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I believe mixing brands of cables would be like mixing brands of components. For best synergy I've found sticking with same brand is best. As Frenchmon mentioned above whether gear or cables most tend to have a sonic character. Mixing those may be alright , maybe not, but staying with one brand throughout would assure you consistency.
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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist
I enjoy my new placebo cables - they sound great because I expect them to.
Sure thing.
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I have a new Quasimoto amplifier that looks awesome and only costs $100.00, it's supposed to be the best in the world. It will be because I expect it to, I'm gullable like that.
If one is subject to placebo on cables they are subject to it across the board and if one cannot trust themselves to properly evaluate cause and effect of various system changes they shouldn't be in the hobby.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
If one is subject to placebo on cables they are subject to it across the board and if one cannot trust themselves to properly evaluate cause and effect of various system changes they shouldn't be in the hobby.
That's quite a presumptuous statement if I've ever heard one..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio amateur
That's quite a presumptuous statement if I've ever heard one..
It's not more presumptuous than assuming that all reported cable differences (apart from defective ones) are due to the 'placebo effect'....
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ajani
It's not more presumptuous than assuming that all reported cable differences (apart from defective ones) are due to the 'placebo effect'....
My stance is that in more cases than not, people are hearing what they want to hear.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio amateur
My stance is that in more cases than not, people are hearing what they want to hear.
Music they like?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GMichael
Music they like?
Nonsense! Everyone knows that audiophiles never listen to music they like, just high quality recordings designed to test the limits of their systems... :devil:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ajani
Nonsense! Everyone knows that audiophiles never listen to music they like, just high quality recordings designed to test the limits of their systems... :devil:
Sign waves? All I can say is, "be carefull."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio amateur
My stance is that in more cases than not, people are hearing what they want to hear.
Based on what?
My attitude towards cables it just to keep an open mind...
While I respect measurements and see the need for them, I'm not even remotely convinced that we know how to measure everything that affects sound quality (yet)...
Also DBT, has never proved that cable differences don't exist... In fact several reviewers (like John Atkinson and Michael Fremmer) have scored very well on DBTs of cables, despites many audio amateurs, like you and I, failing those same DBTs... If differences exist, I'd expect the experts to be the ones to notice them, even if you and I have a hard time noticing or can't notice them...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio amateur
My stance is that in more cases than not, people are hearing what they want to hear.
I wouldn't quatify it by saying in "in more cases than not", i.e. >50% of cases, however I do agree that where possible real differences are very small, people tend to kid themselves. Cables and interconnect differences generally fall into the "small" category.
But I also agree that "experts" or people with better hearing are more likely to hear the real differences.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Feanor
But I also agree that "experts" or people with better hearing are more likely to hear the real differences.
Thats is the real question: do we all have equal hearing?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GMichael
Sign waves? All I can say is, "be carefull."
lol. we've heard that before. I've been very careful with that.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio amateur
Thats is the real question: do we all have equal hearing?
Several factors to consider here:
First, some persons have above average (golden ears) and some below average hearing, so YMMV when auditioning gear.
Next, experienced listeners (with proper training) will be more likely to pick up differences than untrained listeners (of similiar hearing)...
More next, some audiophiles tend to exagerate differences... They put a stone on a top one of the speakers and notice a "night and day" difference in the sound quality... I agree with Feanor that cables fall into the "small differences" category... Note: small doesn't mean not important or that it should be ignored.... When you are trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out of a quality setup, those small differences will matter....
Nexter, cables (and power cords) will have more noticable effect on some gear than others... Some amps are designed to be relatively immune to the typical issues that cables and cords are designed to correct... Others are not immune (now why some aren't immune is a question I'd love to see answered - I sometimes supect that some manufacturers just love to sell upgraded power supplies and hence put crap ones standard on their gear)....
Nextest, your room makes a difference as all manner of nasties may be present in your room: signals from your wireless devices, cellphones, radio waves, microwaves, sign wa... (uh, scratch that last one).... that can be picked up by your cables/power cords...
So best bet is to borrow a pair of cables and see if it makes a difference, if not, forget about it and be happy with what you have....
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