Which speaker cable should I ........

[duder1234]

Nice! So I can go ahead with my indoor fire pit right next to my speakers! SWEET! J/K

Thanks again D_M!

[D_M]

lol no prob dude.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by D_M

I bought them years ago before my 'education'. This is all that matters in cables: resistance (R), capacitance (C), and inductance (L).

You of course forgot the most important thing (for audio cables): how they sound. And there's no way to tell that than by listening to them.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by D_M

I'm only spreading the education. These are legitimate empirical scientific claims that refute subjectivity. If anyone here can hear any audible differences between cables then you should sign up to take one of the above challenges and earn some extra cash.

No, you're just spreading opinion.

And the last I heard with the million dollar cable test, Stereophile's Michael Fremer offered to take the test, but all of a sudden the pundit putting up the "million dollars" withdrew his offer. Hmmm...

I've heard cable differences with my own ears, so I know that they can be different. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I give 0 credibility to people who tell me I can't hear what I know I can hear.

If you can't hear the difference between an expensive high-end cable and those from Monoprice: good for you! You'll potentially save yourself a small fortune and be happy doing so. But please don't try to tell those of us who hear these differences that we're deluding ourselves, 'cause we're not.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by John72953

I don't have Golden Ears, but I do know what to listen for and, as such, have made good decisions. It will be said these upgrades are "placebo effects", and hey, maybe they are. Quite frankly I don't really care as the only person that has to listen to my system is yours truly.

The problem with people who screm "placebo effect" when you tell them about different cables is that they discount the fact that you probably auditioned several cables before deciding which one to go for--and the most expensive cable doesn't necessarily win.

[DangeRuss]

Originally Posted by John72953

I was kinda teasing you with that, but I'm glad you agree it was a valid observation.

There is a lot of snake-oil marketing in high(er)-end audio, and I for one have probably bought into it at times. I do however think, that all of the upgrades I've made, and yes that includes all of the various types of connection cables, have improved on the sound quality of my simple set-up. I don't have Golden Ears, but I do know what to listen for and, as such, have made good decisions. It will be said these upgrades are "placebo effects", and hey, maybe they are. Quite frankly I don't really care as the only person that has to listen to my system is yours truly.

The one thing I do know for certain is that the music will always come first and I am not interested (also read: not financially able) to get my system to level whereby I am in constant search of the next "fix". There are a few more upgrades I want to make over the next few years, but after that...I'm calling a time-out.

John

So gentlemen, I see you've recognized my dilemma. After reading all of these posts I'm almost leaning toward re-finishing the 12 gauge wire I have fitted now (which BTW was an improvement over the 18 gauge zip cord I started with) and the(BS Monster 1is bi wire cable) I was foolish enough to buy into. I guess what I want is a nicely finished cable that works well for short(4 foot) and long(50 foot) runs. It would be nice to have 4 connectors per housing for my bi-amped setup. What would you nice people suggest?

Let the battle continue

DangeRuss

[D_M]

Originally Posted by richteer

No, you're just spreading opinion.

And such is your opinion. Good for you.

[kareface]

One comment I did notice that I disagree with. Properly made power cables can make a difference. Not because they provide 'better power', but because of the current running through the cable you generate magnetic fields at varying frequencies depending on the resistance of the cable. Most HT gear will be fine, but higher power products like amplifiers can draw enough current that cheaper power cables will give off stronger magnetic fields. Those fields can easily create noise on analogue signals surrounding it. The quality of the power really doesn't change, just the effect the fields have on the near by cables.

I've run into an instance where we could hear the difference in the resistance of the power cables we attached to the system simply by turning his receiver up to the maximum power and listening to the interference. I actually had the problem that my front panel leads for my headphones on my computer have a low buzz from the EMI generated by the other components in the system. I had to pull the cable out and replace it with a pair of wires from a cat5 cable twisted together to reduce the noise. If I wasn't listening to something, you could hear the buzz quite clearly, and if you moved the mouse around you could hear the distortion from that. With music going you really couldn't hear anything, but it was still enough to get me to take care of the problem.

Does this mean that you need 1500$ power cables? God no! There are a lot of cheap cables that'll work great. You just need something that ideally has a resistance low enough that the current you draw won't create strong magnetic fields. Shielding help as well, because even low resistance cables will still produce weak magnetic fields. On the whole tho, most of the noise created by EMI will be largely inaudible at normal volume levels or power levels. It isn't till you're driving really power hungry speakers or have really high volume levels that you'll even be able to notice the interference.

I can already hear people complaining about the quality of the cables in the walls and their magnetic fields. I'll say this much, the power in your house does generate a magnetic field. Older houses where the cabling provided greater resistance would have problems with sensitive electronic devices near the power cables in the walls. I couldn't put my old 20" CRT monitor anywhere near the corner of one of my older apartments with out running it at 60hz refresh. If I changed the rate to something that wasn't a multiple of 60 the field would cause the screen to flip out. I ended up getting a nicer display and running it at 120hz on a slightly lower resolution so I wouldn't notice the flicker as much. The screen worked fine a couple feet from the wall, but when you got it near the walls it would flip out. I was running a ton of electronics at the time tho, huge file servers with lots of HDs. Newer inwall cables are much better about this. However they are also not inches away from your speaker cables. When ever possible, you want to keep at least 6" (or more) between in wall speaker and power cabling. If it's older cabling you're better off with 2' or greater depending on the age. Higher gauge cabling helps reduce the effect of EMI.

Anyways, my 2 cents.

[DangeRuss]

I went for the pre-fab cables from Dayton