Esoteric cables

There are two sides to this debate, obviously. I know what I heard. But in the interest of objectivity, I replaced the original Monster 401cables with new 401 cables, there was no difference. I then brought in one of our customers with a good ear to do some listening. He couldn't see what we were changing as our board wiring is out of sight from the room, so he wasn't aware of what component in the system was being changed. The only thing we changed was interconnects, sometimes actually switching, sometimes not. He could tell the difference in sound between the cables. When we were finished, he asked which amplifiers we were switching between. So again, I invite anyone who doubts the difference to come in and hear it for yourself.

Oscilloscope readings will indeed tell the whole story about any changes to a signal being introduced by interconnects or any other component in the signal chain.  There is no way a cable can "improve" the sound of anything.  It is a conductor, plain and simple.  It can degrade the sound, certainly, through poor quality construction, bad connectors, corrosion and oxidation, high resistance, or poor shielding allowing noise to be introduced.  If the sound improved after changing your cables, the original ones were degrading the sound somehow.  Plain and simple physics.  I have tested in my lab everything from 49-cent RCA cables to $15000 so-called audiophile cables and 36 gage to 0 gage speaker wires, and can tell you there is no discernable "improvement" possible from cables, only introduced degredation from inferior products.  I run a lab that tests equipment all day every day for a living.

So what is your definition of "true audiophile?"  Someone who claims to hear the difference between your cables and therefor agrees with you?  I can introcude you to people who can claim to hear the difference between transistors, even though there is absolutely none, and they get it "right" 75% of the time.  They have learned to listen for certain characteristics to reinforce their pre-determined beliefs.  It is precisely what Rod calls "faith" more than any provable physical fact. 

Bottom line if you can "hear a difference" and like what you hear, then by all means use whatever makes you feel good.  I'll do the same, thanks.  But since you work for a retailer, I'll bet at least part of your motivation stems from that extra commission bump you can get from selling over-priced "audiophile" cables.

Not on comission, thanks.

DYohn,  You are contradicting yourself in the above statement regarding people who claim to hear the difference in transistors by listening for certain characteristics. If there are different characteristics that seperate the transistors, there is a difference, is there not?

I am just saying that I trust I heard a difference. I have never claimed that the cables improved the sound, only that the cables are an improvement over other cables. How can an oscilliscope show you depth of stage in a recording? Is it not possible that the human ear and it's perception pick up on nuances that a mechanical measuring device cannot? Could this "faith" in what Rod has to say not made up your mind for you? Could it be you don't hear a difference because you were told you wouldn't?

Nope, it's because in 31 years of working in this industry I have never been able to measure any improvement regarding cables unless the original source was deficient.  And the ears guys we have around the shop who claim that TI MosFETs are superiour in sound quality to those from Samsung or Hyundai are simply being biased against Korean suppliers.  The characteristic sound of a TI transister is not inherently "better" or "worse."  It is differrent.  Much like those who claim electrostatic loudspeakers are far superior to conventional drivers.  I disagree, and there is no measurable difference in teh output.  It is a matter of taste, not quality improvement.

Staging, clarity, presence, etc. are a function of the source material and the loudspeakers involved.  Cables cannot improve it, they can only allow what was already there to be evident where other cables may have masked it.