I'll let you guys duke it out...
I made my own 10Ga power cords years ago to test out some of these homesupun ideas (DIY) that a person can get just as good results with a cheap PC as with the higher priced aftermarket ones.
The results were bad, very bad, for the DIY cable. It didn't take long to hear that it was outgunned by virtually every PC I bought. This was during the time that I had purchased, on my own dime, extra suites of cables and were comparing them. I wanted the homemade PC to work better; it would have been much better for me and my wallet! But my ears were clearly telling me that it was not so. If it would have been marginal, then I could have lived with it, but the difference was enough for me to merit pursuit of aftermarket cords.
`Due to accepted theories there IS NO effect in this, but if you try it out there shure is." That's a good statement, good summary of the impasse. We have audiophiles who are trained specifically in electrical engineering oriented jobs/positions, many of whom will not give credence to the idea of distinctions between cables. OTOH, we have people who do not have the technical knowledge, but have worked with the cables.
But when the people who have both the technical knowledge and the experience - among them the cable manufacturers, the reviewers, the publications, etc. - suggest the efficacy of differentiating between cables, then in the minds of many there is a knee jerk reaction, a deep mistrust.
It's an interesting social dynamic; on the one hand we have people whom some suggest believe in an affect that does not exist. On the other, we have people who believe so adamantly they are right that they need never explore or check it out for themselves.
Tough to reach agreement with those conditions.
I do not know how many cable manufacturers are getting rich off of cables, but isn't that beside the point? (DO NOT read me wrong; I am not suggesting that any unethical business practice is acceptable. Usually the hint that the cable manufacturers are unethical is tied to the argument that the cables are of no sonic benefit.) They either sound differently from each other or do not. I used to have all kinds of logical, great arguments why they didn't work. But they all boiled down to two:
1. Physically it doesn't work.
2. They are a rip off.
But the unspoken reason why was chintziness. I admit it; I didn't want to have to spend the money on cables to make the rig the best it could be. I wanted to believe that it would be just as good, almost better than, those rigs where the guy had dumped big money into wires. The belief that my cheap cabling was just as good soothed the envy of not being able/willing to spend the money on it.
I believe this kind of dynamic lies behind a lot of arguments against the efficacy of cables. Had I not lived it, I would not understand it.
But when I actually tried them, both arguments got shot down, and it became clear to me that my ulterior justification (chintziness) had been inappropriate.
I made my own 10Ga power cords years ago to test out some of these homesupun ideas (DIY) that a person can get just as good results with a cheap PC as with the higher priced aftermarket ones.
The results were bad, very bad, for the DIY cable. It didn't take long to hear that it was outgunned by virtually every PC I bought. This was during the time that I had purchased, on my own dime, extra suites of cables and were comparing them. I wanted the homemade PC to work better; it would have been much better for me and my wallet! But my ears were clearly telling me that it was not so. If it would have been marginal, then I could have lived with it, but the difference was enough for me to merit pursuit of aftermarket cords.
`Due to accepted theories there IS NO effect in this, but if you try it out there shure is." That's a good statement, good summary of the impasse. We have audiophiles who are trained specifically in electrical engineering oriented jobs/positions, many of whom will not give credence to the idea of distinctions between cables. OTOH, we have people who do not have the technical knowledge, but have worked with the cables.
But when the people who have both the technical knowledge and the experience - among them the cable manufacturers, the reviewers, the publications, etc. - suggest the efficacy of differentiating between cables, then in the minds of many there is a knee jerk reaction, a deep mistrust.
It's an interesting social dynamic; on the one hand we have people whom some suggest believe in an affect that does not exist. On the other, we have people who believe so adamantly they are right that they need never explore or check it out for themselves.
Tough to reach agreement with those conditions.
I do not know how many cable manufacturers are getting rich off of cables, but isn't that beside the point? (DO NOT read me wrong; I am not suggesting that any unethical business practice is acceptable. Usually the hint that the cable manufacturers are unethical is tied to the argument that the cables are of no sonic benefit.) They either sound differently from each other or do not. I used to have all kinds of logical, great arguments why they didn't work. But they all boiled down to two:
1. Physically it doesn't work.
2. They are a rip off.
But the unspoken reason why was chintziness. I admit it; I didn't want to have to spend the money on cables to make the rig the best it could be. I wanted to believe that it would be just as good, almost better than, those rigs where the guy had dumped big money into wires. The belief that my cheap cabling was just as good soothed the envy of not being able/willing to spend the money on it.
I believe this kind of dynamic lies behind a lot of arguments against the efficacy of cables. Had I not lived it, I would not understand it.
But when I actually tried them, both arguments got shot down, and it became clear to me that my ulterior justification (chintziness) had been inappropriate.
