Do speaker cables (cheap vs not so cheap) make a diffrence?

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Originally Posted by markw

Again, since those three days (about 20% of the time if your numbers are correct) you couldn't even tell one from the other, isn't it a little presumptuous to claim that you "suffered" listening to the low priced cables?.

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Already addressed in previous post.

As for "marked differences", isn't that a matter of opinion regarding degree? I would call the differences "marked". You obviously would not. Further, high end audio has it's diminishing returns. At certain points, one should expect to pay a premium for a small incremental improvement. At those points, cost effectiveness becomes a singular issue. Finally, I did not pay full retail for the cables as they were purchased from the secondary market. At full retail, even I would have trouble justifying the outlay, marked differences notwithstanding. Hell, I even listen to a fair amount of heavy metal music which is often so poorly recorded that my system is overkill. That doesn't mean I should throw away my system and listen to a boombox.

As for entertainment in this field, nothing entertains me more than those who spend so much time debating that which they believe does not exist. I should add that I do not include you in those numbers because you are by your own admission a "maysayer". Very clever, by the way! You don't seem blinded by science or by audiophiledom. As I was always taught... when discussing matters that aren't absolute, the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. Furthermore, I'm always entertained by those who will only change their beliefs after someone else proves for them that their beliefs are invalid.

So there's plenty of entertainment available to both sides of the debate.

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Originally Posted by E-Stat

A quarter century ago, Nelson Pass pointed out that you could achieve low inductance by trading off high capacitance and vice versa. See Cable paper
rw

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It surprises me that a quarter of a century ago, he did not derive the simple relationship L and C have, as the equations are well over half a century old.

L times C = 1034 time the relative dielectric coefficient.

L in nH per foot, C in pf per foot.

Halve inductance, double capacitance.

Cheers, John

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Originally Posted by musicoverall

As for "marked differences", isn't that a matter of opinion regarding degree? I would call the differences "marked".

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Well, here's where we differ. When you say "marked" difference, that implies that it's more than a subtle difference. One that is "marked" enough to differentiate one cable from another all the time. Since, in 20% of the testing, you were unable to tell the difference, I think "marked" is a mis-statement.

I just think that when talking up cables the realities involved should be stressed. In this case you have two cables, one listing for 100 times the cost of another and yet 20% of the time you could not tell them apart. Again, just how "marked" could those differences be?

I wonder what the differences between that cheap cable and some costing only 10 times as much would be? I'd venture they would be even more subtle, wouldn't you?

I think that's something newbies should be aware of before jumping onto the cable bandwagon, don't you?

[QUOTE=markw]Well, here's where we differ. When you say "marked" difference, that implies that it's more than a subtle difference. QUOTE]

Ok, I'll just say it's a significant difference - subtle but musically significant. Even more subtle would be likely to be musically significant to someone, as in your 10x example. I can't really say.

As for newbies jumping on the bandwagon, I'd say it's ok to do so if they hear differences that are important enough to them. Better sound is a bandwagon I'm comfortable boarding.