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Opening a can of worms

Here is the can filled with opinions. It's been hashed and rehashed to infinity and beyond with no clear result. Since I am a seeker of truth I'll post my thoughts here for the yea and naysayers to debate over. Question is: Are expensive speaker or any other cable in a system worth the exorbitant cost over a reasonably priced cable loom? I thought I'd  experiment myself to find out. My comparison is between Transparent Ultra cable loom and Blue Jeans cable loom on a pure stereo system comprised of Proceed PAV,  Proceed PDSD,  Krell Kav 250, Musical Fidelity A3cd, Sony Ps4300 TT and B&W 803D2 speakers. All sources were used by this experiment using identical playback material. Cables had in excess of 200 hrs burn time and all were identical in lenght. The only variation were the connector manufacturers.
One change that occurred during this 4 week long endeavor was that I'm firmly seated on the sharpest picket on the fence.
My result is that I'm now a believer that there are audible differences in cables. I also believe that these differences are minute and one has to really listen carefully and for a long time to discern these differences.
Now to the crutch of the matter, $$$$$, As we all know Transparent Cables would reside in the upper tier of Audio Cable expense.  Blue Jeans Cable on the other hand falls into the lowest tier of expense (well maybe not lowest but low nontheless )
One would think then that the Transparent would be far superior to the BJs. Not really! Yes the highs were a little cleaner, mids a little tighter and lows a tad more pronounced but not by as much as one would expect. Soundstage was somewhat more open and airy and depth was somewhat more defined with the higher priced cable but again less than one would expect. 

Now for my personal opinion regarding the cable debate: expensive cable looms are slightly better than reasonable priced looms, if a dollar equals a penny to you then by all means opt for the higher priced loom, if a penny equals a penny don't be ashamed for opting for the best you can do. The differences are so minute that it's not worth going into debt over. BOTH looms sounded superb on my test system and I would be happy with either loom.

Now let the debate begin, just know I'm a fence sitter and not in one camp or the other
128x128gillatgh
taras22
412 posts
 
....and under all you can now include a new cable serving from TEO Audio....inspired by non-other than our very own mashedpotato-11 (a.k.a. randy-11 ) we are going cook up a new series of cables filled with our own special , you guessed it, mashed potatoes.....initial testing has shown them to be superbly rich and very smooth with no lumps ....can be ordered "au naturel", "lightly buttered" or the "la speciale" that comes with hot peppers.....

....a complete loom of the TEO Audio MPs will be just a dollop under $1,000,000(USD)....a delicious deal considering how yummy the potatoes are.....


randy-11
1,913 posts
 
sam,

- some speakers can sound different when cables with different complex impedances are used, so go to a rent / return cable place and try different ones - your manf. may have suggestions too

- DACs need very low noise, so buy a LPS, buy or make a star-quad DC power cable for it, and galvanically isolate the inputs ==> or buy a DAC that is designed to be immune from any such effects
- either way no need for a fancy USB cable - but if you do want one check out the Lush

- buying expensive analog interconnects is woo-woo; get some good balanced ones and buy balanced components

- do not wast $$ on fancy AC cables - buy well-designed components and an isolation transformer to solve any noise there

* no affiliation with any consumer audio co.; none of the above will be as big an effect on SQ as expensive, top-notch speakers, room treatments, or building a new listening room...

most importantly - ignore the trolls whose majors in interpretive dance did not equip them to understand any of this
gsmith5
37 posts
 
If you have run a test and drawn conclusions, why are you asking for others opinions. You are wasting other people’s time
fliz
66 posts
 
The better my system got, the more of a difference tweaks have made.

Active shielding on vs off is a pronounced difference.

Just getting my cables off the floor made a difference, too.

Now I've fully 'tismed out, and my speaker cables only have 3 points of contact: the two terminals and a porcelain electric fence insulator on a 3' wooden dowel at its midpoint.

(something like this: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/White-20KV-high-voltage-proof-electric_60026615576.html?spm=a... )
68pete
991 posts
 
For me Transparent did not pull away from the other less expensive cables until you get to Reference level or higher. Time Portal Reference cables was a less expensive cable that competed with Transparent at the Ultra level in XLR.
enjoyPete
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