Where does this information come from?

[Resident Loser]

"...I can't find statistics either proving or disproving that spending $100 for interconnects could be worth my time."

Well, you probably won't...that is until jneutron reveals all, sometime in the future...

Insofar as "proof" is concerned, as it stands now, and to my best understanding, there is no real measurable or quantifiable, repeatable tests results that would indicate there is any difference between wires of similar length and gauge...there are however claims, unsolicited testimonials and a truckload of "hype" surrounding what is a relatively recent "cottage industry"...Everything from the color and/or composition of dielectric materials to the atomic structure of the particular choice of metal in the conductors is ripe for the ad copy...and my forever, all-time fave: some oblique reference to NASA and the space program.

That isn't to say there cannot be a difference between wires, but is that difference actually an "improvement" or simply a difference...That seems to be a determination best left to the individual who'll be payin' the freight. One probably can, through repeated trial and error, arrive at a combination of wires and active components that might deliver sonic Nirvana...however the results will be very specific and be dependent on how the gear interfaces electrically, the quality of the source material and the ears of listener who has done all the legwork...I might walk into someones listening room and decides it sounds like cr@p! I don't have your hardware, your software, your acoustic environment or most importatntly, your ears.

Wire distributors( I use that word because it seems few actually manufacture much of anything they sell) buy off-the-shelf wire and connectors in such quantity, the actual mfrs. will print those distributors names on the hardware, and it can be misleading to some; they don't provide real specs or measurements beyond what the mfr. specs them out as. And I apologize to those who might think otherwise, but providing resistance and capacitance numbers consisting of a decimal point followed by any number of zeros, per foot, is really quite meaningless...as is the fact that the signal travels at somewhere around the speed of light. Just more hype IMHO. These websites are the worst place for gleaning any real info.

Disproof? No one can disprove what someone else claims to hear...BUT...dare I say it out side the confines of the "lab"...there are test procedures currently in use that could, if administered properly, end the debate...The wire folks won't do it...no one wants to kill the "golden goose"...they can't afford to...The objectivists may try on occasion...but since most(if not all) end with null results, those tests are deemed inadequate or worse by some, no matter how compelling proponents may find them.

Some advice culled from the posts of the more reasonable among after-market advocates follows: ...you probably won't hear much of anything with less than SOTA gear...what you will hear will be subtle at best...price is no barometer of performance...DIY outperforms most hi-zoot wiring...if it makes everything sound good, there is something wrong...and... you will get better results from matching your equipment properly and paying attention to your listening environment than you will from any wire...


Back to your question about a source for info...here at AR is probably as good as any for a sort of balance of opinion...Audioholics tends to present more of the objective viewpoint and AA...well, what can one say about AA that hasn't already been said...suffice it to say they are ultra-subjectve...The informatinal links at each of these sites pretty much reflects that same degree of balance.

You can spend your time auditioning wires and components in an effort to get the nth degree of playback satisfaction or you can simply listen to the music...I prefer the latter.

So, unfortunately, you are pretty much left to your own devices...stick with decent OEM wire and/or reasonably priced, well-made, generic stuff or go for the more expensive stuff...If you are of a mind and ability to do so, try some of the DIY recipes...or not.

jimHJJ(...save your money, buy more music...)

[musicoverall]

[QUOTE=Resident Loser
You can spend your time auditioning wires and components in an effort to get the nth degree of playback satisfaction or you can simply listen to the music...I prefer the latter. )[/QUOTE]

Or... you can do both. I prefer doing the former so I can appreciate more the latter. I do agree the differences are subtle. But I also feel they are musically significant.

[Aric M L]

I get that people have beliefs about what their wires do or do not accomplish. And by the posts here, no one is really likely to give room on it. But so are there no actual sources to find the test data that "scientifically" more expensive cables can make a true difference in my audio system? I'm a graphs guy too, a graph or table would be nice too

[Pat D]

I get that people have beliefs about what their wires do or do not accomplish. And by the posts here, no one is really likely to give room on it. But so are there no actual sources to find the test data that "scientifically" more expensive cables can make a true difference in my audio system? I'm a graphs guy too, a graph or table would be nice too

Audioholics has measured some speaker cables. Here's a link to their cable section:

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...les/cables.htm

They do not give any actual audibility data but one can compare it with information available on the ABX site. The ABX site shows the results of a few double blind tests. The first is for the matching criteria. If the difference is above the appropriate curves, then the differences should be audible under some circumstances. If they are below the curves, there is no guarantee that the difference is inaudible, and some maintain the curves are not stringent enough. However, appropriate cables are accurate enough to be well below the curves as shown on the ABX site..

http://www.pcavtech.com/abx/abx_crit.htm

The following link shows the results of some DBTs.

http://www.pcavtech.com/abx/abx_data.htm

[E-Stat]

But so are there no actual sources to find the test data that "scientifically" more expensive cables can make a true difference in my audio system? I'm a graphs guy too, a graph or table would be nice too

Nor will you find such available for any other audio component. Yes, you'll find tons of graphs, waterfall plots, square wave responses, etc., but none of those will directly translate to what you hear with any of them. There are quite a few amplifiers from Crown to Pass Labs with poorer distortion figures than their predecessors, yet sound better.

I quickly learned that the McIntosh clinic presentation of a distortion graph of my AR amplifier back in '72 was worthless.

rw

[Pat D]

Nor will you find such available for any other audio component. Yes, you'll find tons of graphs, waterfall plots, square wave responses, etc., but none of those will directly translate to what you hear with any of them. There are quite a few amplifiers from Crown to Pass Labs with poorer distortion figures than their predecessors, yet sound better.

I quickly learned that the McIntosh clinic presentation of a distortion graph of my AR amplifier back in '72 was worthless.

rw

I'd like to see a waterfall plot for interconnects and speaker cables! I've seen them for speakers, of course.

I'll turn a superaudiophile type argument back on you: just because you can't get anything out of a good set of measurements doesn't mean nobody else can.

[Aric M L]

Im going to have to agree, I understand seeing graphs is not hearing cables, but I think it would guide me to avoid the placebo effect. If cables had the exact same specifications, I'd be a bit skeptical as to whether or not I was actually hearing a difference, or just wanting to.

[E-Stat]

I'd like to see a waterfall plot for interconnects and speaker cables! I've seen them for speakers, of course.

I'll turn a superaudiophile type argument back on you: just because you can't get anything out of a good set of measurements doesn't mean nobody else can.

What is your analysis of these plots for speaker "A" and speaker "B" ?



rw

[Pat D]

What is your analysis of these plots for speaker "A" and speaker "B" ?



rw

Even the guy who makes these particular measurements doesn't usually say anything much about them in his reviews. As Atkinson says, the resonant decays don't usually cause much problem in most speakers. "However, loudspeakers with such audible resonant problems appear to be very rare these days."

http://www.stereophile.com/reference/100/index5.html

This measurement doesn't seem to work very well for electrostatic loudspeakers and other panel speakers, which seem to look pretty bad on it even though they actually sound pretty good..

In Stereophile, I look primarily at the impedance, sensitivity, frequency response and dispersion. Soundstage also measures distortion.

Speaker A seems to have a much more resonance in the midrange since the lines fall off considerably slower (lines are closer together). This may indicate there is some muddiness in the midrange--which doesn't look very flat anyway.

The peakiness between 16-17 kHz is high enough that it shouldn't be a problem.

Speaker B shows the midrange sound decays more rapidly, which is a plus. The chief thing is that it appears to have a much flatter frequency response, though, and that is better seen in other graphs.

My Stratus Minis beat both of them in this sort of measurement.