioning alternatives. I have about three other sets of speaker cables and certainly more than that when it comes to interconnects and I like the set up as I have it now.........who knows for how long

As I mentioned before, I felt switching my digital cables made the most difference among cables in my current set up....but I am sure there are many who feel bits are bits and therefore it cannot be anything but psychological. I find the Jormas very reasonable and well balanced in my current system in preference to the Stealth Audio digital cable which I had earlier. This has no bearing on price as anyone who Googles these two will realize, but all to do with my preference in my system, which I chose by listening and not tests.

 

[tirthankar]

Staxxx, see the first line of my signature

The most important part of any stereo is the speaker. If it is up to it and one is looking for the right thing, a speaker will tell even the minute changes in the system. I myself have witnessed effects of even of a resistor change, let alone an IC. (I can imagine the indignation of the objective members here ..) no offense meant. Just my point.

That's why I just prefer to listen to music

 

[Nikhil]

An actual MIT research paper (you can jump to Chapter 4 for conclusion and summary). A expensive cable may sound better because of Psychoacoustics.

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/46225/41567257.pdf

After reading FM experience that cables do matter, I have been buying few expensive cables from Forum members who have these for sale. So far I have not been able to perceive any difference between a cheap home made cable and their costly counterparts. Maybe my hearing is impaired :sad:

Will resell these cables after I do more tests

I was really not much of a cable guy until I had a chance to see the difference in my setup. Cables do make a difference. But you have to realize that cables come in various designs and features. The main issue for me is high cost of exotic cables which again are really all about your setup. I have realized that the more resolving your system is the more the difference you will see.

 

[mbhangui]

Just got my VDH revolution cable today and compared it with home made 12AWG speaker zip wire. No one in family could perceive any difference. The VDH cable in fact is just enough to reach from the Cadence AMP to the Cadence speakers. The home-made cable is much longer and has been coiled multiple times near the speaker. Also I have not unzipped the cable (which could lead to higher capacitance than unzipped configuration). The VDH cable has an inner group with 308 x 0.14 mm. very high grade Matched Crystal (MC) OFC strands with a dense coating of very pure silver. The inner group exhibits a total metal cross-section area of 4.74 mm.

Theoretically the home-made cable should be having much higher inductance, capacitance and resistance than the zip wire.

So my quest to hear a speaker cable which makes difference (even if it is subtle) continues :sad:

Cost
Home Made zip wire - Rs 2500/-
VDH Revolution Cable - Rs 18,000/-

Songs used in the test - Fleetwood Mac Albums (Future Games, Bare Trees) with HTPC using ASIO driver for Asus Xonar ST in bit-perfect mode. Any other track suggestions?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

A myth is what comes about when sufficient number of people all make the same mythtake.

 

[alpha1]

A myth is what comes about when sufficient number of people all make the same mythtake.

Groupthink perhaps?

Staxxx, see the first line of my signature

The most important part of any stereo is the speaker. If it is up to it and one is looking for the right thing, a speaker will tell even the minute changes in the system. I myself have witnessed effects of even of a resistor change, let alone an IC. (I can imagine the indignation of the objective members here ..) no offense meant. Just my point.

That's why I just prefer to listen to music

Expensive wine and cheap plonk taste the same to most people | Science | The Guardian