Do Jumpers make an audible difference?


I have recently completed my Shunyata loom of cables except for the jumpers. I'm currently using Nordost Heimdals and was wondering if moving to the Shunyata VTX jumpers would net enough sonic benefit to warrant the upgrade. Would like to hear from those who have upgraded jumpers and what those experiences have been. Thanks
jayh31
@ Tortilladc, LOL!, keep them cats away for sure!, I like your true humor here.
04-19-14: Waxwaves
The popcorn is popping, just cracked a cold one, let's get this party started! I so love these heated cable discussions...

Especially with so many humorous responses....pass the popcorn Adam.

04-16-14: Lak
Bottom line is there are no guarantees.

Larry seems to have it figured out though, as does Al.
@ Mceljo, Hi, I never said I did test with 1 foot increments, I did 2 foot increments, The only size I did in 1 foot, was between 5 ft and 6ft, I also said, that there was little difference, but there is a difference in sound between 5ft and 6ft speaker cables, I agree, there is no Best cable, however, given a very good system, keeping everthing the same, you will find a Best cable for that particular system, may take a life time, may take a week, depends on alot, you know that, we all do, I do believe there is a few models of cables out there that work to best effect on nearly any system, those cables are rare, they are out there, To me, There is a top group of cables, no Best, But a best group, some swear about Nordost, High-fidelity, Tara Labs, Purist Audio, etc.. and so on, I prefer Tara Labs cables, does not mean they are the Holy Grail of cables for every one,To each there own, when you get to the very best 4 models of Tara Labs, they cost alot of money, I believe all esoteric cables are over priced!, They are just cables, right?, LOL!, The Bad news is, as much as I hate it, I paid the exotic crazy prices!, was it worth the performance return for the money?, compaired to what's out there, absolutly!, cheers.
The popcorn is popping, just cracked a cold one, let's get this party started! I so love these heated cable discussions...
@audiolabrynth - I still say no way anyone can hear a difference using mass produced Monster Cable in 1 foot increments. Your theory of signal degradation is sound but the question is if it is enough to be audible. Using this theory shorter is always better, right? In theory, no cable is the best cable.
@ Mceljo, Hi, In my previous post, I said, There is little difference between 5ft and 6ft speaker cable, with the test I did in my above post, However, Their is a difference, and no, I am not fooling myself!, Now this does matter on the caliber of a system you own, meaning-system dependent, this test was done on two different systems when I had two of them, I only have one system currently,All things were equal, I do not expect some one to hear a difference on all systems between one foot, I do believe you will hear a difference on a very sensative High resolution system!, cheers.
I think anyone claiming to hear a difference between cables that are 1foot different in length, but otherwise identical, is fooling themselves. There are scientific reasons for shorter cables being better in most cases, but 1 foot isn't enough to make an audible difference all other things being equal.
@ Judyazblues, what proof can you provide that 2 meter speaker cables will have the same signal intergrity as 10 inch state of the art jumper cables?, I, On the other hand can provide substantial proof!, instead of making a false correction, you should make very sure of your statements before posting them, I will provide you with information for you to prove to yourself, you are wrong!, All cables carry a form of electricity, a/c, D/c, amps, etc.., now, An example, A house ground for the breaker boxes of the home, I have tried to use a 23ft ground for the breakers on the system, then I used a 4ft ground,This is the main ground out side of the house I am talking about, I assure you that my system was alot better with the 4ft ground in every way, why do you think that happened for?, another example is I have A/B speaker cable lengths, I used mass rolled monster cable for this exsperiment, I went from 2ft all the way to 15ft of speaker cable, same cable brand, same roll, used the whole time, The result was that 5ft sounded best, 6ft was close, all the other lengths was totally different, why is that?, the signal, a form of electricity looses it's intergrity!, go on, try all this your self, I have also done the same with interconnect lengths, The result for that A/B compairison, I will never use over a meter and a half!, there is a Huge difference between a meter length interconnect and a 3 meter, and the sound gets worse the longer you go, Again, why is that?, The signal looses it's intergrity!, I wanted to correct a previous post!
Once you decide on your jumpers, the connection method that has always sounded best to me is one recommended by Tannoy and Stuart Marcus (Vampire Wire founder). Main to the HF taps, then jump to the LF taps.
Audible difference? Yes for sure, but not necessarily better. There's no substitute for experimentation. Before spending big bucks, buy some different wire and make some sets to try out.
A relevant thread covering similar topic in WBF :

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?12850-Jumper-cables
What I wonder is how many of those who have experienced significant sonic improvements by upgrading jumpers have gone back and forth two or three or more times between the original and upgraded jumpers, to verify that the improvement was not simply due to differences in contact pressure, or to extraneous variables such as equipment being in unequal states of warmup. And if prior to performing the comparison a good contact cleaner was used to assure that oxidation on the surfaces of the original jumpers was not a factor.

Regards,
-- Al
There will be no resolution lost in a second pair of, let's say 2M, speaker cables.

Just wanted to correct a previous post.
My speakers are Joseph Audio Pulsars. The Nordost work fine however like many in this hobby I'm always looking for areas to improve. Thanks to all.
I should think cryoing the jumpers and installing them in the correct direction would be as good idea. Ditto the fuses.
I had the same exsperience as Zavato, when I took the Bi-amp stock plates off, and installed Tara labs Omega Jumpers, that are 10 inches,They only cost $800.00 and come with bananas and spades, these Jumpers are the most profound jump in performance I have EVER put on my system, It is my opinion, that not all jumpers can achieve this performance level, and I believe that 10 inches, being shorter, that running another pair of speaker cables cannot result the same resolution because the signal looses intergrity by having to travel a longer distance, Enjoy the music.
This is an area I recently began to explore. I have Revel F30's. One pair of binding posts feed the midrange and tweeter, and the other pair of binding post feeds the woofer. Crossover is 220hz. What the crossover point is, I think, will have a great influence on what you can expect to gain.

My speaker cables are hooked up to the mid/tweeter input, per the Revel owners manual. I had been using the stock jumper bars but then I made a set of jumpers using 8awg wire from Lowes and some Banana plus, soldered up,with WBT 4% silver solder.

I was startled by the broadened soundstage and more organic and tuneful bass. The mids and highs were unchanged. I didn't understand what happened unti I recalled my experience when I bought a sunfire sub years ago- wider soundstage.

So, for me, getting rid of the plates opened up the soundstage by suppprting the bass. As the crossover point is low, I had no expectation of any other change but if you're using a 2 way speaker with a 2k x-over, I think the effects will be more profound across the board

As it is now, I don't see a reaon I actually get a jumper to match my speaker cable, as in the region where I'm "jumping", I think having copper and plenty of it is the key. But we're I crossing over at a much higher point I would have to consider matching jumpers.

My total investment in my home made jumpers was $12. I thought I had little to loose; I came away pleasantly surprised.
Try using some junk jumpers for a downward comparison to see how much of a difference may be possible. Better yet, have someone else put only one, or not, in and see if you can identify it.
Bottom line is there are no guarantees. What works well in one system will not necessarily sound the best in another. You have to try it for yourself and decide what sounds the best. Perhaps you can demo a pair from where you purchased the loom of Shunyata products from?
Ime, huge difference as when compared to the supplied buss bars/plates.

Best is to stick within family brand to achieve more harmonious/coherent tonal balance.

Buy best you can - Say if using ZPython SC, getting the ZAnaconda jumpers would make a worthwhile jump esp. if use for mid-high connections.

Then again improvement is highly dependent on your speaker's x-over. Are they true bi-amp/bi-wirable design or cosmetic one ie.split at terminals only. If the later, I would not worry too much about it. *Also, your system's resolution will play a big part as to the result gained.

There are a couple of known popular methods going about this - cross/diagonal jumping.. But I attained best result still using the conventional method i.e.main SC to low +- and (better) jumpers to high +-.