How accurate are cable descriptions for your system?

@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.

You can get around the whole "room acoustics" issue with a good dac/amp and headphones. 

Headphones can be useful when you need to be silent for the sake of someone else...

None of my 8 headphones compared to me acousticallt controlled room...

I will never go back to headphones...

Most people anyway listen their speakers in a living room or in a room not acoustically controlled...

Headphones sound is artificial....

But room acoustic is so complex to experiment with, i advise headphones over living room speakers...

You can get around the whole "room acoustics" issue with a good dac/amp and headphones.

Reading or listening online to a cable review: The more I know of the background and the personal taste and the experience of the reviewer, the better I can judge if I can take seriously his/her verdict and advice. It‘s not an easy task. 😀