Dynamic range - effect on different speaker cables - even very high quality ones


I have siltech Emperor double crown speaker cables. I recently bought Tara Omega Gold. 
The difference was very strange, and significant. I could not put my finger on it and changed interconnects to see if there was a compatibility issue. The Siltechs brought out superbly the main "players" and that sound was bang in my face - great. But it was a bit lean in other areas (more periphery sounds such as tinkling of percussion here and there - that sort of thing). 
The Omegas were exceptionally clean and detailed with EVERYTHING coming through, top to bottom, but no particular light and shade that the Siltechs gave. As such, a great pure sound but a bit soulless and didn't give me the bite that the Siltechs did.
I cannot survive life without the hit that the Siltechs give, so have kept those installed and I use the Omegas in an analogue set up (also lower dynamic range it seems) to enjoy those more

My false assumption before was that different cables had different qualities, and (or but) the basics of each recording would be dealt with principally the same i.e. just a different "house" sound
My dealer was nonplussed too as my description of the differences was a bit out of the ordinary, and the difference were VERY stark. I have tried many different cables over the years and never encountered this issue.

By asking around he came up with an interesting "reasoning"

Normal "players" or sources chuck out at a dynamic range of 70db. My DCS upsampler/clock/dac sends out at twice that, and the cables may get over saturated with the sound and act differently. It may appear that excessive dynamic range was not particularly an issue when they designed the cables and so the effect might be unpredictable?
Does anyone have a practical experience of this too - and I suppose the theory buffs out there could confuse me yet more.

tatyana69

Showing 3 responses by ieales

I said the dcs vivaldi upsampler increased the dynamic range
Nonsense. The quote says it has increased dynamic range meaning that it can, with adequate source material, play with reduced noise or with the same noise @ 1v out but capable of 10v out which no program contains. Unless it is a range expander [dynamic gain amplifier] which reduces level below a threshold and increases above, it is going to play 40dB material with 40dB dynamic range.

You are not beginning to approach cables properly until dealing with full sets.
Unless this is a joke, more nonsense. Cable need to mate with the components they connect and the overall system.

@OP please read  http://www.ielogical.com/Audio/CableSnakeOil.php to help understand how cable interact with components.


People, your ears and the drivers are compressing LONG BEFORE the cable, assuming anything much larger than 20ga/8Ω.
who is that pathetic author anyway?
Rod Elliott. A genuine nice guy. Most of the time, pretty informative, but I think he missed the boat in that article, written in 1999 and last updated in 2004.

In his defense, his perspective* will save audiophiles uncountable millions which is a better PoV than ill educated bloviators postulating unsupportable nonsense.

* It is 100% possible that a given selection of cables and electronics will exhibit ZERO difference. Another possibility is that his hearing is such that he cannot distinguish. IMO, many here fall into that category, but their ego suffers extreme confirmation bias.