[bhjazz]

Re: Speak Wires, Does it matter?

There's too much at stake to just ignore it! I also think it will depend a lot on your equipment. Find a local audio dealer who will lend you one or two runs of speaker wire over a weekend. You'll be surprised!

 

[bhjazz]

Re: Speak Wires, Does it matter?

The truth is, those are the people with a waxy build-up on their tympanic membranes and they've NEVER even had a full spectrum audiology test done by a certified ENT specialist.

Thanks for the compliment. Much appreciated.

Your fear that the original poster might hear a difference is typical. I see nothing wrong with this person using their own ears to determine if it is possible or not. If you can't hear anything, that's fine. If he can, or I can, why not let these people be?

 

[bhjazz]

Yes electricity doesnt know cheap from expensive wire, but if its cheaply made with inconsistent gaps or something in the strands the speaker will tell you the difference in sound.

That's my point. If the material is cheap, it will suffer when playing music. Maybe that's just me.
Cables in general need to balance many factors in transmitting a simple signal from one component to another. These include resistance, capacitance, inductance, RF radiation, phase distortion, hysterisis, and probably a hundred other. I've built many DIY cables, with the last set being a balanced pair. They sound good, but the somehow don't approach the commercial stuff on my system. I'm sure some will say :spend: but it works for me.

 

[bhjazz]

Re: Speak Wires, Does it matter?

Human perception is complex and there are subtle aspects of both ability and psychoacoustics that have not been studied in a systematic manner.

So much to chew on there. Nice post. I'll distill my reply to the quote above...!

We're all wired differently. We all hear differently. We've all had different emotional responses to music and movies. The ways these are perceived and processed in the brain cannot be duplicated from one person to another. Read Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks if you want a documented batch of stories about people who are truly wired for music in one way or another. I think that beyond pulse response, frequency response, and all the measurable stuff is definitely something that cannot be measured. For my own system, cables are not the end-all, but provide some mild tuning. Nothing beats synergy of well-matched components, but connecting them with *wire* that doesn't enhance them seems counterintuitive. If you want to, please do. YOUR system only has to sound good to YOU.