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Changing out cables...are my ears deceiving me?


wuzzzer

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Last night I switched my speaker cables to super thick, something like 8 gauge Monster Cables that I used to use for a passive subwoofer several years ago. That was an upgrade from a 16 gauge or so Monster Cable that had been on there.

I also changed my interconnects going from my CD player to my receiver. They went from Monster Cable's lowest end cord to their almost top of the line cord (500 series or something) that I had bought several years ago.

The lengths of each cable was shortened, too. The interconnects went from about 8 feet to 3 feet. The speaker cable went from about 10 feet to about 6 feet.

Is it possible that I actually do notice a difference in sound? Deeper bass, more clarity in vocals and individual instruments? Or does it seem to sound better just because I want it to sound better?

BTW, I know that Monster Cable isn't the best cable in the world.

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Is it possible that I actually do notice a difference in sound? Deeper bass, more clarity in vocals and individual instruments? Or does it seem to sound better just because I want it to sound better?

If you have to ask, Nope; it sounds as good as it did before!

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wuzzer your not crazy. cables matter, to a point. I replaced those tiny black interconnects that I have had since i can remember with bluejeans interconnects between my cablebox and my ht reciever, and noticed an instant sonic difference. the old cables were at a point where they were cutting in and out and I had to wiggle them to get stereo. I was nervous, at first I thought it was the reciever.

I will eventually replace all my cables with BJ's beldin 1505 interconnects. I can not, however, imagine that spending above a certian dollar amount, say, $50 a cable on interconnects.

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the "snake-0il" committee will tell you if you had just removed the cables and re-installed the same cables...you would have heard the same differnce you are hearing now due to the fact you re-seated the cables and jared loose any corrosion.

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Nope! .......for 12 years I listened through the same speakers and always used the lightweight stuff until one day I just happened to use heavy stuff. Bada bing, bada boom, there was a big difference just as you describe.

The snake oil committee can take over now.

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Have your wife switch back to the old cables sometime when you're not

around and without telling you and then see if you can sit down and

notice when the change happened (if at all).

But ultimately you wouldn't have done the cable switch if you didn't

think it might somehow make a difference and because of that you are

listening from a different frame of mind - psychoacoustics can really

play some nasty tricks on people.

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Without having to resort to "Cable Magic" there are a number of reasons as to why you might notice a difference that audiophiles and physists would agree on. Primary amongst these would be at the connectors where a poor connection would raise the resistance of the wire and could well be audible.

Additionally your replaced cables may have suffered over the years in their length such that points have become thinned or weakened and similarly distorted so as to further increase their resistance.

It could be that the shielding on your replaced cables was also damaged. If, for example, your speaker cables are running along the length of a power cable for a reasonable distance they might be acting like an inductor.

Another possibility is that thinned or damaged insulation could be affected by RF interferance if there is a source nearby.

At its simplest let us imagine that for some reason your speaker cables were acting as a source of additional resistance - sufficient enough to reduce the volume level from your amp with the volume control in a given position. Changing cables would simply raise the volume at that self same setting and as DBT's have proven regularly - people will choose the louder of 2 sources as the best given the choice 99% of the time (within acceptable listening levels).

Basically consider the properties of a cable as a combination of resistance and capacitance, factor in physical damage and poor connections and there are many possible sources for a sonic change when swapping cables BEFORE you get into anything vaguely esoteric.

Having said all of the above - it is quite possible you are imagining the change - but my question to you is:

If this imagined change is consistent does that really matter?

You prefer the way these cables sound over the old ones for whatever reason. You already had these cables so it has not cost you one dime to use them. I'd say - stick with them.

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I went from Audioquest type 4 to Canare 4S11, which is considered a downgrade, and thought it sounded better so I left em on. Now I can sell the fancy cables on ebay.

I think it is a matter of they sound a little different, not better.

I was reading somewhere that the right thickness is more important. The claim was, Too thick and you lose something because so little of the wire actually carries the electrons. Too thin and it is the opposite....... (something to this affect)

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What a lot of people dont seem to realize is that when you change so many different variables at one time, you really have no idea what is causing what, if anything. On top of that, many folks dont seem to realize that simply breaking a connection and reconnecting it can produce the same results as replacing old cables with new ones, as the metal surfaces have been scraped, exposing relatively clean surface areas free of oxidation, producing a better electrical connection. Put a multimeter on your cables and wiggle them around. You will see that simply moving the cables can produce a measurable and changing charge in the cable. And to make matters even more confusing, over time, cables and the rest your components can build up residual magnetism to some degree due to hysteresis that can affect the sound of a playback system. The fact that a cable has been changed does not necessarily translate that the new cable is better, or even sonically different. Simply giving everything a good cleaning and demagnetizing can produce the same results

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What a lot of people dont seem to realize is that when you change so many different variables at one time, you really have no idea what is causing what, if anything. On top of that, many folks dont seem to realize that simply breaking a connection and reconnecting it can produce the same results as replacing old cables with new ones, as the metal surfaces have been scraped, exposing relatively clean surface areas free of oxidation, producing a better electrical connection. Put a multimeter on your cables and wiggle them around. You will see that simply moving the cables can produce a measurable and changing charge in the cable. And to make matters even more confusing, over time, cables and the rest your components can build up residual magnetism to some degree due to hysteresis that can affect the sound of a playback system. The fact that a cable has been changed does not necessarily translate that the new cable is better, or even sonically different. Simply giving everything a good cleaning and demagnetizing can produce the same results

I've been told I have a magnetic personality does this also affect the sound of my system? : ) Someone had to say it.....

How does one demagnitize their system?

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They do make demagnatizing devices however Artto said it best with cleaning, tightening and re-seating your ic's and cables first. If that does not do the trick it may be some of Max's suggestions like worn thin or bad connectors in general.

I also think changes should be one at a time or tracking down the culprit becomes very hard with multiple change outs at the same time.

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Many good words of wisdom! I didn't change out the cables because the old way sounded bad at all. I just figured why do I have these expensive cables lying around that are supposed to be better than what I was using.

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