Thread: Monster cables, do I need them?

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Post by azure September 17, 2003 (11 of 20)
im currently using Neotech audio analog interconnection cable...I find it a quality product and this cable enhanced the overall sound- I replaced the sony cable with neotech
I would n't mind getting some other cable from neotech. I gather it must come from Japan as I have done a google search and can not find a web site listing all of its product
I also gather Ortofon also manufacture interconnect cable but have not found any reference to that on any websites/

Post by zeus September 17, 2003 (12 of 20)
azure said:

im currently using Neotech audio analog interconnection cable...I find it a quality product and this cable enhanced the overall sound- I replaced the sony cable with neotech
I would n't mind getting some other cable from neotech. I gather it must come from Japan as I have done a google search and can not find a web site listing all of its product

NeoTech's web site is:

http://www.neotech.com.tw/

I think the stuff with their own label on it is good value. A telling comment from their FAQ:

Q: Can we know which brands do your OEM for?
A: I am sorry to tell you that we are unable to release this information to you. We gave our word to all of our OEM customers.

Post by randy September 24, 2003 (13 of 20)
nucaleena said:

... I'd recommend that you ask your dealer to let you hire, buy/return-refund or borrow different quality connecting cables for a few days. ...

I took nucaleena's advice, borrowing a set of Nordost Solar Wind cables that my dealer considered to have a sound most distinct from my Audioquest G-Snake cables. I compared the above; I compared the Solar Winds with stock cables; I compared using headphones and speakers; I compared listening to Tchaikovsky, Norah Jones and The Eagles on DVD-A. (My comparison was an A/B test with each set of cables connected to a different receiver input.) The result: I never heard any difference, beyond that which could be explained by the switching between cables without rewinding the music. When listening to the classical pieces, even this wasn't an issue.

I don't think I have the proverbial "tin ear," since I can hear the difference between the CD and SACD layers of a hybrid SACD (as long as the original recording wasn't PCM).

I'll continue to watch for reports of objective measurements that indicate signals can be "colored" (read distorted) by interconnect cables, but I'm not holding my breath. Perhaps I will someday devise my own "difference" measurement. On the other hand, I may simply resolve to concur with Rod Elliott (see my above link) that "cables are just not very interesting."

Post by nucaleena September 24, 2003 (14 of 20)
randy said:

I took nucaleena's advice, borrowing a set of Nordost Solar Wind cables that my dealer considered to have a sound most distinct from my Audioquest G-Snake cables. I compared the above; I compared the Solar Winds with stock cables; I compared using headphones and speakers; I compared listening to Tchaikovsky, Norah Jones and The Eagles on DVD-A. (My comparison was an A/B test with each set of cables connected to a different receiver input.) The result: I never heard any difference, beyond that which could be explained by the switching between cables without rewinding the music. When listening to the classical pieces, even this wasn't an issue.

I don't think I have the proverbial "tin ear," since I can hear the difference between the CD and SACD layers of a hybrid SACD (as long as the original recording wasn't PCM).

I'll continue to watch for reports of objective measurements that indicate signals can be "colored" (read distorted) by interconnect cables, but I'm not holding my breath. Perhaps I will someday devise my own "difference" measurement. On the other hand, I may simply resolve to concur with Rod Elliott (see my above link) that "cables are just not very interesting."

Hope the experiment left you feeling happy with your current cabling, randy. If thats all it did, then it was worth doing, - and cheap too!

Post by greendiamond September 26, 2003 (15 of 20)
Borchgrevink said:

I´ve recently bought a Sony NS-DVP705 SACD-player. Together with my Sony STR-DE545 reciever and my Kirksaeter (Prima 300?) speakers make up an OK system (for me at least...).

Now, my question is. For CD-signals I use a digital coaxial cable.

1) Are there differences in sound quality depending on the coaxiel cable I use? In other words: Are there differencde in quality here? I cannot understand this, because if the signal is digital, it is just 1s and 0s (bits), and the difference that supposedly is present in ordinary analog cables should therefore in my opinion not be present. Is this correct thinking?

2) Now the tricky part... The SACD-signal is sent via the analog output. Here I use the ordinary cheap and thin cables. BUT, everybody tells me to get good monster cables or something similar. I have testet by using good cables for the left speaker and cheap on the right speaker, but i cannot her any difference at all. Is the cabledogma just a hype to sell more cables, or am I missing something essentially when I am listening?

Hope somebody can help.

Thanks

Christian

Borchgrevink: Stay skeptical, keep testing, save your money for SACD's. High-priced interconnects are the emperor's new clothes of the audio world and bring all of the modern, expensive, audiophile shibboleths into question -- could they all be myths? Yes! And remember, once you are sucked in and spend a pile of hard earned cash on fancy wires, you can never go back -- after that, human nature will cause you to see the emperor's magnificent new raiments and you will actually believe it all. This effect is immutable and irreversible -- it's like what happens once you go to sleep in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Can different wires make your system sound different? To some extent, yes -- by adding capacitance, making the impedance match better or worse, etc. Is this a desirable way to tailor your sound? No, it isn't!

Post by Tireguy September 26, 2003 (16 of 20)
greendiamond said:

Borchgrevink: Stay skeptical, keep testing, save your money for SACD's. High-priced interconnects are the emperor's new clothes of the audio world and bring all of the modern, expensive, audiophile shibboleths into question -- could they all be myths? Yes! And remember, once you are sucked in and spend a pile of hard earned cash on fancy wires, you can never go back -- after that, human nature will cause you to see the emperor's magnificent new raiments and you will actually believe it all. This effect is immutable and irreversible -- it's like what happens once you go to sleep in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Can different wires make your system sound different? To some extent, yes -- by adding capacitance, making the impedance match better or worse, etc. Is this a desirable way to tailor your sound? No, it isn't!

One day when you have a system capable of high resolution(this will take more then a $600 SACD player) you will hear the HUGE difference cables can and do make. There was this old audiophile theory that all amps sounded the same, hmmm.

Post by dovenestedtower September 30, 2003 (17 of 20)
I will ask you (and the group in general) if you know of any blind listening tests that would establish that any brand of cables, or just expensive cables in general, were found by a panel of experts ("goldenears") to be better than the stuff from Radio Shack?

I tend to be a sceptic by nature. Show me proof and I will change my opinion. I have yet to see any. I suspect that it's the old "if it's expensive, it must be better." But when you don't know the price tag, there's no incentive to say it's better. I would also like to see a test where audiophiles were told that a are the cheap cables and b are the expensive ones, then leave the same set of cables installed for a and b. I'm convinced that many would say there was a difference when nothing had been changed.

The onus of proof is on those who make such claims.

Dove

Post by zeus September 30, 2003 (18 of 20)
dovenestedtower said:

The onus of proof is on those who make such claims.

Cables have been a hot topic for a long time. Some people believe they're important, others think they're all the same. If you're in the latter group, save yourself some money and get cheap stuff. Nobody is trying to prove anything to you.

If however you're at all curious, check out this place:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/bbs.html

Stephen

Post by Tireguy September 30, 2003 (19 of 20)
Dove all you need to do is listen, I've auditioned a pair of $30k(US Dollars) pair of speaker cables and I had full intentions of purchasing if they were in fact better, but I prefered what I was using. Most audiophiles don't listen with there wallet, its a good way to waste a lot of money. I've had more then a few pairs of cables through here and some of them completely change the sound, so much in fact there MUST be a way to measure the difference to satisfy your curiousity with the matter. Some cables make HUGE bass, some make shrill highs, some add body, etc... its all about finding what works for you and your system and enjoying the music. The more resolving your system becomes the more cables are noticeable. I was skeptic on power cords just a year ago and now I have done some comparison's and am floored by the differences some cables have- who would have thunk it!

Post by Khorn September 30, 2003 (20 of 20)
I think if you ask yourself one question, how you answer it can help you decide about whether its worthwhile exploring into cables or not.

The question is: Do you believe that different components have their own sonic "signature" or, do they all sound the same?

Cables which are made up of varying materials and construction methods are part of a chain of components that makes up your system. If you believe that all components sound the same then changing cables shouldn't make any difference. If however you believe that different components sound differently then, because cables are components, you should investigate if you can hear any differences.

I guess that's one way of looking at it.

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