What type of cables make the most difference
What type of cables, in your subjective experience, makes the most difference? I’m not focusing on brands, but rather, on type, ie, speaker cables, power cables, analog interconnect, digital interconnect, and anything else I may have omitted. If you don’t think cables beyond a base level of competency makes a difference that’s fine too.
For me and my system, I'd say that speaker cables and interconnects are both important. It would be hard to rank them. I never really expected big differences in speaker cables until I got the Silversmith Audio Fidelium cables. I don't have the ultimate in power cords, but I think they are pretty good. I've never noticed big differences when installing them. Perhaps I have clean power here and they have less impact for me? IDK. |
It was entertaining though |
It depends on the quality of cables you are comparing in your blindfold. (good cable vs good cable......Or trash cable vs good cable.....good cable vs good cable can get very difficult to discern) Some digital cables can make a very discernible difference. Otherwise, speaker cables (most times)... Interconnects...barely...a lot of you will be pulling teeth a lot to pass that blind comparison. Power cable upgrades are nonsense mostly if you already have a high quality power conditioner.
P.S. "I heard a difference" means nothing....it’s weak, a very weak statement...Don't be weak...You need to "hear that difference" 23/25 times, 18/20 times, etc in a blindfold....a.k.a when the going gets tough, the tough get going... |
I'm a geezer audiophile and I have experimented with cables for decades. So far I have never heard a cable that makes a difference. One possible reason for this is that I use a control whenever possible. For example, I have multiple digital components hooked up (two DACs, two CD players, two transports) and my method to test cables is to compare two components, let"s say two CD players, with my standard cables which come from Blue Jeans. I do my best to identify any differences (which are small when comparing digital sources in my experience) with the same cables and then I swap out the cables on one source. I will leave this arrangement in place for a month or two and compare the two sources a number of times using the same CD on both making sure the volume is the same. I hadn't heard a difference on the cables I tried but I had read over and over that silver cables have a particular character. Some people love them and others not so much but they had a reputation for giving a distinctive sound. So I went ahead and spent several hundred dollars on a pair of Audioquest silver interconnects and did my test. Same result. Bupkis. I think it's very enlightening that nobody has produced a controlled ABX test that shows that listeners can identify different cables when they don't know which they are listening to. If anyone on this thread knows of such a test please provide a link. It's particularly important that no cable manufacturer has produced such a test. If a company had a cable that could reliably be identified in blind testing they would be filling every audio magazine and every internet ad crowing about this information. I realize that you asked for personal experience and I fully accept that if someone says they can hear a difference between cables then they hear a difference. All I can say is that I've saved thousands of dollars over the years that I have put into DACs, speakers, amplifiers, and especially recorded music. |
