Reply With QuoteExcellent - I need to share that with several audio snobs I know :-)
audio experts could not tell the difference between $100 Monster speaker cables and cables made from soldering together old coat hangers
http://gizmodo.com/363154/audiophile...-a-coat-hanger
have we been ripped off?
next up, $10 nato straps work as well as...
Excellent - I need to share that with several audio snobs I know :-)
Be very careful chaps. Attacking a mans choice of speaker cable (particularly expensive speaker cable) is much like attacking a mans choice of watch. I would drop the subject immediately and delete the thread.
Nonsense. Next you will be telling me that a Rolex (which, as we all know, is THE BEST WATCH IN THE WORLD) does not keep better time than a Casio.
Well: I'm pretty sure a Casio keeps better time.
What this proves is that Monster make overpriced rubbish. we knew that already.
For the audio equivalent of homeopathy, you just have to go here...
https://www.russandrews.com/
:DOriginally Posted by aldfort
Be very careful chaps. Attacking a mans choice of speaker cable (particularly expensive speaker cable) is much like attacking a mans choice of watch. I would drop the subject immediately and delete the thread.
If you want silly...
http://www.custom-cable.co.uk/audioquest-rj-e-diamond-ethernet-cable.html
£600 (give or take) for a 0.75m ethernet cable - why?
cheers,
In a well-matched system, good speaker cables can make a difference. Those who don't think so haven't tried the right cables, or their system isn't analytical enough. Having said that, good cables needn't cost the earth. At any rate, making disparaging comments about those who invest a bit of money in their system, trying to make it sound better, is not cool.
Oh and Monster cables are cr@p, indeed.
Incidentally, this is a 10 year old report of a rough and ready test conducted on 60 year old chap and 5 of his "audio buddies" (presumably) of similar age. It's well known what happens to hearing with age.
is there loads of snake oil in hifi? Of course.
Bottom line: if you can actually hear the difference then buy the kit, if not just spend the money on music.
Having meddled in the black art of Audiophile Quality Hifi , I can attest that there IS a definite difference between makes,size,quality of cable - and needless to say , interconnects , etc…Now whether you can hear a difference , that's a different question ;) .
We all know there is a difference. Speaker cable is the one most likely to induce colouration onto what you hear through the speakers. Both the capacitance and the inductance of the cable may have an effect on what you hear. However tuning those effect out in the design phase is not too difficult. But as I said this is the same territory as high end watches so WIS are the last people who should be throwing stones.
Isn't that akin to the posit that a tree falling in a forest only makes a noise if there is someone around to hear it? If you can't hear the difference then it matters not.
What does a melting credit card sound like?
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
As an apprentice, Solid 2.5 twin & earth was the choice for my Luxman Amp to Leak Speakers
Worked fine for me
£30 for 100M . Bargain
Speaker cables definitely can make a difference, try connecting Litz speaker cables to a Naim amplifier for a graphic example.
(Naim amplifiers rely on cable inductance to maintain the stability of their power amplifers, Litz cable will cause oscillation of the output stage).
There is, however, a massive amount of BS involved in the marketing of speaker cables and interconnectors...
I know !! That's why I've switched to Orology...lol
This is one of the advantages of cycling. You can still spaff your cash like a sheik in Vegas but you can very clearly tell which stuff actually improves your performance.
Solid core, no dielectric? Sounds good - apparently.
I love these threads. Same old responses. Russ Andrews ritually wheeled out for his regular kicking as a charlatan/lunatic. Peter Belt will be burnt at the virtual stake soon as Pavlov has his regular pound of flesh.
What else, of practical use, can we make out of coat hangers?
All suggestions to Tracy Emin c/o any gallery daft enough to exhibit her 'art'.
Tracy, please do not reply to this, it's not art Tracy, it's just an unmade bed luv.
Now if it had had a coat hanger on it, that would have opened up the possibility that it was awaiting transformation into speaker cable and our imaginations would have been engaged.
Oh well, she's not bothered as it probably sold for a zillion exactly as it was.
Now, who can answer this. Is it better, for speaker wire purposes, to use a single strand of coat hanger wire or several tightly twisted together and should it be shielded?
Please put all answers in a self addressed envelope and post them asap.
Last edited by LeighG; 26th November 2013 at 19:37. Reason: Opps missed the 'e' off envelope! Tut tut.
That is indeed remarkably silly.
Even the blurb on the site seems slightly embarrassed.
Sounds like they need to update their audio experts :p
QED Silver Anniversary FTW
Monster make those god awful Beats by Dre headphones, which in a blind test, I'm not sure I could distinguish from hanging some coat hangers on my ears.
My Hi Fi system sounds different when I close the curtains and rearrange the cushions on the sofa, does this mean I have the wrong type of speaker cables?
No kidding I love this stuff, the power of marketing over gullible folk, people will be paying thousands for mechanical watches next.
At the end of the day if you believe there is a difference then go for it, but what matters to you may seem like complete nonsense to someone else; each to their own, live and let live, at the end of the day it doesn't early matter.
chill
Grant
Haha, thanks for posting this.
Be sure I'll share it with some fellow audiophiles.
Bingo! just make sure you get good quality (non chinese crap) with high copper content.
I believe Mr Andrews sells a high end USB cable? I can easily believe that some of his items have merit, including the power supply equipment, but I really can't see any justification for high-priced digital cables. Those 1s and 0s seem to get by just fine on the cheap circuit boards and Ethernet cables in homes and businesses across the country without any high-priced snake oil.
For the record, I paid £300 for my own Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables some years ago; I do believe that analogue cables can have a small effect on sound quality, but only up to a point. I now consider myself quite gullible for paying that amount.
Linn Magik DS > Music First Audio TVC > Bel Canto power amp > Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables > Lumley Lampros 100 speakers.
The system produces a very natural sound on acoustic music and vocals, and I know from experience that some cables can degrade the sound quality slightly, but I don't believe that it is necessary to spend a lot on analogue cables to achieve optimum sound quality.
It does take a high quality system to show differences between cables though.
I am reminded of a quote Peter Walker (founder of Quad) gave on the subject:
" There are only two requirements a speaker cable should satisfy. The first is that it should be long enough to reach between amplifier and speaker. Then having done that, the only other requirement is, ideally, the colour of the insulation should match that of the surface on which it is lays."
I use a Van Den Hul Snowtrack bi wire which cost me about £10 per metre. I'm not sure my ears could justify more and there's always a nagging doubt at the back of my mind that I've been had.
Oh now your just being silly...who would do such a thing in this day and age?....................
No kidding I love this stuff, the power of marketing over gullible folk, people will be paying thousands for mechanical watches next...........
Grant
Pretty much spot on. I'm sure most of us can look back with shame at some things we've paid stupid amounts for, I know that I can.
Worth and value can get strangely twisted out of shape when we apply our 'man justification powers'
jeff
That is f**king ridiculous!
Won't do any better than a £2 cable if it's delivering IP over Ethernet
Indeed! TCP has in-built error correction - it acknlowledges receipt of data packets and automatically re-sends information that isn't acknowledged as received. Since the information is then buffered, it works for real-time data (like music) too. I can't see any need whatsoever for expensive digital audio cables. In my view, these expensive digicables are a scam.
Very expensive cables = complete scam imho.
It's just a matter of time...
As with everything, if it makes you happy the buy it, just never try to justify it.
Also, the ACR (SNR) is going to be so high at less than a meter, there's really no need for anything fancy. I'd be interested to hear what their technical explanation is for the application.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have previously run the marketing teams at both Meridian Audio and Linn, 2 well-respected British manufacturers of high-performance audio products. Linn always took a hard line on expensive cables and generally regarded this kind of thing as snake oil. Meridian were a little more magnanimous in their views, but never recommended any specific cable over another.
I'm an ex-musician and pro-audio guy - I am very fortunate to own a lovely audio system at home and I do not use expensive cables; I tried them and really did not feel there was a discernible difference.
SGR
Don't waste your money on cables, concentrate on the knobs.
http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.co.uk/...lume-knob.html
I think those guys have cornered the knob market...
Earlier this year I read an article from local newspaper about a local guy who had spent over 60 000 euros for his hifi-system and the cables alone had cost about 26 000 euros.
Here there are. Made of gold, silver, space metal and unicorn dust.
http://www.thecableco.com/Product/Cr...Absolute-Dream
Interesting blind listening test report.
http://matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm
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