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First thread in here

I use the blue stuff for the subwoofas. It was a bit cheaper than the extension cord with chopped ends I was going to get. Also got it from wal-mart...when you need some late night wire, it hits the spot.
 
No cryo fellas.:no: I'm switching to the fancier IC tonight, so we will see if there is an improvement. The system sounds "OK" to me with the cheapies, but I'm hoping for "some" improvement.
 
Do you know what's in those $$ Philips cables, wire wise????

I ask because I scrounged some RCA cables once that looked nice with gold ends and braided shields under clear plastic. But when I cut the buggers down to make some shorties, I found out the friggin' things were steel.

Some of these guys spend the $$ on the show, not the go, so it MAY be that there's nastier stuff under the hood on your $$ cables than the cheapies.

But perhaps, you've inspired me to get out the soldering iron and actually work on some of these cables I have here; there's more than one set of gray wires here and plenty of projects in a box out in the garage.
 
chadnliz said:
If I could add my thoughts I would suggest your sort of comparing 2 turds to see what one is less offensive. OK that was a joke but seriously you talking a $13 gap in price between the two, is it safe to consider this test might be of little value if your going to try to claim this as a definitive cable test?
I hope you hear a difference because it often is there but incase you dont I think trying some cables from a company who actually cares about what it is making may be of more value then a set potentially assembled by a child in China. I like the fact your curious and open minded enough to try this out.
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I don't understand what you mean about the 13 dollar gap? Are you saying it's too small of a gap? One problem is that the jacks on the amp are very close together, and most of the really expensive ICs have big fat ends. They just won't fit properly.:no:
 
Quick question for the EE types here. I soldered the ends of the speaker wires so they wouldn't fray. Will the solder cause any loss of conductivity over just clean copper.:scratch2:
 
Might be better to dip the ends in your solder pot filled with molten gold. Just melt a bit of the Mrs.' jewelry. When she hears the results, she won't be mad any more.
 
jaymanaa said:
Quick question for the EE types here. I soldered the ends of the speaker wires so they wouldn't fray. Will the solder cause any loss of conductivity over just clean copper.:scratch2:
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I am not an EE type, which is obvious, but the solder will skew the result. We'll have to put an asterisk by it!:D
 
Of course those cheap cables will sound good on that old tube stuff you use. We all know it can't produce highs and lows like the modern equipment can.

I'm a little disappointed in you Jay.
 
ejfud said:
Of course those cheap cables will sound good on that old tube stuff you use. We all know it can't produce highs and lows like the modern equipment can.

I'm a little disappointed in you Jay.
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That's sort of what I was thinking. The 3 dollar ICs are as good or better than anything they had in the 50s. I switched out to the 15 dollars ICs and it literally made me laugh out loud. The system sounds totally different. It was hard to believe that I was listening to the same stuff. The 3 buck cables weren't doing anything below probably 120Hz, and everything above that sounded like wet cats in a bag. I'm really quite shocked, but in a good way.:yes: I'm fairly convinced though, that these 15 dollar jobs are probably as good as it will get (just with ICs). Now I will put in my 16g. lampcord wire for the speakers and see if I can here anything get worse.:thmbsp:
 
bricktop said:
Might be better to dip the ends in your solder pot filled with molten gold. Just melt a bit of the Mrs.' jewelry. When she hears the results, she won't be mad any more.
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I get in enough trouble just sticking amps in the dishwasher and oven.:no:
 
Andyman said:
Do you know what's in those $$ Philips cables, wire wise????

I ask because I scrounged some RCA cables once that looked nice with gold ends and braided shields under clear plastic. But when I cut the buggers down to make some shorties, I found out the friggin' things were steel...
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Fortunately, as we all know, rust never sleeps.

bricktop said:
Have the Mrs. swap them randomly to see if you can tell any difference.
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Make she is nude when she does so, thus minimizing any spurious noise or EM fields caused by asymmetric static charges caused by moving clothing. She will, I am certain, be compliant when she understands the physics involved.

jaymanaa said:
... The 3 buck cables weren't doing anything below probably 120Hz, and everything above that sounded like wet cats in a bag...
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I believe that excellent HF extension and phase linearity (e.g., excellent 20 kHz square wave response) is need to reproduce accurately the subtle nuances of the sound of wet cats in a bag. I believe that famed engineer Matti Otala used WCIAB as a key metric when voicing wide-band amplifiers for harman/kardon in the late 1970s. In your own listening tests, be sure to evaluate this critically. Can you hear the difference between bleached paper and Kraft paper? Domestic shorthairs or Abyssians? The ear becomes much more discerning with practice.
 
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jaymanaa said:
That's sort of what I was thinking. The 3 dollar ICs are as good or better than anything they had in the 50s. I switched out to the 15 dollars ICs and it literally made me laugh out loud. The system sounds totally different. It was hard to believe that I was listening to the same stuff. The 3 buck cables weren't doing anything below probably 120Hz, and everything above that sounded like wet cats in a bag. I'm really quite shocked, but in a good way.:yes: I'm fairly convinced though, that these 15 dollar jobs are probably as good as it will get (just with ICs). Now I will put in my 16g. lampcord wire for the speakers and see if I can here anything get worse.:thmbsp:
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Seriously? Huh.

I'm sure you're exagerating when you say "doing anything below probably 120Hz". But do you really hear a dramatic difference? If so, could you measure it? I'd love to see a response chart that shows a difference. I've never heard the effect you're describing. I use ICs pretty much like the cheap ones you used.
 
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