Best Speaker Cables?

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by A Y

The problem with audio is that much of it is awfully designed with respect to electrical compatibility and good practices (cf. AF's tinfoil solution). When cables make a real difference, it's almost always because they're mitigating some problem in the design.

Cables cannot improve audio quality --- it can only degrade it, because the cable's job is to transmit a signal unchanged. When a cable makes a difference, something's messed up.

+1 on the recommendation for Blue Jeans Cables. I've had nothing but positive experienes with them, including their return policy.

--Andre

A few comments...

1. Placing aluminum foil on the mic stand works. When we placed it over the cables from the AKG C24 it eliminated the radio signals we were picking up at the church location in Chelsea (NYC). We reoeated this process over several sessions in this church. NYC has lots of radio noise and the C24 is remarkably sensitive.

2. Cables improve sound quality by letting more of the signal through as you say but Blue Jeans cable, while a relative bargain, do not come close to the performance of a good Kimber or Cardas or Nordost cable. I know as I have done shootouts with them.

3. In many ways, cables are part of the signal path and act like another component. I know this since we are always experimenting with different mic cables. Even good pro cables like Canare cannot even come close to the transparency of a long audiophile cable run terminated with XLRs.

The audiophile cables are expensive but the parts quality on many brands is high often employing ultra-pure OCC (long crystal) copper and fine silver. Creating a teflon dielectric is complex as well. Kimber has several patents as does Cardas and Nordost.

I wish there was a way to save money here as it would allow me to buy other toys but buying Blue Jeans cable is a bit like buying Geox and pretending you own a pair of Edward Green.

 

[username79]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

A few comments...

1. Placing aluminum foil on the mic stand works. When we placed it over the cables from the AKG C24 it eliminated the radio signals we were picking up at the church location in Chelsea (NYC).

2. Cables improve sound quality by letting more of the signal through as you say but Blue Jeans cable, while a relative bargain, do not come close to the performance of a good Kimber or Cardas or Nordost cable. I know as I have done shootouts with them.

3. In many ways, cables are part of the signal path and act like another component. I know this since we are always experimenting with different mic cables. Even good pro cables like Canare cannot even come close to the transparency of a long audiophile cable run terminated with XLRs.

The audiophile cables are expensive but the parts quality on many brands is high often employing
ultra-pure OCC (long crystal) copper and silver.

I wish there was a way to save money here as it would allow me to buy other toys but buying Blue Jeans cable is a bit like buying Geox and pretending you own a pair of Edward Green.


Why don't you try posting some objective measurements and not your fanboyism copied from Audioquest's marketing brochures?

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by Sprezzatura2010

They do not improve sound quality at all so long as basic minimum technical standards are met. See my link to Roger Russell's site earlier in this thread. At extreme prices, there is a possibility that the cables will be designed to lower fidelity by introducing extra sonic anomalies into a system, such as rolling off the high frequencies.

Actually if you listen to Nordost Odin, the most pricey cable on the planet, it spotlights the HF in a hyper-analytical fashion. It sounds rather neat but it reveals more than is there.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by arnach

Why don't you try posting some objective measurements and not your fanboyism copied from Audioquest's marketing brochures?

I've posted measurements in the past that support my points but measurements do not tell the full story. I don't particularly like AQ cables by the way. I do see a correlation with capacitance, resistance, and inductance. You might find this interesting: http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...able+Resonance

You may not agree with my views but my opinions on this subject of audio is backed up by recording experience on dozens of commercial albums since 1990.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Also see: http://www.cardas.com/pdf/measurements.pdf

 

[grimslade]

Kronik, i can't believe you did this.

 

[RJmanbearpig]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

A few comments...

1. Placing aluminum foil on the mic stand works. When we placed it over the cables from the AKG C24 it eliminated the radio signals we were picking up at the church location in Chelsea (NYC). We reoeated this process over several sessions in this church. NYC has lots of radio noise and the C24 is remarkably sensitive.

2. Cables improve sound quality by letting more of the signal through as you say but Blue Jeans cable, while a relative bargain, do not come close to the performance of a good Kimber or Cardas or Nordost cable. I know as I have done shootouts with them.

3. In many ways, cables are part of the signal path and act like another component. I know this since we are always experimenting with different mic cables. Even good pro cables like Canare cannot even come close to the transparency of a long audiophile cable run terminated with XLRs.

The audiophile cables are expensive but the parts quality on many brands is high often employing ultra-pure OCC (long crystal) copper and fine silver. Creating a teflon dielectric is complex as well. Kimber has several patents as does Cardas and Nordost.

I wish there was a way to save money here as it would allow me to buy other toys but buying Blue Jeans cable is a bit like buying Geox and pretending you own a pair of Edward Green.
I love you, man... I mean I really, really love you...

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

I've posted measurements in the past that support my points but measurements do not tell the full story.

I don't think a single measurement or link to measurement you've posted has ever supported your point. At best they are a red herring, like the Cardas link.

For example, Cardas admits that audio signalling wavelengths are very long, and therefore do not exhibit transmission line features. However, his test then proceeds to use signals with much shorter wavelengths in order to show that there are differences between cables. These are signals that don't exist in analog audio, and their cable-dependence due to their short wavelengths is completely predictable by freshman-level physics students.

It's like saying cars don't go 500 MPH, and then crashing a car at 500 MPH to show how unsafe all cars are.

At best, that test is incompetent, and at worst, dishonest.

--Andre

 

[tundrafour]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

...It sounds rather neat but it reveals more than is there.

How does it do this?

 

[JetBlast]

Originally Posted by A Y

It's like saying cars don't go 500 MPH, and then crashing a car at 500 MPH to show how unsafe all cars are.

This made me lol.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by A Y

I don't think a single measurement or link to measurement you've posted has ever supported your point. At best they are a red herring, like the Cardas link.

For example, Cardas admits that audio signalling wavelengths are very long, and therefore do not exhibit transmission line features. However, his test then proceeds to use signals with much shorter wavelengths in order to show that there are differences between cables. These are signals that don't exist in analog audio, and their cable-dependence due to their short wavelengths is completely predictable by freshman-level physics students.

It's like saying cars don't go 500 MPH, and then crashing a car at 500 MPH to show how unsafe all cars are.

At best, that test is incompetent, and at worst, dishonest.

--Andre

I don't understand how you can say this. Cardas created a real world test and then showed how his cables outperformed. He also publishes I, C, R metrics which has been shown to be accurate. If a cable is a transmitter of electrical signal, why doesn't capacitance matter? Why do teflon dielectrics not matter?

Also, I don't understand the logic of recommending Blue Jeans cables if you don't think sonic differences exist...? Why not recommend lamp cord instead and save the member here extra money? If cable quality matters how does one know that Blue Jeans is a value but Cardas or Kimber are not?

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by grimslade

Kronik, i can't believe you did this.

Why don't you STFU and stay out of the thread if you don't want to learn Bryan?

 

[Sprezzatura2010]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

2. Cables improve sound quality by letting more of the signal through as you say but Blue Jeans cable, while a relative bargain, do not come close to the performance of a good Kimber or Cardas or Nordost cable. I know as I have done shootouts with them.
If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

3. In many ways, cables are part of the signal path and act like another component. I know this since we are always experimenting with different mic cables. Even good pro cables like Canare cannot even come close to the transparency of a long audiophile cable run terminated with XLRs.
If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

I wish there was a way to save money here as it would allow me to buy other toys but buying Blue Jeans cable is a bit like buying Geox and pretending you own a pair of Edward Green.
If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****. I'll even spring for fresh Blue Jeans Wire.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

Actually if you listen to Nordost Odin, the most pricey cable on the planet, it spotlights the HF in a hyper-analytical fashion. It sounds rather neat but it reveals more than is there.
"Listen" to a wire? My ******* God are you stupid. Or at least one of the most gullible human beings on this planet. (Unless you are referring to pulling it taut and either plucking it or running some sort of bow across it. Then it might have its own distinct sound.)

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by Sprezzatura2010

If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****.

If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****.

If you actually believe that to be true, then put money on it in a blind test. *****. I'll even spring for fresh Blue Jeans Wire.

"Listen" to a wire? My ******* God are you stupid. Or at least one of the most gullible human beings on this planet.

 

[Sprezzatura2010]

So why are you such a ***** that you are deathly afraid of substantiating any of the wild claims you make, anyway?

It definitely speaks to low moral character.