Can we objectively rate speaker cables?


I'd like to generate discussion to compile some sort of chart that compares cable attributes. I realize that cable attributes will vary by system, but I would think that in the same system, certain generalizations can be made. For example, I think many would agree that copper is generally warmer than silver. That said, I propose the following categories. Feel free to add categories to make this a mutually-exclusive, collectively-exhaustive list and/or offer ratings for cables you've auditioned.

A. analytical/detailed (1) - warm (10)
B. closed soundstage (1) - open soundstage (10)
C. slow (1) - fast (10)
jennyjones

Showing 2 responses by stanwal

I like the reviews of cables in HIFICRITIC. They have been quite helpful to me. But cables are very system specific. That said, my system is quite fluid and the same ones usually sound better when I change amps, speakers, sources. My experience has been, unfortunately, that the best sounding cables are expensive. But not all expensive cables produce sound constant with their cost. On the other hand I have tried some of the GIANT KILLER wires and found MIDGET DISCOMFORTERS a more apt description. You pays your money and you takes your choice, if you go in believing there is no difference you are unlikely to hear any. The advance of audio has mainly consisted in discovering that things we thought made no difference in fact do. Remember "all amps sound the same"?" All turntables sound the same"? Wire is not magic but it performs a complex function that is still not perfectly understood. If a low powered , high distortion SET tube amp can be regarded as the acme of performance by respected listeners then the fact that wire can make a difference should be no surprise. I will not even go into the difficulty of sorting out preferences for one kind of sound or another. A friend of mine and I can usually agree on the characteristics of a cable but often disagree on which is the "better" one. Arthur Salvatore has a lot to say about almost everything, most of it interesting but also mostly around the bend and narrow in focus. He mostly focuses on extremely exotic items but when he descends to the level of things that you might actually have heard I find his judgement somewhat strange. I also like and use the Denon 103 but find it strange that he never mentions the Denon 304, which has far greater detail resolution and is a better cartridge.
It has been proved in blind test after blind test that amps sound the same. These tests "prove" nothing except that the people involved did not hear a difference, not that others wouldn't. I guarantee you that I would not have bought the expensive cable I did [used at one third new cost] if listening to a lot of wires over the years had not convinced me that it makes a difference. My experience is somewhat different than most as I have dealt in audio equipment most of my life and this involves constantly assembling and disassembling a system, I never set up more than one at a time. So I hear many combinations of components and wires and get some idea of their relative contributions. I see many cables that offer a totally excessive mark up, I never carry these. Very good ones do cost a lot of money to make and stay on the market for years.