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A-B testing of cables

I recently attended The Show in Newport Beach California, and I asked some experts how to upgrade my cables gradually. I was told to start at the source. I should upgrade the source interconnect first then gradually work my way through the system, and I should hear the difference at each stage providing I am using audiophile quality cables; so I bought some cables at over $600 a pair to try out. My current cables cost $250 a pair.
My system is composed of:
McIntosh C2500 preamp
McIntosh 601 mono blocks
McIntosh mcd 205 CD player
VPI Classic 3 turntable
Nola Baby Grand speakers

I bought two y adapters and connected one pair of new cable and old cable between the CD player and preamp to do an A-B test. I also performed the same test with the turntable but I could not tell the difference between the cables whatsoever. I was very surprised and disappointed at the same time. I could not believe it so I called in others to have a listen whithout telling them what I was doing and they too could not tell the difference.

Has anyone else tried this test? I would like to hear your results.
Am I doing something wrong?

What is your experience in doing A-B testing of interconnects?
almandog

Showing 1 response by jvitez

jvitez
10 posts
 
I went cable crazy for a quite a while setting up my main system. In my experience upgrading the power cords made more of a difference than interconnects. Biggest difference in interconnects was:

1. source to pre (by far the largest)
2. preamp to power amp (noticeable)
3. speaker cables (only minimal improvement)

That was helpful as speaker cables are the most expensive as they're generally the longest.

I tried various cables of similar price points with only small but noticeable differences. Only when I took a big leap forward in price and design by trying Nordost did I hear a "Wow!" difference. So yes, a fresh $600 cable may not sound any better initially than your broken-in $250 cable. Cost is not always indicative of price.
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