I need help with audio interconnects????

[masstar]

I tried your test on my new wires, and my old ones...I couldn't tell the difference. Not on any of them. Wire in / wire out...immediately with the push of a button - no difference. You got me. HA! Now i feel stupid, but its important to say im wrong.

Im satisfied with my ultimte decision to go the economic route and build my own cables...in the end they probably cost me about $20 for each pair. And i still reccomend them...but im a lot less ecstatic about my new found "sound". I guess it could be that re-wiring things fixed an old bad connection...but more likely your right and I just imagined things. After reading some of my previous posts I think Ill go crawl under a rock for a while.

After i put a few disclaimers on my other posts

[DMK]

I tried your test on my new wires, and my old ones...I couldn't tell the difference. Not on any of them. Wire in / wire out...immediately with the push of a button - no difference. You got me. HA! Now i feel stupid, but its important to say im wrong.

Im satisfied with my ultimte decision to go the economic route and build my own cables...in the end they probably cost me about $20 for each pair. And i still reccomend them...but im a lot less ecstatic about my new found "sound". I guess it could be that re-wiring things fixed an old bad connection...but more likely your right and I just imagined things. After reading some of my previous posts I think Ill go crawl under a rock for a while.

After i put a few disclaimers on my other posts

You aren't the first to be duped by the claims of cable manufacturers and other audiophiles and you won't be the last. I felt pretty stupid when I did my blind tests years ago. But better to feel foolish and wise up than to be foolish forever. The imagination is a powerful thing, no? Just be aware that not everything the scientific community says doesn't make a difference truly doesn't. Cables don't - unless you imagine them to.

[masstar]

Aha! I found it...im not quite so stupid after all! (well, maybe a little bit)

I decided to test ALL the previous wires I was using...cause I had a few pairs of monster 300. The first monster I tested was fine...but the other connection to the CD was obviously bad because I did hear the difference with that one. The wire is gettting old I guess and looks pretty corroded inside the end link...it might even be just one channel i cant really tell...but theres my culprit.

Thanks for helping me figure this out...what a ride!

[masstar]

This post entered out of order so i moved it...

[masstar]

ya i was so suprised that wire had any difference...i never thought it would. it wasnt really all that bad but I should have realized it was more than just wire for the differences I was hearing. Im glad i did your test because I was on the track to being a real believer! whew.

[masstar]

You know what, when I was doing the tests and I was 'trying" to hear differences, i could for a minute, and then Id do it again and I woudnt...then id switch back and forth real quick a few times so i wouldnt remember which souce i was on, and i wasnt so sure...i guess thats evidence of imagination at work

[WmAx]

sure...i guess thats evidence of imagination at work

Human perception is an interesting subject, in itself. Funny how we are fooled into believing some things are true, that indeed are not.

Here is a fun example of a visual perception that is false:



The complex variables, summed, create this illusion. Take the image into a photo editing application and measure the values of A and B. They are the same. Move a crop of A to B or vice versa, and see hw they seemlessly match when viewed against each other directly.

I introduce this example, because in a way relates to audiatory perception. The brain expects certain results, due to complex set(s) of variables, that of which, we may not be consciously aware. Such things can and have lead to false differences identified in wires, for example(see Dunlavy trickery examples). However, remove the variable(s) that are being processed by the brain, that allow differentation/bias, and the results can be very different. Analogous to the image above, if you take the A and B square into an image editor and move them directly next to each other, it is then apparent they are not different. In audio, I propose that you take two equivalently measured cables, but with different appearance/name/etc. and listen to them in uncontrolled conditinos, and they may sound different. Use the two same units and perform a comparitive test that removes all variables except actual sound, such as an ABX or double-blind test, and I wager that the results will be null(no differiantation possible).

But, that's not the end of the story, unfortunately. Whether the result is 'real' or 'not' does not matter if a reliable end-product can be created using this 'trickery'. The image example should consistely appear as a shadow, even though the A and B are the same actual values. I propose that if the combination of brand name, model name, color, conductor name, etc. has an effect on perception that can not be replicated without these things, then the end effect is the same, perceptually, as if the sound really was different, at least for some people IMO. IN such case, would these factors justify purchase? Of course, the visual illusion is probably far more reliable in it's perceptual effects then wire. But as I stated, "at least for some people", it may be very important for their perceptions.

-Chris