Parrot Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 It's simple. To figure the optimum patchcords between preamp and power amp, take the mean root squared 10Log*2 H of preamp divided by the third derivative Fourier transformation of the arccotangent of L of the amp. Best deal on speaker wire is to find a lamp that doesn't work, one with a very long cord, clip the wall plug off, strip both ends. Remember to tighten down using only those fancy screws with two slots that bisect each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Why does this subject come up every week? All Andy asked was has anyone tried these cables? Simple yes or no would have been enough. We all know there are two groups here. We all know what camp everyone is in. Nothing new ever comes out of this except we find out who can get their feathers ruffled the quickest. We all know that this post will go on for another couple days and then it will be closed down. If you are happy with the cable you have life is good for you and you can spend the money you saved on gas. Then we can start a new thread every week about if Im using 87 octane will I hear a difference if I start using 93. If you think it maybe worth the upgrade do it. If you can afford to get $.20 a foot cable go for it. If you can afford to spend $70 a foot, get it. There is no one on this BB who can tell you what you will hear if you buy this type of wire, these ICs, those speakers, etc. I bought cables that I could afford and it didnt bother me what I paid for them. I like my system the way it is. If I thought I would be disappointed I wouldnt have even thought about spending the money. I have been more disappointed upgrading equipment then I have been with cables. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 On the hearing of a big differance when you first hooked up your new speaker cables there could have been a little corrosion on your old connection. Or not. I'd really like to do a blind comparison for my own knowledge. Oh by the way, I'm of the opinion that as long as the wire is of the correct size and not too long that it should be ok. There is the problem of some pre's or amps not being able to drive some loads I've heard also. Just an opinion, Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryOrb Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 ---------------- On 5/26/2004 4:12:40 PM dbflash wrote: I have been more disappointed upgrading equipment then I have been with cables. Danny ---------------- I totally agree with all of what you said, Danny. Do what sounds best to you. Heck, most stores have a 30-day money back guarantee anyway. Try them and see if you like them. If not, you have a receipt don't you? Oh, and I've never tried those Rocky Mountain Oyster things either. Angryrb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Mdeneen, I have no idea how to measure any of that crap or what any of that crap is for that matter. Be cool if some 'honest' person would start measuring and acquiring all that data. Hell, I would build the db to store it and make it queryable over the web. That said - and this harkens back to dbflash's point - I make my selection by looking at certain parameters: physical appearance and quality of cable and connectors, gauge of wire used, whether it has a red stripe to tell me which is 'positive', and lastly cost. Cost could be first for that matter cause if it smells like BS and I think it is overpriced I leave it alone. Also depends on what other stuff I need to buy that day - if I need some money for beer - well then the amount I am willing to spend on cables drops by $50 or so. Dbflash: One point. Same old conversations absolutely. If we eliminated the redundancy, this board would be as silent as a crypt. Just remember, it makes for great theater if you don't allow yourself to get caught up in it or by it. Edit: Had to correct Marks handle once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 ---------------- On 5/26/2004 4:12:40 PM dbflash wrote: Why does this subject come up every week? All Andy asked was has anyone tried these cables? Simple yes or no would have been enough. We all know there are two groups here. We all know what camp everyone is in. Nothing new ever comes out of this except we find out who can get their feathers ruffled the quickest. We all know that this post will go on for another couple days and then it will be closed down. If you are happy with the cable you have life is good for you and you can spend the money you saved on gas. Then we can start a new thread every week about if I’m using 87 octane will I hear a difference if I start using 93. If you think it maybe worth the upgrade do it. If you can afford to get $.20 a foot cable go for it. If you can afford to spend $70 a foot, get it. There is no one on this BB who can tell you what you will hear if you buy this type of wire, these IC’s, those speakers, etc. I bought cables that I could afford and it didn’t bother me what I paid for them. I like my system the way it is. If I thought I would be disappointed I wouldn’t have even thought about spending the money. I have been more disappointed upgrading equipment then I have been with cables. Danny ---------------- Danny, did you miss the part about the cables not being real? I believe Andy just wanted to get us rilled up but it's all in fun By the way, is rilled up the right way to spell rilled up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 uh, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Thanks anarchist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I try not to get caught up in the cable threads because it is useless. I know it was fake, but then you see one member get all upset because of the way another member makes a joke. I just thought of something. So far this has been all guys talking. What happens if a non guy was involved in this. I couldn't say one member gets upset with another member. What do I start calling people who belong to this BB (what a loaded question)? Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale W Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 ---------------- On 5/26/2004 4:51:15 PM dbflash wrote: I try not to get caught up in the cable threads because it is useless. ---------------- You and me both danny , thats why i just play'ed along and try'ed having some fun with it as well . But as always , someone seems to take things out of context and all hell starts breaking loose once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundthought Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Hey fellas! You that know me, already know that I could carry on about cable theory and fact until the cows come home, but....I won't. Not today. What I will say, though, is 2 ten dollar words. Dialectric. Termination. There ya go. You guys can chew on that for a bit. Ha Ha. Now, somebody owes me 20 bucks. BTW. Great story, Andy. I think I know a few of those guys. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 "Mdeneen, I have no idea how to measure any of that crap or what any of that crap is for that matter." ========= I hope everyone knows I was just pulling your chain. Buying "stuff" is good for the economy. "I'll have the bright periwinkle ones please." mdeneen" So the implication here is that one needs to keep speculatively buying cables, however expensive, until one finds the "right" ones, or until you have convinced yourself that the sound you seek has arrived......but does it ever? and the grass is always greener....perhaps, with the next cable around the corner....... seems like you would need at least a half dozen or so to compare and just like tube rolling you may never be done acquring and stockpiling a fleet of them....and there is always a new company with a new product with a new look and a new promised sound......and a new psuedoscientific "concept" to make it seem legit....... I guess that is why this is an active hobby, not just a set and forget thing...... C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Thats it in a nutshell C&S. America is reduced to 'the grass is always greener.' Shrinks and behavioral socialists are just now starting to recognize things the Unibomber pointed out years ago. I am shocked Mark believes in a consumption based economy based on some of our past political discussions. Certainly, he has a better idea on selecting a cable than just buying the latest fashion. What a post: I get to toss in politics, allude to the sad state of the human condition, make a Unibomber reference, and seek to draw out Mark to give us a real and physics based opinion and perhaps a better method for selecting a cable. The separatists (the camp which freaks when a discussion involves anything outside of strictly audio) will be seeking my hide for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 ---------------- On 5/26/2004 2:55:04 PM Clipped and Shorn wrote: What is the connection between speaker cables and alien abduction? C&S ---------------- Not sure where you're going with this, but last time I was abducted, they tied me up with plain old lamp cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 The best scientific method for buying speaker cables, patch cords etc. Go to a supplier - try a few on your system at home: Hear no difference? Buy the cheapest ones. Hear a difference? Buy the ones you like the sound of and can afford. Of course there is always the risk that someone else makes a cable you like even more - but aint that also true for amps, CD players, speakers.... Live with the risk. If at sometime in the past you find a cable you prefer over your own go for it if that is what you want. The only certain thing, currently, is that, sadly, you do need cables of one form or another. You dont get no sound without them. Are there other ways to spend your money that will make a bigger difference to the sound of your system? Probably, but then again there are probably better ways to spend your time than reading this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Good point Max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 Well...all I gotta say bout this thread is that the other day Rick Tate and I were in IM together and came up with this "get rich" plan to take advantage of those folks with overly deep pockets by making audio cables and interconnects. After all, there are lots of foks making a good living at this, right? We then began to try to come up with a marketing scheme (or is it scam??) for them...and my initial post was a compilation of our ideas with quite a bit of tongue-in-cheek added. We had a good laugh over it all and then I told him I was gonna post it just to see what would happen. I was kinda hoping that most of you would just get a good laugh outta it...but... JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED! GEEZ!!! Not that I am really surprised at SOME of the responses, but it was just a joke, folks!! GET A LIFE! The fact is, whatever some of you are hard-core believers in high-dollar "interconnects" and "cables" use...they are still JUST patch cords and speaker wire. You also have to remember ONE thing...and that is that for the original Heritage series as designed and brought out by PWK himself, HE used ONLY that white tinned-copper zip-cord speaker wire and standard off-the-shelf patch cords of the day to do ALL of his research and development on those speakers for OVER FORTY YEARS! He got those speakers "RIGHT" using that stuff and IF there is any differing sound that comes from using anything else, then you are most likely JUST changing all the work he did for those many years to get them "RIGHT" to begin with...meaning you have altered HIS test results...which, in all probability, leaned the sound of those speakers AWAY from the accuracy he tried so hard to get out of them to begin with. That is definitely something to at the very least consider! BUT, if what YOU want to use is NOT what PWK used, then more power to ya! After all, even PWK was often heard to say, "It is what YOUR ears HEAR that counts the most." RIGHT? I ain't no electronics guru, but even I know a few things about conductivity. The general rule of thumb is that the "heavy metals" are the better electrical and heat conductors. Iron is a heavier metal than aluminum...Copper is a heavier metal than iron...Silver is a heavier metal than copper...Gold is a heavier metal than silver...Lead is a heavier metal than gold...and Uranium is a heavier than any of them already listed. Another thing about heavier metals is that they GENERALLY corrode or oxidize, with SOME of them wasting away to nothing from that corrosion/oxidation (iron), while others just produce a surface-corrosion/oxidation that seals the underlying metal from further corrosion/oxidation (like in aluminum oxidation or silver tarnish)...AND this corrosion/oxidation INHIBITS good electical conductivity THROUGH it to the underlying metal. Gold is the major exception to this general rule. The other general rule is that the MORE PURE the heavy metal, the better electrical conductor it IS. Therefore, I propose that the New and Improved Mountain Oyster line of audio interconnects and speaker cables from Snipe-Hunter Mountain, Inc. be made using only the finest PURE uranium from now on. Not only will they be a much better electrical conductor than copper, BUT the company can ALSO get rid of its warehouse full of old military-surplus Gieger counters so that REAL audio purists can soon enjoy sitting in their "sweet spots" holding an SPL meter in one hand and a Geiger counter in the other! Also available will be military-surplus rad(roentgen) total-dosage dosimeters conveniently made to resemble ball-point ink pens. This latter purchase will ALSO allow the user to be well-informed prior to making a decision on whether that next scheduled X-ray is REALLY beneficial to one's health. A little note here to my buddy, DEAN: So, Dean...you think it gets boring at times here and you think YOU KNOW HOW TO OPEN UP A CAN OF WORMS to get things rolling around here??? I know how to do it, too...without even TRYING!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 And with uranium your music will be all aglow. I read an interesting article in National geographic about uranium. Its decay & what it becoms millions of years later. LEAD it seems their are several typs of lead one of witch is from this element uranium. National Geographic 2 years ago Ill try to find the issue & date. Spent uranium is used in trimming out the balance of some airplanes, and tips of warheads. I dont know what is ment by spent uranium or its true composition. Is uranium conductive in this state? Lead is not. Maybe Shelty Dave should step in at this time to clarafy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 HDB, Actually I think Gold is heavier than lead - assuming we are talking about its density. Only Uranium, of the materials you listed, is more dense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Anyone tried those inter-connects that have a battery pack attached? Uses AA or AAA batteries and cost about $300 for a pair of 6 foot cables. The guy I bought my cartridge from is trying to sell me a pair. I said I'd first try the $15 pair I have at home. If they don't work, I'll be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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