Detecting differences among cables

Obviously, one of the great audio controversies is whether after a very low bar threshold there is really a detectable difference among cables, whether transmitting power or signal.  Skeptics (I'll label them "nay-sayers") generally state that any discernable audible differences whatsoever are wishful thinking; many audiophiles state that most definitely various well-designed cables can cause clearly distinct differences in the resultant sound -- provided the rest of one's system is sufficiently refined to be able to deliver a level of performance otherwise good enough to hear them.

I have belonged to the latter camp for the past 20 years.  At that time, my equipment dealer loaned me four different speaker cables to try.  I had no favorite among them when I began my evaluation one afternoon.  By the end of that day, it was evident to me that the Transparent Audio cable sounded the best -- better than both the speaker cable I had been using and the three others I was trying out.  Over the ensuing years, I generally purchased well-reviewed, but hardly outrageously expensive, interconnect and power cables whenever I bought a new piece of gear.  I was always pleased with how my audio system sounded afterwards; my practice had served me well.

AXPONA 2019 was a real eye-opener for me when I attended a 30-minute demo of competitive high-end power cables sponsored by Audioquest.  Two things became starkly evident: all of them caused the music to sound much better than when an ordinary 12 gauge power cord was used; and there were discernable differences even among those very expensive power cords.  Both to my ears and to those of most of the other members of the audience at that session, the Audioquest and Shunyata cables resulted in a more musical sound -- but not identically; the Nordost and one other cable whose manufacturer I forget were less clear and less musical.  Can I describe how they were less?  Not specifically anymore, but I still remember that they were.  As a consequence of that demo, I decided to upgrade my interconnects between my preamp and my power amps and my speaker cables.

One take-away from that demonstration was that, to hone in on what might be an audible difference between two cables, not only must the rest of one's system be up to the task, but also the music played has to be well performed, well engineered, and well reproduced in the media serving as its source.  What I did was to choose outstanding source material in which I selected certain short and distinct passages that provided me the opportunity to discern various attributes such as inner detail.  An example of this is the brief chorus in Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" -- "this world is only gonna break your heart".  The only part of that sentence I could clearly make out effortlessly before I started my upgrade exercise were the "k" in break and the words "your heart".  Other examples I used ranged from how a small percussion instrument sounded in Ludivico Einaudi's "Life" in his In A Time Lapse album to the overall realism in terms of "being there" and identifiable dimensionality of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson introducing "Ghost Riders in the Sky" in their VH1 Storytellers album.

I spent a lot of time, effort and (unfortunately) dollars in my determination of my new cables.  Ultimately, what I chose were Wireworld's Silver Eclipse speaker cables and Equinox (XLR) interconnect and Shunyata's Delta XC power cable connecting into a Shunyata Denalit 2000/T power distributor (my amplifiers have integrated power cords).

The improvement in the audio quality of my system became very evident.  All the words of the "Wicked Game" chorus, for example, are now clear and easy to understand.  Instruments sound a bit more real, as do voices.  These new cables also have had one more benefit which both my wife and I find astounding.  Heretofore, whenever we watched a movie, we needed to have subtitles displayed in order not to miss hearing/understanding some of the dialogue.  No longer!  The improved clarity of the sound is so profound that in most cases we no longer need those subtitles.

In conclusion, I tend to think that the "nay-sayers" probably fall into two categories.  There are those people who simply don't own systems good enough to enable the differentiation that is there and those who do own excellent equipment but don't expend the effort necessary to design a conclusive trial that would enable them to hear that differentiation.  However, my own experience has provided me with the proof that there really is a difference among cables and that this difference is discernable.