1980, huh?
Physics hasn't changed over time!
Note that the article effectively disproves the advantages of "magic cable" even though it claims otherwise. The figure of merit used was the impedance of the cable. 24 gauge zip wire was the highest, and therefore, the "worst". But if you look at the best, in the conditions of the test, the allegedly best wire was actually the worst in terms of frequency response - by far. And that some of the audio salon cable was virtually indistinguishable from 18 gauge zip cord - and that was the best! Turn you amp up a 1/16 of a Noble step and you go from 18 gauge zip cord to Audio Source "Ultra High Definition" cable. It's a lot cheaper to slightly breath on the volume control than it is to replace 5c/foot cable with $6 a foot cable.
My audio buddies and I did very similar tests in the 84-85 era with very similar results. In some cases there were new, "better" salon cables available with even "superior" magical effects. Magical indeed, makes these high-frequency rolloff start at 500 Hz, and then jump all over the place afterwards. The worst cable we found, by far, was some ridiculous stuff that was woven like Chinese finger handcuffs and was supposedly intended to take advantage of the "skin effect" according to the people at the hi-fi shop. We all figured, "oh, this stuff is crap, and these guys will go out of business".
Imagine my surprise, in 2006, to find that not only were they still in business, they were still selling the original item, and similar cables with as many as 16 conductors going in each direction. And that the manufacturer was now a highly respected member of the "high-end audio cable" community. Selling cable with even worse characteristics for $600+ per foot. Now THAT's what I call magic! Oy Vey...
Brett
