Some interesting reads

[IBSTORMIN]

My thoughts only from MY experience. I am no expert, actually just learning from alot of you.

1. Cable lie - Don't agree. This audio expert is saying the only difference is reliability? SSooo, we should all be using the skinny RCA cables that come from the factory????.....I think NOT. I hear differences (you spent too much on Monster) but have not spent alot of money on RCA cables as there are better ways. I have a DVD player that hooks to my pre/pro with a computer DB-25 cable. When I bought the two seperate components on E-bay I had no cord. I went to a computer store and bought one for $6. It sounded better than the Blue Jeans RCA cables I had been using that cost $30. Enough said...then I got to wondering, what if I got a better quality DB-25??? Found out the computer industry doesn't use these anymore and picked up three different no name cables at a Salvation Army store for $1 each. Took them home and in A-B-C-D testing it was really hard to tell. Settled on the shortest one as slightly clearer. Yesterday I was in a Goodwill store and found a Gold pin HP cable, wondered if it might make a difference for another $1, brought it home. Tighter, more controlled bass and the treble was more pronounced and cleaner!!! BIG difference when compared to RCA. I have the option of hooking my pre/pro amp with RCA's or balanced XLR cables. Balanced XLR raises the output by 4-6 dB and is cleaner sounding than the RCA cables. There I am comparing Canare XLR with Blue Jeans RCA. According to Blue Jeans Cables Website, capacitance and inductance issues tend to rob the highs out of the music and this seems to me to be where you get the soundstage/detail from.

2. Tube - no experience but my question to others is - when you say any component has a WARMER sound what does that mean exactly - less treble and more midrange or what?

3. The Antidigital Lie - When CD players first came out in the 80's I got into many arguments with Best Buy types who insisted ALL CD PLAYERS SOUND THE SAME - ALL YOU DO IS BUY THE FEATURES YOU WANT - ITS DIGITAL YOU KNOW. My ears did not tell me that. My current DVD player has a Apogee Digital Clock to help with jitter. I had always heard a DVD player cannot sound as good as a dedicated CD player. This DVD player sounds better on CD's than an Integra CDC-3.4 that I had found as the best CD player I had heard before, better than a Marantz and Denon I had compared it to. The Integra is now in my offfice instead of my listening room.

4. Listening test lie - I have never done an offficial test, just my own with no-one to impress but myself - and I CAN hear a difference. What I gather from the test results is not that they are useless, but that if they really looked at the ones that CAN repeatedly hear a difference, time after time, THEY should be the highly acclaimed experts in the field, NOT the one with the loudest voice/opinion. I think all the tests do is expose the 50% of the audio experts that no-one should listen to because they cannot hear a difference, but they don't give us those results because it would probably end some careers. After reading someones post about amplifiers not being different because all they do is amplify the sound I went down into my listening room and took my Integra M-588F (70lbs) out of my setup and substituted an inexpensive Kenwood 100 WPC (20lbs). I was surprised/amazed at how good the Kenwood sounded! But of course the DVD player and pre/pro were high end so the amp was the weak link. I put the 588 back in and WOW, now I understand what some of you are talking about when you refer to an open soundstage and almost 3D. My upgrades were gradual so I really hadn't noticed as much of a difference until now. The Kenwood sounded really good due to the quality of the signal it was receiving, but there was NO comparison between the amps in detail and soundstage.

5. feedback lie - no idea

6. burn in lie - haven't bought anything new in 30 years - couldn't tell ya!

7. Bi-wiring lie - no experience

8. power conditioner - no experience but have thought about trying. Replacing the power cord doesn't make sense to me because your wiring in the wall did not change size or output so how???.......dedicated outlet makes sense.

9. CD treatment sounds like voodoo

10. The Golden Ear Lie - don't agree. As I was disagreeing with most of the other opinions the "expert" had when I came to this one it pretty much answered my question about the abilities of the writer. HE can't tell a difference. From his article "Anyone without actual hearing impairment can hear what they hear, but only those with training and experience know what to make of it, how to interpret it." This is an audio expert??!! That's like saying everyone can sing the same, play a violin the same, if they just had enough training and experience. HAH!
When I was a kid my Dad had a radio in the shed that was constantly off station and I would tune it in when I walked into the shed. My Dad could not hear a difference, my Mom and I could and his radio was like nails on a chalkboard to both of us. We couldn't believe he couldn't hear it. Tin ear is what we decided. I grew up KNOWING people had different hearing abilities. My Wife can't hear a difference but both of our kids can. Heredity. Just 'cause you can't hear a difference doesn't mean others can't. This guy is reviewing equipment and admitted HE can't hear a difference. I was tested when I was young and have almost perfect pitch. I can also hear the direction of bass, which is fun in an audio store where they think this is impossible. Case in point, my son and I went into a store, probably 15-20 years ago when Bose started pushing their little satellites with a sub. The salesman made the mistake of saying you can't tell where the bass is coming from. I looked at my son and raised my eyebrows. I already knew it was in the left front of the room and already knew he had similar abilities. He twisted his head listening and said he heard it in the left front of the room. The salesman with a jubilant "HAH!!!, I told you there was no way you could tell", ran to the right front of the room to show us the bass module. To his surprise, somone had moved it to the left front! I have no reason's to intimidate anyone in this forum as is said in his bashing of "Golden Ears". Just stating fact. I have proven to many people that I can hear differences they cannot, I have no need to impress as my good hearing is a curse. I like having music going all the time. As I have upgraded my home system, I have quit listening to CD's in my car on FORD's "Audiophile Quality" system because they just don't sound good anymore. it's a Company car I can't upgrade. (SIGH) Not to mention I now have to go back and listen to every CD I own to hear the details I can now hear with the new DB-25 cable!! Geez!

Just the rantings of a looonatic! Thanks for reading. I'll go back to sleep now.