Quote Originally Posted by theaudiohobby
I am waiting for the results of these tests.
Sorry in advance for the length of this post.

First of all, I undertook this test not to prove anything to the world but only to arm myself with empirical evidence in the face of all the theory regarding cable sonics, theory that was not in accordance with my own anecdotal experience. With the exception of Markw, I'm not aware of anyone at A/R actually participating in blind cable tests. I'm all for theory and science because they can explain a lot about what we hear and how measurements correlate to sound but, either they don't totally dictate sound or we aren't measuring all the right things... so goeth the subjectivist mantra. I went into this with an open mind, of course believing I would score well but also open to the possibility of my own biases being the determinant for what I imagined was happening.

I tested my reference Cardas Neutral Reference speaker cable against Home Depot 12 awg "zipcord". I originally was going to use 16 awg zip from Radio Shack but was told that my results might be swayed since the Cardas is 8.5 guage. I couldn't find any zipcord in that exact guage so I got as close as I could. Both sets of cables were 1.5 meters in length, so I doubt the guage difference was a factor. A friend switched (or not) the cables each night over a period of 13 consecutive nights. He flipped a coin to determine which cable would be in place on which night. Interestingly, the zipcord was used 8 times and the Cardas only 5... but the coin ruled.

I used music with which I'm totally familiar... well recorded CD's of Bill Evans' "Sunday Night at the Village Vanguard" and Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The former is a jazz piano trio and the latter, obviously, a symphony. I played roughly 1/3 of each disc each night, the first 1/3 on the first night, the second 1/3 on the second, etc. Once I had played both discs in full once, I started over. I did not want to use the same 30 second snippet of music for each test because I felt that if I had to focus too diligently on a cymbal crash or an orchestra passage, there was no point in worrying about wire. The differences, if any, had to be apparent in the same manner as we listen to music... without any undue focus on a portion of the music or a portion of the instruments but by listening to it as a total piece.

Of the 13 trials, 3 of them ended up with me totally guessing. After listening, I found I had no idea whatsoever as to which cable was in use. I scored 1 correct of those 3. For two trials I was reasonably certain which cable was in use. I was only 50% correct. So far, I've scored just 2 corrects out of 5 trials.

However, during the other 8 trials, I felt I was absolutely positive which cable I was hearing. There was no doubt in my mind. I scored correctly 8 times out of 8. My total correct answers were 10, out of the 13 trials. about 77% correct.

77% correct is not the 90-95% that statistics state is required and it is not even the 80% correct that Markw allowed during his own listening tests. However, it's significant to me that when I was absolutely certain, I scored 100%. I can't say why I was incorrect on 3 trials or why I wasn't absolutely certain on 5 trials. Perhaps my state of mind was such that the differences were missed. But the sonic differences were very clear to me during 8 trials and I scored correctly each of those 8 times.

For the record, the zipcord very slightly muted detail which gave me the illusion of "less treble extension" or "more recessed midrange". But the major difference was in imaging/soundstaging. The zipcord sounded "confused" at times, and unable to sort out the positioning of the orchestra. It also seemed to slightly shift the musicians in the trio from their original positions (those positions known due to the liner notes). But remember, these are subtle differences - and not noticeable all the time. Getting 3 incorrect seems perfectly reasonable. I didn't focus on sound during these tests, I focused on music. If I had focused on sound, I may have proven something but my intent was mostly to find out how each cable played music. My test tended to bring ou the same differences I heard under sighted conditions but MUCH LESS NOTICEABLY. Which cable is "correct"? Good question. The Cardas sounded "better" and more accurate but I have no way of knowing if it actually was. I preferred it, plain and simple.

Once again, my tests don't prove anything, not even to me. But I find them to be powerful evidence that there is more work to be done before I can blindly (heh, heh) support theory without listening tests to support it. There's more work to be done when measuring cables, how they interact with other components, and how we humans hear things.

Were there noticeable differences between the two cables? Yes. Were they worth the cost? Well... they certainly aren't worth obsessing over. As you can read, they weren't always noticeable at all! This test served to reinforce strongly that cables should be the last thing someone tries to improve their system. But they CAN improve it. The worth of the investment is a personal decision.

I invite your comments/questions.