Speaker cables: pricey VS cheap

[Indydan]

I just removed my cable lifters. Absolutly no difference in sound quality.
Lesson learned...

 

[Aquaman]

I just removed my cable lifters. Absolutly no difference in sound quality.
Lesson learned...

I even run mine through cable ducts and bend them 90 degrees in corners. I'll do anything to make them invisible and not be lying on the floor, not for audio improvement but for ease of cleaning (yeah, I do quite a bit of house work) and looks.

 

[slartibartfast]

I'll do anything to make them invisible and not be lying on the floor, not for audio improvement but for ease of cleaning

That's when cable lifters come in handy. You can vacuum under the cables

 

[cooky560]

There's a photo somewhere on this forum where the cables look like a roller coaster because of all of the lifters, I've never understood cable lifting. My cables are literally taped to the back of the cabinet and then they run under the carpet into the speakers, so far they are invisible and the sound is great.

 

[Deleted member 33971]

and a cheap solution

 

[dangermouse]

I've never understood cable lifting.

Neither has anyone with an ounce of common sense. It's weapons-grade snake oil.

 

[HansD-NL]

An application where cable lifting is necessary. Open coax high power feeds

 

[Aquaman]

View attachment 34043

and a cheap solution

View attachment 34044

Ghastly .

I prefer it neat and tidy.

 

[MCG555]

There's a photo somewhere on this forum where the cables look like a roller coaster because of all of the lifters, I've never understood cable lifting. My cables are literally taped to the back of the cabinet and then they run under the carpet into the speakers, so far they are invisible and the sound is great.

You never had the impression of a slightly muffled soundstage?

 

[MCG555]

View attachment 34043

and a cheap solution

View attachment 34044

No no no, the cable will feel the difference!

 

[castalla]

In Blind Test, Audiophiles Unable to Tell Difference Between Sound Signal Run Through an Expensive Cable and a Banana

A forum mod ran high-quality audio through a banana, old microphone cable soldered to pennies, and wet mud. Nobody could tell the difference.

futurism.com

 

[harkpabst]

In Blind Test, Audiophiles Unable to Tell Difference Between Sound Signal Run Through an Expensive Cable and a Banana

A forum mod ran high-quality audio through a banana, old microphone cable soldered to pennies, and wet mud. Nobody could tell the difference.

futurism.com

This ...

Banana and mud (and in the older tests, potato) are simply like putting a resistor in series, meaning that other than changing the signal level, they don’t do much.

... does not apply to speaker cables, though. And judging by the typical standards on diyAudio.com, Pano certainly knows this. The tests were conducted regarding high level interconnects where the load impedance is pretty much constant (and high!) over the entire frequency range.

Redditors and futurism.com didn't dare to differentiate.

The experiment eventually went viral on several niche subreddits, leading to plenty of jeering comments aimed at companies still charging over $100,000 for a simple speaker cable.

And no, I'm not saying that $100,000 or $1000 speaker cables are worth it.

What I do say is that such sloppy "journalism" is unhelpful with the fight against snake oil.

 

[Valentino]

The most important thing, as I see it, is to use cables of identical length for left and right speakers, even if it means coiling excess cable behind one speaker.

Is it because the cables you use are so thin that the difference in length actually makes a difference in sound?

 

[mlsstl]

The most important thing, as I see it, is to use cables of identical length for left and right speakers, even if it means coiling excess cable behind one speaker.

Oh no! Isn't coiling your wire creating a inductor that will affect your high frequency response on that side? If you're going to be paranoid, go all in!

 

[slartibartfast]

Oh no! Isn't coiling your wire creating a inductor that will affect your high frequency response on that side? If you're going to be paranoid, go all in!

I don't think it does since you have equal and opposite currents flowing in each conductor so the magnetic fields cancel.

 

[mlsstl]

I don't think it does since you have equal and opposite currents flowing in each conductor so the magnetic fields cancel.

Another failed attempt at humor....