Oh well, everybody is talking and nobody is measuring.
Regarding speaker cables and interconnects, much of the differences heard here are easily determined with a capacitor meter. The higher the capacitance of the cable, the brighter and "more detailed" it will sound to the listener. This is because the capacitive load slows down the output circuit and makes the feedback arrive later, which turns negative feedback into positive feedback, peaking the amplifier or preamp response. Poor shielding also adds hum and noise to the system. One can take a "high end" cable with a large capacitive load and add that same load to the output of the preamp or power amp with a 25 cent capacitor of the same value with standard two conductor zip cord used and get the same sonic results. Of course the brightness and detail is wrong, it was not part of the source material, just a non-linearity generated in the equipment trying to drive a capacitve load.
Of course nobody will believe this or actually measure things and try it.
Frank Van Alstine
Nonsense Frank, some have tried and believe you.
The problems you are running up against are, in my view, twofold:
1. The hype people have been unscrupulously fed over the last three decades, with a geometric progression over the last say 15 or so years. Seems it's every day a "revolutionary" idea crops up in one ad or another, in one mag or another, and it's plugged to the point where you start wondering what the hell have you been listening to so far, when this and only this will produce real sound. Look closer, and all too often you find this is a repackaged very old idea, or a fairly simple elaboration of well known principles - but you know this at least as well as I, probably better, and
2. It's a fact of life that same measuring components will produce different sound. This is again hyped up to biblical proportions whereas it's usually a fairly small difference. Here, you and I will probably say we may not be able to measure the difference either because we're not looking at what we should be, or because we still don't have the proper apparatus to reliably measure it (or measuring technique), whereas most will find this fascinating and soon enough, it's elevated to the level of science.
As an example, try replacing a say multilayer ceramic or mylar 3.3 pF capacitor, the one going from the emmitter of the simulated zener diode in a power amp to the feedback voltage divider with a silver mica one. They will all measure the same, but will produce different sounds. Granted, the differences are subtle, but they are there in normal, everyday use, not only under extreme conditions. Yet, on a 'scope, they all come out the same or all but same.
Tweakers are a particualer group, which I love dearly for their sometimes stunning inventiveness and common sense, but who also go very much astray on occasion. Bear in mind we are not talking about electronics, even auditioning here, we are talking about psychology - when you do something expecting positive results, because you have been told, have read so, even have been demonstrated so, you are geared up for positive change. Then, even a small improvement may appear to be subjectively large.
The only odd thing I find about the subjective school is how quickly they forget that they too can and be are subjective, especially when some really hard cases (fortunately absent from this site - so far) elevate their personal subjetiveness to the level of religion.
Cheers,
DVV
