Cables - The Forum Opinion

Do cables make a difference?

  • No

    Votes: 2 5.1%
  • Yes

    Votes: 31 79.5%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 2 5.1%
  • Don't care

    Votes: 2 5.1%
  • I hope so...

    Votes: 2 5.1%

  • Total voters
    39
J

juboy

Guest
Seeing as this issue seems to be a continuing and contentious one, I though it'd be interesting to actually see what the overall feeling is within the forum.

Some believe interconnects and speaker cables can't possibly sound different from each other. Others believe it's impossible that they don't sound different.

I guess some voters will have purely technical/scientific reasons and will know exactly what they're talking about... others will have just spent a couple of hundred quid on cable and will be hoping to God it makes some difference and might vote on the basis that an overall 'Yes' majority might somehow also make their cable sound better.

Either way, I know this won't conclude anything but might hopefully be an interesting snapshot as to general feeling.
 
I think having quality cables is important but that you shouldn't go way over the top and spend a furtune on the things. I tend to buy £5 per meter speaker cable, other interconnects up to about the £50 level and £25 Russ Andrews power cables.

Jeff
 
I think you need to rephrase the question

Can cables possibly make a difference - YES, it's possible!

Do cables actually make any difference in the real world, with "normal" hifi systems, in what most would class as normal operating conditions - in 99% of cases NO. The other 1% covers those cases where there are very specific issues involved.

And yes, I made those numbers up :D
I have no scientific basis for using them - it's a total guess! :)


EDIT - I suppose I should add that I'm talking about "normal" cables, suitable for purpose eg RG58 coax interconnects with decent quality phono plugs, RG59 digital coax interconnects with similar plugs - all short, probably 1-2m or less, and comptently constructed, and say >1.5sq mm OFC copper speaker cable at say 3m or less in length.

Although there was that time when they tested a coathanger as digital interconnect between a Dolby encoder and a tape - the encoder reported no errors :):)
 
Originally posted by MikeK
I think you need to rephrase the question

The 'Do' was deliberate.

As explained, some people will answer purely on gut feeling, some from years of technical experimentation results.

Either way, I though it'd be interesting to see what people think rather than conclusively know.

Also, I think 'Can' they make a difference would, assuming correct interpretation of the English used in the question, result in a 100% 'yes' vote. As in 'Can' but 'Don't' from the naysayers point of view :)
 
Originally posted by MikeK
there was that time when they tested a coathanger as digital interconnect between a Dolby encoder and a tape - the encoder reported no errors :):)

Where's the cheapest place online to buy coathangers.
 
Originally posted by Ian J
Where's the cheapest place online to buy coathangers.

MikeK and I are shortly to bring to the market the World's first directional, RFI cancelling coathanger specifically aimed at the mid to high end AV and Hi Fi market.

It will have a nice thick rubber outer layer and gold tipped ends.

In our own listening tests we found them to increase clarity, bass extension and they actually added things to the sound that simply were not there before. Most noticeably a loud farting noise every two minutes.

There will of course be a budget range available, with all the same qualities but with a yellow casing and 1/3 the price.

A 'silver anniversary' edition to follow if we sell enough of the regular ones.
 
As I've been PM'd massively about the price for the above product I can confirm it will be a paltry £39.99 plus £3 delivery.

(Mike, you did say the coathangers we're buying in for this were 12pence each didn't you?).
 
Originally posted by juboy
Most noticeably a loud farting noise every two minutes.

I think that one of the blokes in my office already has one.
 
Originally posted by Ian J
I think that one of the blokes in my office already has one.

That must be a copy and will therefore not work nearly as well as our original product, especially if it was cheaper or came in an inferior quality blister pack.

(PS Does he want a job in our R&D Department?)
 
Well as usual it's a poorly designed poll.
Of course cables make a difference. Without them, there is no way to connect your amp to your speakers !
 
Any cable above your standard free-in-box type cable is an improvement. Perhaps the biggest improvement though, is in build quality which really does make a noticable difference in lastability terms.
 
Originally posted by Spectre
Well as usual it's a poorly designed poll.
Of course cables make a difference. Without them, there is no way to connect your amp to your speakers !

We'll put you down for a 'yes' then.
 
Actually the 'hangers are 15p each, so that means we'll only be able to hold the £39.99 price for a finite time as an introductory offer. Normal price will have to rise to £59.99 to reflect our increased material costs!


I can however reveal exclusive details of the Silver Anniversary version. This will redefine the performance advantages of our patented hanger system, by a process we call **** (Special Hanger Interconnect Technology).
Obviously this kind of research comes at a price, but it's one worth paying for the ultimate in current cable technology - **** !

:)
 
My kits the other side of the doorway to the TV. Will you be supplying a 5m version?
 
Yes, additional of £9.99 per metre for any lengths over 0.8m.

They were going to be full 1m lengths until I realised I'd misheard MikeK intially about our raw material costs, sorry fella.

Anyone interested in a fully wired SCART version? We're aiming to engineer this down to sub-£100 levels... so expect a £99.99 lead any day soon. Clearer pictures, artefacts removed from problem discs and allows non-multi region DVD players to play R1 discs WITHOUT costly chipping. As long as your player has a remote hack.
 
Definately yes. As an experiment I tried my system without any cables and it didn't sound good at all. I would definately recommend cables to everyone.
 

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