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Cable Myths Continued


thebes

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Now before we were so rudely interrupted, I was about to call Mark a dirty rotten scoundrel.

No, no, that's not it. :D (sorry Mark but an emoticon seemed in order)

Yes, Mark, it is possible to ascertain a minor difference, usually worse, in the sound of cable, but my question is why? There's a standard for cables. Build to the standard and then get on to more important aspects of fine tuning a system. The only real reason there are all those fancy cable out there is not for better engineering, not for better sound, not to address a failure in the rest of the audio chain, but merely to make gobs and gobs of money. Just think of the markups on this stuff. Get some Home Depot wire, put a fancy sleeve on it, add some capacitance or resistance, or whatever you've got lying around, it really doesn't make any difference because it's all voodoo anyways. The result. Wallah you've got high end snake oil the benefits of which nobody can deny, nor prove, and no means to qualitatively or qualitatively measure it.

The reason I get incensed over cable and wires when people try to push them on this forum (not many and no not you Mark), is that we should remember that we all serve an instructional function here. We are not just here to debate.

One of the reason Klipsch sponsors this Forum is because we serve as a technical base for helping people with little or knowledge of audio. In other words, mystified souls come here all the time and ask questions about this or that.

Now to my mind, do we really want to encourage people to go out and waste money on cables before they've dealt with the basics? Before they've adopted tweaks and upgrades with proven provenance. Let's face it if your a newbie and you go out and buy some magic rocks, then you really haven't lost much money, just a sense of innocence. Now if you start chasing cables your being conned into wasting great gobs of money.

That's why I get pumped up about this, so the newbies and lurkers don't get a bum steer.

Now, onto a different aspect of this debate. Mark you mentioned turntable cables. Isn't the real issue with those cables the need to deal with the fact that you are transmitting a really tiny signal which will then be amplified at the phono section, and thus you don't want to lose any of the signal on it's short path to the phono section? I really don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that's the critical factor, especially given the teeny, tiny wires on pick up arms.

Finally, what cables did you personally recommend to go between the Blueberry and the Pcats. Given your attention to all aspects of the development of those units, I'm sure you wouldn't possibly neglect the impact of cable on the transfer of signals between the two.

Edited by thebes
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You can't trust thebes to much on these matters cause he has had extreme high-voltage electro-shock induced trama from his early tube amp experimental mishaps combined with large doses of smoke from burnt resistors :lol:

Put me down as one who has experienced differences in wires at times for various reasons and I have even used that to tweek my system at times.....now that doesn't mean I advocate spending large amounts of money on wire and as a rule I do consider it low in the hierachy of how to acheive good sound reproduction.

miketn

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See, now this is what I'm talking about. People who agree with me. I'm not surprised because I'm pretty much right all the time.

Of course, Mark may disagree, but this being Friday evening, he's probably escorting his true love to a fine restaurant accompanied by a ever so slightly chilled rose to go with the introductory course of cracked crabs.

Me. I just sucked down a bowl of Campbell's mushroom soup accompanied by a soupcon of MadDog 20/20.

I could be wrong, though, He could be hunkered down over his keyboard furiously at work on a foam-flecked diatribe thinly disguised as reasoned discourse. Maybe the heavy metal music he's playing through his "Blistered Fingers Superior Cable " his grinding molars couterpointing the wailing guitars and the frantic typing.

Me I'm listening to Leonard Cohen.

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I agree cables are a tuning aspect of a system. high gauge and gold plated are my choice. large power cables yield better results as well. anything 10ft for over $100 is too much. even at $100 thats after everything is bought and running so ya love buying new stuff for a radio heck sweet $50 cables why not. $200 for 10ft is not needed. some 6ft for $4k lol i havnt had them but have ran some pairs that cost over $400 and their no better

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Mark, sure I'm foolin around a bit. It's what I do. But why do you think I'm not serious about what I said about cables. As presented they are voodoo ripoffs for the gullible. What's wrong with that statement and why would a response be locked.

One presumes the other lock was because certain individuals, certainly not me, nor you, were engaging in personal attacks. Shame on them. They, not you or me, should raise the bar higher.

One thing you know about me after all this time is not only my respect for you, but my lack of personal animus towards any of the people of this forum.

Look, it's true that I cannot truly comprehend all the aspects of a purely technical discussion on the merits of cables, that does not imply that I'm not prepared to learn. But, yes my position is cast somewhat in concrete, for what I perceive to be very good reasons. That doesn't mean I can't learn and adapt. Now I know this subject has strayed quite a ways from your original comments which were directed towards what you thought was sloppy work by the two engineers in the original posted video. Your points directed to their comments were more than likely correct

OK,. OK. Full disclosure, I was baiting you with my comments about what cable to use between the Blueberry and Pcats and for that I apologize.

Sigh, I think I'll go listen to some Beatles.

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Mark Deneen, you bad, bad man!

What have you done to our poor meal ticket, er we mean, our hot, hot Latin lover with the full head of hair.

The poor man's listening to The Beatles. Musicians he truly hates and now he'd breaking out in hives. He's also drinking a really, really lot of MadDog 20/20. (OK, when he drinks a lot of MadDog he does inevitably end up wearing 1970's pimp clothes complete with those silly high-heeled boots. Then he starts playing the album Shaft. Then he starts playing with his...)

But that's not the point. We like our meal ticket, er, um, studly bronco, to be happy and contented and forthcoming with his wallet, er, um sharing his ready smile that lights up our life.

Sigh, we better go do a costume change.

Tawny and Tickles

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