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Cable comparison test: Audio Society of Minn.

I would like to see the winner “C” was a 15ft heavy gauge, complex twisted pair in rubber plenum terminated with gold plated copper spades. Price $1,200". Against some Blue Jeans heavy gauge cables, that would be a truer test/comparison for me anyway.
 
They should have at least thrown in some cheap 10/12-gauge, not 16... sheesh. But in a sample that small, those numbers were all pretty darn close. Can't say there was a clear winner, imho.
 
Very, very interesting article! The eye-opener for me was the very last section, actual measured differences in "transfer function"; that's the first time I've seen a measured difference in cables; if that exists, then I have much less trouble believing one can hear a difference.

This statement, however:
The win loss records represent a clear ranking in that no cable defeated a cable ranked higher than itself.
Click to expand...
...makes no sense to me; maybe I got too much sun today... :?
 
Unfortunately, what they did is not ABX thus it doesn't provide much (some but not much) of useful data on cable performance.
 
LOL! Leave it to Stereophile. Why weren't coat hangers in the mix?

Rope
 
I don't see a winner either. Resistance might be a factor here and if they used an inexpensive 12g wire I think it would have got more votes than the 16 gauge as simply there is less resistance and could be an slight increase in volume output.

I see an opportunity here for someone like Monster to do the same test and then boast how "their $220 dollar cable is just as good as an $8,000" .... sad.
 
When you calculate in the "No Preference" votes and look at the final distribution, it becomes clear that it is a statistical wash. There was no winner.
 
The level of precision in electronic testing gear has reached the point that measureable differences can be determined between 16 feet of wire and 15 feet of the same wire. Hell, you can roll up the same wire and measure the difference that makes. Just because I can measure a 0.00001% change in inductance and put it on a chart with a resolution that makes that difference appear huge doesn't mean it can be heard.

Measurements only matter if the what is being measured is audibly perceived by the listener and the only way to know for sure of some difference can be perceived is to run double blind ABX tests comparing the two items in question. The human mind can be convinced of damn near anything once preconceptions are introduced. So, if you honestly believe that cable A will sound slightly more bright than cable B and you are allowed to know which cable you are listening to during an audition, you will always hear a brighter tone in cable A.

The people who wrote this article are the same ones who claim the lack of measurable difference in CD players or amplifiers is not proof that they sound the same yet they claim the very minute measurable differences between cables is proof they do sound different. They get to have their cake and eat it too.

There is a reason large scale ABX tests are no made public. The high value cable industry and everyone who benefits from it is too large a community to allow that information to be known.
 
If that doesn't confirm that spending money on cable is stupid i don't know what does. 3 dollar cable competes well with an 8,000 dollar cable? Buy a decent cable but don't waste your money on anything else. Learned that long ago.
 
This forum turned me on to quality low cost cables like ones made by Blue Jeans Cable and I'm thankful for that!
 
Here's a funny thought...
This is an "equally" priced comparison....


Dynaudio C1 ($8,000)
Dynaudio_Confidence-C1.jpg



Definitive Technology Mythos 5 ($1,200)
images.jpg



Monitor Audio Silver RS6 ($1,000)
200706_monitor_rs6.jpg



Geico Direct Pomotional "Mini-Cube" ($5.49)
0_s.jpg





Now imagine 40 audiophiles doing a blind test here and the "Mini-Cube" ends up getting 20% of the vote.
:laughing-rolling:
 
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