Cable - audible differences?

car mechanic?
I'm a fleet mechanic for St. Louis County, we work on eveything with engines and or wheels. I try to leave cars alone if I can, and I prefer to work on the trucks and heavy equipment. I took care of the police fleet in our district for 12 years and that kid of burnt me out on cars. I'm happiest when I get to fabricate, and or do welding repairs.
 
so in other words...you do work with specs/numbers ie. torques on bolts, size and length of weld to develop reqd capacity, reqd vacuum in engine etc etc...
then why would you trust some fancy looking audio/electrical cables that DO NOT list any tech specs but only some elaborate, exotic words descriptions ?
 
Could you share a bit more about your theory of 9AWG cables being clear of any bass-compression, while 12AWG is masked by a cloudy veil of compressed bass? To my limited way of thinking, the only way to get compression in a cable is if it has a non-linear resistance due to current flowing through it. In all my years, I have never met a cable that can change its resistance. In fact, every resistance guide I've read has never stated values based on current flow. It is what it is at all currents.

I guess through dumb luck I wire my woofers with 5AWG cables (with 8AWG inside the cabinets).
Here: https://www.cirris.com/learning-cen...-topics/177-temperature-coefficient-of-copper
 
How many posters on this topic have engineering degrees?...electrical, electronics, materials...or science degrees in physics?
I thought this thread was about "Audible differences" ? How many posters in this thread have a degree in audiology or a certificate stating that their ears pass muster (or even a couple of clean Q-tips next to their turntable to show that their ears came up clean?) Just because someone has a degree doesn't necessarily make their hearing superior.
 
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so in other words...you do work with specs/numbers ie. torques on bolts, size and length of weld to develop reqd capacity, reqd vacuum in engine etc etc...
then why would you trust some fancy looking audio/electrical cables that DO NOT list any tech specs but only some elaborate, exotic words descriptions ?
I don't. I trust my ears, that's why I replaced a high dollar diamondback with a cable that cost roughly half. But I would love to have the cash to try some more expensive cables just for grins. I believe there are audible differences in cables because I have experienced it for myself. I also believe that you dont have to spend a fortune for improvements. I'm not going to discount the differences or improvements experienced by others with esoteric cables just because I myself haven't, and I won't slam someone else for spending more than me just because they can.
 
I don't. I trust my ears, that's why I replaced a high dollar diamondback with a cable that cost roughly half. But I would love to have the cash to try some more expensive cables just for grins. I believe there are audible differences in cables because I have experienced it for myself. I also believe that you dont have to spend a fortune for improvements. I'm not going to discount the differences or improvements experienced by others with esoteric cables just because I myself haven't, and I won't slam someone else for spending more than me just because they can.
I replaced (or actually, returned to the seller) some cables I didn't care for--I found them to sound somewhat thinner and noisier than the dumpy old cables I'd had for a couple of decades. I made my own and found them to sound better than the cables I had purchased. Or at least, quieter--I feel my current cables may be a little too bright. I'm looking to make another set using different cabling and RCA connectors, so this should be interesting for comparison purposes (or to indicate if I should use the Q-Tips a little more often ;) ).
 
I replaced (or actually, returned to the seller) some cables I didn't care for--I found them to sound somewhat thinner and noisier than the dumpy old cables I'd had for a couple of decades. I made my own and found them to sound better than the cables I had purchased. Or at least, quieter--I feel my current cables may be a little too bright. I'm looking to make another set using different cabling and RCA connectors, so this should be interesting for comparison purposes (or to indicate if I should use the Q-Tips a little more often ;) ).
I think it has as much to do with the connectors as anything else. I prefer the silver rca plugs over gold or brass, and I prefer gold over copper banana plugs over cheap gold over brass. That's just me though.
 
Plating and wire materials are very interesting. In my system I use two 75 Ohm RCA cables; one on my universal player and the other on my streamer.

I had been using WireWorld UltraViolet cables, which consist of a 24AWG silver-plated wire and has gold over silver RCAs. I replaced those with the Cullen Nitin Coax that uses an 18AWG solid copper wire with Belden 75 Ohm RCAs with nickel/tin plating over brass.

I much prefer the Cullen. It has a smoother, fuller and a more quite sound. I was surprised because I wasn't sure what to expect from connectors the nickel/tin plating over brass.

A new power cable I have has Rhodium plated plugs and uses silver-plated copper wire and my new speaker cable also uses silver-plated wire as well. I was apprehensive about trying them, because I have read so many negative experiences of people not liking Rhodium or silver plating and nickel/tin plating; but after a bit more than 50 hours in with them my system has never sounded better.

All that to say that cables can be very frustrating. I'm glad I'm nearing the point that I won't have to think about them (much).;-)

Cheers,

Scott
 
I still use RCA cables I bought at Radio Shack in the 70's. They sound great!
A few of my RS sets have gone bad over the years--I still ask myself why I still hold onto them. They got to where the occasional wiggles would not help them. :D I had two sets of those multicolored RCA cables from the 70s--one each red, black, green and yellow, if I recall.

A new power cable I have has Rhodium plated plugs and uses silver-plated copper wire and my new speaker cable also uses silver-plated wire as well. I was apprehensive about trying them, because I have read so many negative experiences of people not liking Rhodium or silver plating and nickel/tin plating; but after a bit more than 50 hours in with them my system has never sounded better.
I'm no scientist or engineer (other than having had electronics classes), but I tend to think that the plating being as thin as it is, doesn't affect the sound quite as much. And it is largely used for keeping connectors corrosion-resistant. The cable setup I'm considering is going to be primarily copper based with a little gold plating, which is why I'm so curious to hear it in comparison to what I have now (silver plated copper cable, gold plated brass connectors). It's no loss since I can use the old cables elsewhere. And some listeners find that mixing interconnects works out best--one type on a digital component, another from the turntable, yet another from preamp to amp, to get that balance they are looking for.
 
A few of my RS sets have gone bad over the years--I still ask myself why I still hold onto them. They got to where the occasional wiggles would not help them. :D I had two sets of those multicolored RCA cables from the 70s--one each red, black, green and yellow, if I recall.
I have four or five of those. I just had to retire one because, yes, it DID require the occasional wiggle. And yes, those are the colors. I used them for cassette decks.
 
I will chime in with my experience over the years.

The only time I've heard something better is when I went from the crappy ICs that came with mid-level audio equipment in the 90's (you know, the thin, un-shielded black wire and red and black plastic connector) to AR or Monster or Home Depot generic shielded cables with nicer metal connectors. Mostly because it eliminated cross-talk and buzzing from other electronics.

I will pay a little more for a nice, clean IC and a little more than that for a nice clean, custom length connector because it makes me feel better to see "no spaghetti" and order behind the rack. But i don't hear any improvement when using more expensive cables than what I hear with basic well-made shielded cables.

What I do recommend that you all do right now, immediately... like... now! is to go and get a little tube of silver contact enhancing grease and put a tiny little dab on all your connectors. You will hear an improvement. I wasn't ready for it the first time I did it, so I didn't measure the output before and after, but I remember when I first did this years ago, I didn't touch the volume and I could swear it "got louder" when I turned the system back on.

Since then, it's the only tweak I always do with any new equipment going in my rack.
 
LCA8-38-L.JPG

FYI
 
When you see an article written by a cable company's chief in charge of their audiophile cable development program, discussing possible reasons for cable differences, do you think it is going to be independent, unbiased and scientific?

It would be nice if it were, but I'm not holding my breath.


That is why i don’t buy PS Audio stuffs
 
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