Dan, maybe I'm missing the point, which I've been known to do, but I was interpreting some of your statements in this thread to indicate that anything more than stranded 12 gauge copper, or some Beldon 8718 cut to length, is all that is needed, and anyone spending more on anything else is delusional and succumbing to snake oil marketing. Am I wrong about this?
You also made the statement that you must see 'hard data' before you would be persuaded. But didn't you make comments in the thread on amplifier design that you have made decisions on choice of parts like resistors and caps based on listening tests?
Didn't you also state that in some cases your listening tests found that the less expensive part which did not spec out as well actually sounded better to your ears? Doesn't this conflict with your position of relying on the 'hard data'?
If I am misunderstanding your drift, you can set me straight. The point I was trying to make is that I don't think it is fair to condemn or ridicule those who claim to hear worthwhile improvements with their ''high-end' wire, when you so much as admit that oftentimes listening with your ears has proven to be a better way to judge than looking at the hard data.
As I said before I am not trying to defend scam artists or peddlers of snake oil, but I don't believe all high-end cable designers fit that mold.
Jerry, I'm not trying to answer for Dan, or defend him, but I think you don't quite see the meaning behind some of Dan's previous comments. Maybe he wasn't clear enough, we who meddle with such things tend to overlook the fact that most people don't.
I refer to his comments on amps. You can use two components of nominally same value and quality, yet obtain a different sound. In most cases - and I stress the word "MOST" here - if you dig down deep enough, you will find a measurable difference. More often than not, it will be in some complex test rather than simple sweep THD and IM measurements, things like square waves, where the shape of what you see on the 'scope screen will be different, and will thus point the way towards further analysis in some particular field. To use a crude example, if the ringing effect immediately after a sharp transient is longer with one component than with the other, you are free to test it further for side effects NOT stated in its data sheet.
Yet in the end, you may find yourself consciously using the nominally worse component simply because it may actually sound better. This is a dilemma faced by all who sit down to design something of their own.
Even better example - you know I wrote texts on biasing your amp. Well, those meagre 20-30 mA of current that it is biased with when it comes from the factory are most often the spot where overall distorion is least. In other words, by increasing the bias, you also increase distortion somewhat, yet most will agree higher bias produces better sound. But this does not mean you will listen to more distortion overall - this means you will be listening to more of some types of distortion (THDE, IM) but less of some other types (crossover, transient). In other words, you change the distortion spread.
I think this is what Dan is saying. This is why we designer types love measurements, to see how the balance lies electrically, but also to get rid of much myth and magic behind components overall, not just cables.
Cheers,
DVV
