John Dunlavy On "Cable Nonsense"

I have to say I would agree with those who hear differences in speaker cable. These differences are measurable with a SPL meter.

Here are some measurements of speaker cables I have taken with a Radio Shack meter. This was comparing Monster MC1 (I think that was the type) versus another cable. The differences in the cables were actually greater in the mid ranges and treble end (to my ear), but I took these measurements because I was trying to diagnose and tame some bass problems I was having with the speakers. I did alternating tests Monster - Other Cable - Monster - Other Cable - Monster - Other Cable, and the results were consistent. The source for these measurements was the Stereophile Test CD 3 bass decade 1/3 octave warble tones.

Freq. Monster Inexpensive Delta
200 83 84 +1
160 83 84-85 +1.5
125 81-82 83-84 +2
100 86 87 +1
80 92 92 +0
63 85 85 +0
50 82 82 +0
40 81 81-82 +0.5
31.5 74 74-75 +0.5
25 73 73 +0
20 66 67 +1
As you can see there are some very definate differences on this most basic of all tests, which is able to be conducted by anyone with $50.00 and enough gumption to do them. Forget measurements we can't make yet or don't know to make yet, while I think there are some out there, but let's stick to what we can measure now.

How about some people actually measure some cable out there instead of just making unsubstantiated claims that all cable sounds the same or vice vesa?

Well, I think we might be setting out to prove different propositions. I am not trying to measure exactly how much difference exists. I am trying to show that a somewhat reasonable and impartial model of the human ear can detect and measure differences in the exact same environment humans listen in. I am not trying to demonstrate the exact amount rather that differences do exist and are easily measurable. The closeness of a SPL meter to the human ear is topic for another thread to debate.

The question of reflection of sound waves strikes me as a red herring unless you are suggesting that human beings also listen in a reflection free environment. Since I listen in exactly the environment I measured, I am reasonably sure that there's a match there :-). I am not trying to prove what causes the difference either. I am pretty uncaring about the reasons unless they can lead me in a direction which leads to improvement. Conjectures such as little green men following each speaker cable around and pushing a little harder in some spots than others is fine with me as long as it is repeatable and reproducible and directly related to the usage of the cable in the system.

The SPL meter was mounted on a tripod one meter away from the woofer and was never moved during the testing. The gain on the preamp and power amps was never changed. The speakers never moved. The input source material was exactly the same and for exactly the same time. Three trials of each cable were performed. The only part of the system which changed during the measurements was the speaker cable and each time it changed, the same results were obtained, except for a half dB on one measurement of one trial of the non-Monster cable.

So bottom line, I don't really see how measurable and repeatable differences in the target environment can be ignored, since that is exactly what I am trying to show, and exactly what a human would hear, but whatever. I would really rather see what some other peoples results under the same conditions and with different cables are. Those results says a lot more to me than any testing I myself perform. Could be I had a defective or unusual cable in there and no one else in the entire world can reproduce the results with any brand of cables, ever. Only one way to tell...

I was using the Stereophile Test CD 3 bass decade 1/3 octave warble tones track. I agree the 2 dB hump really threw me also, since I had always believed that wire was wire and once you got a big enough one it didn't matter anymore. I was using the digital meter so under just the right circumstances it could have been a 1.1 dB difference.

There was a difference in the length of the cables, the Monster was 12 foot while the other brand was 8 foot, but I have never seen a calculated result showing that this should have made the difference in the SPL I measured. Even if it did make a difference, I would have expected this to have been consistent across the board, not varying by frequency.

Yes those were recorded with only one speaker driven as you suggest. I should have mentioned that. I tried both methods and found that there was more than enough bleedthrough from the second speaker to skew the results so I stopped it.

The meter was fixed on a tripod. My position varied, it was behind the meter, but I made no attempt to position myslef in one place.

The Monster was Zip cord, while the Argent cable was a shielded design (not sure of exactly what was inside). The speakers were a set of Legacy Classics, the amplifier was a Denon AVC-3030. No idea of the impedance and phase plots for the speakers.

I have made some major changes in my system since then. The Classics are now being driven in a vertical biamp configuration with a Sunfire Cinema Grand, which really flattened the bass.

I will be getting some JPS Ultraconductors as soon as the person I bought them from ships them (They've been very delayed). I can post some new results then.

Bear -> I don't have a DVM. Can you recommend one of reasonable quality and price for a hobbyist? I no longer have the Argent cable (returned it to the person who loaned it to me), but it would be interesting to have one around for occasional use.

Heh, the oscilliscope sounds great but isn't in my budget :-) Frap, how good is the model 8010a of the Fluke dvm? Found a used one which fits my budget (El Cheapo!)

Greg