It's like a philosopher arguing that nothing else exists, only him. Either we accept rational engineering princples or not. I do admire the obvious build quality of the Outlaw cables.

I really stopped by to comment on the Monster Cable slogan "Get All The Performance You Paid For!" - It really doesn't promise a lot, when you think about it. Like the Army 'Be All You Can Be' slogan. Yeah, so what?

This discusion thread reminds me of the time worn, time wasting process in business meetings called "polishing the turd" More time enjoying what you bought an AV system for and less time searching for the Holy Grail of everything is in order. Seriously folks, can God make a rock so big that he himself can't lift it? That's a more enlightening discussion than the ad nauseum debate on seeming enigmas such as AV interconnects.
My post is not meant as disrespect but I remind you to put it all into perspective. Some of you seem to spend more time fiddling in the back of your equipment than out front where the enjoyment is. Before you know it, life passes you by.

Life is a journey, not a destination.

And fortunately everyone enjoys different things. GASP, some may even enjoy tweaking their systems as well as enjoying the results of those tweaks. It is sort of like woodworking, you do it because you like it, it rarely saves you money over a simple purchase when you consider the time spent on the endeavor.

Yes, tis true we all have different interests and different emphases on those interests. I am sure that you do note that I speak of a "perspective and balance".

Once again...

"Life is a journey, not a destination"

The msimple phrase makes no accusations, but offers food for thought, whatever you wish that to be.

MetalMike

Talking about interconnects is a lot like going to small claims' court: in the grand scheme of things, there's not a lot of money involved, but there's a principle behind it. For small claims' court, that principle is justice; for A/V interconnects, it's truth. (Oh, how pithy!) What I think is interesting about the topic is that people on both sides of the argument have a strong belief that there is a "correct" answer (as opposed to it being purely a matter of taste). A/V interconnects represent a multi-million dollar industry, millions are spent advertizing the significance of Brand X cables, and, unlike proofs of the existance of God, I think people generally believe that these claims can either be justified or disproven.

Unfortunately, questions that seem "answerable" can be addressed by different people employing arguments based upon incompatible criteria: "I heard a difference!" "That's scientifically impossible; it's all in your mind!" This seems to be a common recipe for flared tempers on many "hot topics." Is the theory of evolution accurate? Is homosexuality an immutable trait? Science generally says yes; many conservative Christians assert that the Bible says no. In the end, questions like these won't be settled until people agree on a common hierarchy of authority, e.g. science trumps the Bible, or vice versa.

And until people agree on the relative weight to be placed on the value of first-hand experience vs. scientific models, interconnect discussions will rage on.

I have to weigh in on the ‘scientific’ side of the issue. Blame my engineering background and confidence in properly applied science, if you like. We now have, and have had for some time, measurement techniques that are much more sensitive than our own native senses, and that tell us things our senses cannot. We should trust in equipment and methods that have been shown to be reliable.

Let’s try an alternate scenario: piloting an aircraft. Pilots are trained that when sensory perception of flight conditions appear contrary to the information being provided by instrument readings, TRUST THE INSTRUMENTS! The vast majority of people who have flown are alive today precisely because of that.

While “how it sounds to you” is the final word in whether you are happy with a component or a system of components, I would tend to trust ‘the instruments’ when betting my audio budget dollars.

While I agree that a person should purchase cables of good quality, I really think that there are much more important fish to fry when it comes to optimising a sound system, starting with the acoustics and layout of the speakers in the room. This rather un-glamorous detail makes much more of a difference than all the boutique cables in the world.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited July 06, 2003).]

Not sure if I understand the "scientific side" of this issue. If using instumentation values are the only way to go, then all speakers would sound terific, just check out their specs. I have to agree with Soundhound on room acoustics and speakers vs cables.

I think the objective "scientific" arugment is that as long as the characteristics of the circuit are compatable with the characteristics of the cable used, the signal will get from point "A" to point "B" with no degradation. A couple of good examples of this are loudspeakers, when using a cable that presents significant resistance in propotion to the speaker's impedance, causing frequency response errors. Another would be using an interconnect with too-high capacitance for the impedance of the circuit, causing high frequency rolloffs. These are the big ones, but there are others, especially when sending higher frequency stuff like digital audio bitstreams, and especially video, which gets extremely cable-critical.

I agree with SoundHound, too. (no big surprise)

If the differences between cables were so darn obvious, you'd think the exotic cable industry would be able to come up with one reputable double-blind test to prove it.

For all those people who claim that they hear the difference and claim -- though how they could possibly claim this I do not know -- that it's not pyschoacoustics, you'd think that they could come up with a single double-blind test to prove it. I mean, if the difference is so "obvious", these listeners should be able to spot the "better" cable one hundred times out of a hundred.

And yet ...

I repeat my offer. If anybody out there feels like spending hundreds of dollars on "audiophile" cables, why not just send me the money instead? I'll then call you up and tell you that your system sounds much much better and that I really envy you your system. That way you'll gain the same benefit as purchasing the cable, plus you'll make me happy, too. [ ]

Jeff