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Cable curmudgeon

I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman.  Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc.  After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel.  He complemented me on my "good ear."  Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference.  However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft.  Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido).  Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz.  But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I  liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.

 

exflute

Showing 1 response by stevewharton

stevewharton
111 posts
 

@exflute your observation is valid and results of your comparison probably accurate and as such you MUST have a good ear to detect the variances between these two specific cables

Where you've stubbed your toe that has brought out some of the claws and venom of this forum, is both cables you tested are mediocre at best

larryi has summed it up very concisely and now the forum sommeliers are trying to correct your path

It's also not as simple as swapping one of the Monster cables for something higher up the food chain and connecting it to entry level electronics and expecting to hear the virtues of the upper end cable

Entry level electronics are not capable of  rendering the benefits of an upper end cable and thus you would likely report back that based on the cost you're disappointed in the performance of the cable as compared with the Monster.  What would be letting you down in this example would be the electronics not the cable

Do not let these responses wear you down, this is a great place to learn and the members cast a wide net of skills and opinions

Happy listening and enjoy the journey

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