beeah

You guys and your "dibs"... [8-)]

Admittedly, I haven't gone back and forth during a single listening session. I have, however, before swapping in a new set of ICs, listened to the current set for a while, powered everything down, swapped cables, then powered everything back up. My concern with this method (as I have no means of "hot" swapping) is that I believe (here we go again) that my system sounds best after a warm up period of at least 15 minutes; a couple hours is better. My other excuse, errr... rationale, for not doing a blind a/b comparison is that I don't let my family members mess with my gear, which makes the "blind" aspect rather difficult. Please understand that I do not have so much money invested that I'll have egg on my face if it turns out that Rat Shack cables work for me. In fact, I'd welcome it - I'd sell the others off to raise funds for other audio projects! FWIW, I've spent no more than $75 on a pair of cables, new or used. Aside from the single new pair of cables I've invested in (for the princely sum of $40 or so), the others I've either purchased used (well below retail), been given promotional samples (for the cost of shipping), or been involved in beta tests. I would never have paid full retail for any of the pricier cables I've tried - one thing I agree with everyone else on is that cable vendors are among the worst sort of snake oil salesmen. At any rate, I'm perfectly willing to do A/B comparisons, and it would probably make sense for those swaps to be done without the benefit of a warm up period. This would level the playing field so long as no one pair of cables has the advantage of a warm up period, assuming there is any benefit to be had from a warm up in the first place. Any recommendations as to how to facilitate such a comparison are welcome.

Oh, so now I shouldn't be able to hear a difference. Well played. If the room & speakers trump everything, I should be able to swap in any amp and not discern a difference in the same room with the same speakers, correct?

What does this mean? The cables' load impedance, or that of the source? Or the amp?

See, this guy gets it!

You must not have been reading very closely? I would sum it up that any properly designed cable will not impart audible sonic artifacts. If you can hear a difference, then one of your two cables isn't behaving as intended. No, I got it. From your several posts in this thread, I see that you are one of the relative few posters who agrees (or admits) that cables can, and do, sound different. I agree with you that it is imperfections in a given cable's design or construction that gives it a sonic signature. Where I think we differ is the prevalence of these faults. In my experience, cables generally sound more different than they do the same. Another way of saying this is that there is no such thing as a perfect cable. Not so hypothetically, let's say that I have auditioned 5 different interconnects in the same position - from CD to preamp - and I've noted differences, albeit subtle, among them all. I've settled on one as the "best", as it sounds the most natural and effortless to me. Since I've rejected four of them based on what I would call sound quality (which is highly subjective), at least 4 of these 5 cables is "not behaving as intended", i.e. faulty. And furthermore, as I'm sure there exists a set of interconnects out there that I would prefer over the ones I've currently selected, all 5 are likely faulty. I'm fine with this, as there is no such thing as a perfect cable. What chaps my *** is folks insisting that I can't possibly hear a difference, or worse, that I'm a fool for spending more than $5 at Walmart for a set of cables.

Awesome! []

I know this has been beaten to death, but I simply can't resist. So the conclusion is that all cables sound the same because: 1) Someone - or even the majority - in this forum can't hear a difference. 2) No one in this forum can give a cogent and concise reason why they should. The next logical conclusion being that, since we've determined without a doubt that all cables sound the same, anyone who claims they can hear a difference is a sucker and/or a looney. Bollocks. If my 3rd cousin Biff says that he can't discern a difference between a Medoc and a St. Estephe (which I imagine applies to well over 99% of the population), does that mean wines from different appellations within the same region taste the same? Or... is it just that fewer than 1% of the population have tasted enough Bordeaux, and thereby trained their palates, to detect the difference? Or is it possible that some humans are simply born with more sensitive senses? Or could it be that a severe childhood illness reduced the sensitivity of Biff's taste and/or olfactory senses? Or...

Receiver, eh? Is it possible that these cables can indeed sound different, but that your system can't resolve the difference? Not trying to be snarky, but I can definitely hear differences between cables on my system. I can't say that was necessarily true when I first started down the audio road.

Hello, First, I should introduce myself. This is my first post, though I've lurked around a bit for a while. This is the first pair of Klipsch speakers that I've ever heard, let alone owned, and they are supplanting a pair of Fostex FE206Es. I run a 45 SET or a Single-ended EL84 amp (both DIY), depending on my mood. Anyhow, I just bought a pair of '73 Decorator Cornwalls. Before I handed the cash over, I gave them a listen and I removed the back from one of the speakers for inspection. Nothing of concern - unmolested B crossover & all drivers appeared original - though the woofer was a K-33-E, which I thought was a little odd but not out of the question given all the variations over the years. I did not open the second cabinet... ...Until later that afternoon. The tweeter and squawker are ok, but the woofer is a K-33-V - not what I expected nor wanted. I'll post pictures sometime this weekend, but my initial questions are: 1) Obviously one of the woofers was replaced at some point, but is it possible (or likely) that the K-33-E is not original either? 2) Is it strongly recommended to have matching woofers? If so should I match the E or the V, or should I ditch them both and buy a pair from Bob Crites or another K-33 variety? Also, I will likely refinish these, but I want to get them up to snuff functionally first. I'll replace the caps in the crossover soon, once I get a sense of what they sound like (quasi-) stock. Another oddity is they do have grills & logos, which appear original and consist of grill cloth glued to the front of the motor board and edged with trim nailed to the face of the motor board. Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers, Joe