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Originally Posted by dovercat  Using over spec cables that have no real effect or cables that are altering the sound quality by making it less true to source strikes me as odd.
Speakers, speaker placement and room acoustics I would expect to have the biggest effect on sound quality. In most living rooms the room acoustics and position of your head probably have the biggest impact on sound quality. |
IME your second point is very valid.
As for your first point, it may sound odd but we have to take account of the fact that sound reproduction does involve a lot of compromises, especially at the speaker end of things. The more revealing and "realistic" sounding the system the more it is liable to reveal said compromises. Cable can be a way of tuning out those compromises to make for a more musically satisfying experience.
Also, some of the sounds an orchestra makes can be quite harsh, but listening live it is acceptable because we can see them playing and we know that it is real. At home, without the visual element, that harshness can be off-putting and to make the sound closer to how we imagine/remember it may mean a departure from the sound being true to source.
My main beef with reviewers in general is that when they express the differences in sound between products they rarely mention
how much difference there is likely to be, and in partnership with which equipment those differences are likely to be discernible.