How accurate are cable descriptions for your system?

I look at it as just another opinion.

For a lot of components there are multiple reviews and when an opinion is asked on this forum, everybody and his dog has a different recommendation as what is the "best".

Add them all together and if you don't have the ability to listen to everything, then it comes down to just making your best guess.

Actually, when you think about it, it's very similar to buying wine.

@tony1954 

When you say "Just another opinion" does that mean that "all opinions are equal"?

It is the most obvious truism to say that one has to "listen for themself" -- so we certainly agree on that.

Above and beyond that, some people with opinions have those opinions grounded upon:

• serious investment of time and effort
• an effort to detach from prejudice
• extensive, controlled comparisons

As a result of their efforts, they develop what Hume called:

"Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice." 

And that's why THEIR opinion is worth MORE.

@hilde45 good thread and has made me stop and ponder.  I struggle in this area a bit and my guess is it has more to do with me being able to properly interpret some of the terms and then combine all the terms together to capture what they sound like together in playback.  Sort of like reading a wine review - I'm exaggerating for humor here - with earthy undertones, a hint of tobacco with a velvety vanilla finish that resonates on the back of the tongue.  I sort of understand each standalone reference but what do all the references add up to on the finished taste and if the hint of tobacco is really important for a nonsmoker.

But what a do know is how my system sounds and can quickly discern the differences I hear when I listen to a different cable.  Am I getting something more or less than the incumbent cable and if the difference I'm hearing worth the investment of changing them out

I installed the Silversmith Fideliums a few weeks ago

My current cables were very lively, energetic and a joy to behold

But within three songs with the Silversmith's there was no turning back

In summary, I was hearing the best version of playback on my system of each song that I played

That's the pinnacle of any upgrade for me and allows me to rediscover my entire music catalog again

While certainly not the first time I've heard the song but indeed the BEST I've EVER heard said song playback on my system in my room

At the end of the day, for me the reviews are simply guidelines and the results of our mileage will vary depending our personal tastes, combination of components and room specifics 

Buy something because you like it based on your experience, not because of a reviewers experience

Enjoy the journey

I hear your complaint.  The reason responses are all over the place is because a given cable will sound different with any input or output circuit.  I am sure your question arose from experience of that happening.

@stevewharton ​​​​​​@kellyp )

I like the wine metaphor. I think we all struggle. Not only because these terms are very very vague (in terms of designating a precise sensory correlate event in our own situated experiences) but there are many acoustical factors which make the comparison laughable if it's meant to be serious or scientific. (That pretense to scientific accuracy is probably what gets under most people's skins.)

We might consider the wide range of factors that comprise a certain sonic event:

recording
cables
amp
preamp
speakers
room
listener interpretation

So, when someone says "this cable sounds like X" then I need to know something reasonably precise about the other factors involved -- and how they compare to my own space and taste. Otherwise, what they say about the cable is fairly opaque. A.K.A. nearly "useless." Unless one is just looking for something to try. And I have no beef with that. We all need to get our hints from somewhere.

Silversmith Fideliums -- thanks for mentioning.