Musing following some cable posts...

It has occurred to me that in the cable argument never the twain shall meet.....

but I always keep thinking ....

"why does no one use the free cables supplied when you buy a cdp etc ?"

Even the diehard cable sceptics I've meet don't ...but they still swear cables can't alter the sound....

So how does that work then ?



this is just a rhetorical question that I'm unable to answer...not a dig at sincerely held views.

 

For me it is because I have only come to the conclusion cables don't made much difference after trying out a few. I tried those that are highly recommended by hifi dealers & magazines. Since they don't sound any different I am now more then happy to use all of them together including the freebie types.

Do I have to sale all my branded cables at a lost then buy enough cheap thin cables like those that comes as the freebies type for my set up before I have your permisssion to start debating about cables?

 

I remember one Rottweiler of a cable cynic I used to have epic battles with on another forum who would relinquish his last breath rather than admit publicly that cables make any difference at all. A little birdie told me a while ago that whenever he upgraded any of his system components he would insist on a set of expensive sooper dooper cables as part of the transaction from the dealer for buying the new kit. Hearsay I know but it doesn't surprise me in the least.

 

zanash, your avatar constantly freaks me out!!
In answer to your rhetorical question... Oh, yes, sorry. It's rhetorical...

 

Yebbut [assuming the story is true] how do you know he didn't immediately sell on those sooper-dooper cables?

 

Are you sure no-one does?

 

He may well have done Joe, but where does that leave him in the ethics and morality stakes given his public stance on the subject? Is it OK for him to decry cables as bunkum then actively promote them as wonder wires in order to sell them on for the maximum amount of money?

 

The discussion on cables have been around forever, it seems to me. I'm old enough to remember when the below caused some interest:

http://bruce.coppola.name/audio/Greenhill.pdf

There is a follow up to this at:

http://www.stereophile.com/historical/1283cable/index.html

The final sentenece in the first article above is interesting:

"We can only conclude, therefore, that there is little advantage besides pride of ownership in using these thick, expensive wires."

People buy things for all kinds of reasons. Cables are no different. It would be nice to think that all buyers took a dispassionate, objectively informed, decision. But they don't and never will. Why worry about it? If people want to buy expensive cables, or tinker with DIY varieties ad infinitum then fine. And if they don't, then that's also fine.

 

Sorry, but that is just too damn sensible a post!

 

Of course, this is all predicated on hearsay and speculation, but if that's what he is doing, it's really only a single individual doing occasionally what some cable manufacturers do as a full-time business.

As far as ethics and morality go, the purchaser (who presumably believes that expensive cables sound better) is getting a sooper-dooper cable at a knock-down price, the dealer has sold some expensive kit with a relatively cheap sweetener, and the seller has offset to some extent the cost of his expensive new kit. Everyone's a winner!

Personally my suspicions are raised by wonder-wire (or any other hifi item) being sold on 'as good as new', 'only a few months old', especially if the seller hypes them up. If they're so good, why sell them?

 

Gotta get a new, better, fix, man...

 

excuse me ....

it was an honest question ....that I have no answer to

why do you need my permission ?

please explain as I don't understand ..

 

no ..i said those that I had met ....please read more carefully

 

the poor cat sneezed as I took the pic ....its internal eye lids closed ..I just thought it amusing to put the red eyes in ...unfortunately people take it that I'm as spikey as the teeth when in fact I'm just an old ***** cat !

 

I read very carefully indeed. Your question was:

"why does no one use the free cables supplied when you buy a cdp etc ?"

 

nicely selectively quoted .....

and the following bit that said ...

"Even the diehard cable sceptics I've meet don't ...but they still swear cables can't alter the sound...."

As the title points out ..its a musing ....its placed in inverted comas ...

why have you chosen to ignore the rest of the post ?

Have I trodden on a raw nerve ....

I don't understand why some people say one thing then do another ?

wolfgang probably has it part right ..cables were bought and tried and rather than waste them there used along with the freebies...

 

Well, it's bad form to qualify an absolute statement; it's like saying 'why are all scousers thieving bastards?' then saying 'of course I exclude the following scousers from that description'. Your initial musing (that 'no-one uses the free cables supplied with a cdp etc') was predicated upon something you cannot know, and is in any case inaccurate, because I for one do use free cables. Thus your subsequent remark about diehard cable sceptics is beside the point.

No raw nerve here; I don't take discussions about hifi that seriously.

If you don't understand why people say one thing and do the other, you must have a very limited insight into human nature. Sometimes it's simple hypocricy; sometimes it's a lack of self-awareness; sometimes it's a necessary subterfuge to enable one to fit in to one's society.

 

I do.

On my downstairs system (mission speakers, sonic t amp)

I have:

1) orange flex that came from an old flymo as speaker cable (including grass stains! )
2) whatever power cable I found 1st
3) interconnect freebie

On the upstairs system which is being put together its..

1) power cables - nearly all the foc rubbery ones
2) extension cord - just one of those ''electric shock proof'' computer type jobbies to prevent spikes from lightning etc.
3) interconnects - a mixture - about 20% FOC ones in the box, 80% ones I've had for years, a mix of maplins £20 jobs, I think there's a dearer one somewhere.
4) some canare studio cable for the speaker cable.

As mentioned, the second hand value for some £20 maplins interconnects would be so low, it's not worth changing them. I'd probably get about a fiver for them, and a replacement cheapy one would cost about that!

**edit**
I should add, I do like thicker cables with nice fat rubber on the outside, because they are more durable and less prone to damage from kinks etc. I prefer moulded plugs for the same reason.

 

That orange flex is great ! I heard it back in the late 80's but was never able to find the right one...

Good response ....which seems to be heading down Wolfgang's path....



joe ... you appear to be trying to create an argument where no exists... my comments seem clear enough. If they aren't to you thats your problem and you have to deal with it as best you can ...I'm not going bandy the semantics of my question with you ...the proposition is clear enough.

 

Zanash
I read Your post exactly as Joe did. It appears the problem is yours not Joe's. I suggest you spend a little more time constructing your posts with due regard to correct English usage.