Optical Audio Cables

[Dan B]

cables (not digital) do make a difference and I can vouch for that (I have pretty decent (older) hifi

Interestingly, the New Scientists [sic] recently commented on the London Heathrow Hi Fi Show, saying that among the cables selling for up to £30,000 for 6 metres, they found Quad demonstrating their latest speakers to great enthusiasm. The orange cable to the speakers looked oddly familiar. When asked about it, Tony Faulkner, the recording engineer demonstrating them (who'd used the speakers as monitors while recording Saint-Saen's complete works for piano & orchestra, Gramophone's Record of the Year), said of the cables:

"Yes, they would look familiar if you have a garden. Before the show opened we went over the road to the DIY superstore and bought one of those £20 extension leads that Black & Decker sells for electric hedge-cutters. They are made from good, thick copper wire, look nice and sound good to me. The show's been running for three days and no one in the audience has noticed..." - New Scientist Magazine

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/...2b3ebd6bc59ba363683ffa2a69b&p=14815#post14815

 

[raleighnut]

Why?

The bare copper wire oxidises and degrades the connection,

Nobody is disputing that. I even said it upthread. Analogue was susceptible to interference. Quality of connections mattered. Better quality equaled better sound. However that's not the case with digital. There's no loss. It's either perfect (as the original at least) or it cuts out. There's do degrading.

The cable that is covered does not oxidise so discarding the bare bit at each end costs me 1" of cable a year (about threppunce worth) and ensures the best contact with the terminals so in over 20yrs of doing this then those 4 cable lengths are probably only 4.5 metres now.

 

[Dan B]

[QUOTE 4568099, member: 45"]I see.

Can I interest you in my snake oil?[/QUOTE]
Which way round do you connect the snake? I get better mids and a tighter bass with head towards the speakers, but I think it's a slightly brighter soundstage and much more presence if the head is towards the amp

 

[raleighnut]

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/...2b3ebd6bc59ba363683ffa2a69b&p=14815#post14815

QUAD have been saying that for decades, they're right too.

 

[bonsaibilly]

cables (not digital) do make a difference and I can vouch for that (I have pretty decent (older) hifi

listen to a track using copper cables a few times, then switch the cables to silver cables and compare .... things like s's may sound like z's etc (a good track to test, is Prince's Purple Rain)

On my system, I have handmade interconnect cables called Silver High Breed Quintessence,.... these are as thick as hosepipes, and to me, they sound the best of the cables that I have (I have a box full of good cables and interconnects that I bought from auction)....

those in conjuction with my older hitachi ssx-102k lc-ofc copper speaker cables (as rare as hen's teeth now) connected to my B&W DM2 transmission speakers sound superb

If you have 'old' ears, let you teenage children compare, and they will tell you that cables do make a difference

Are you being ironic?

 

[dim]

Are you being ironic?

View: https://vimeo.com/25761812

 

[PhilDawson8270]

If the optical cable is used on a Dolby digital system. It is designed to cut out entirely if the signal isn't perfect.

 

[User482]

Which way round do you connect the snake? I get better mids and a tighter bass with head towards the speakers, but I think it's a slightly brighter soundstage and much more presence if the head is towards the amp

Don't use a python. Because of the coils.

 

[slowmotion]

I bid for quite an expensive valve amplifier on Ebay and won it at bargain price. I rang up the manufacturers and asked about speaker cable for it. The guy on the other end of the phone was quite refreshing. "Just make sure that the copper conductors are quite beefy.....mains twin and earth should be fine. People spend hundreds of pounds and swear that they sound better than cheaper cables, but they would, wouldn't they".

 

[Profpointy]

I think I've posted this point in another thread, but if hi fi cable engineers just write up their research in a proper journal they'd get the call from Stokholm and the Physics prize would be theirs. Sad they just keep pimping cables.

 

[bruce1530]

Do the people who pay extortionate sums for directional crystalline cables, polished in snake oil and hand-dried by unicorn fart, believe that the recording studios where their source material is generated are cabled up in the same stuff?

They aren't called “Audiophools” for nothing...

 

[DaveReading]

What's the difference between cables and "interconnects" (apart from the price) ? Is this more snake oil ?

 

[slowmotion]

Which way round do you connect the snake? I get better mids and a tighter bass with head towards the speakers, but I think it's a slightly brighter soundstage and much more presence if the head is towards the amp

It really helps if the snake gets a good cryogenic treatment. They're cold blooded so they won't come to any harm.

BTW, don't forget to connect your incoming house electricity supply with silver conductors, all the way back to the local sub-station. The power station would be better for serious audiophiles.

 

[ColinJ]

I'd just like to point out that the equipment that is used to process, record and transmit the music that you then put through a hifi using stupidly expensive wires ... is not built with stupidly expensive wire!

If cheap wire f***s up the sound quality then the music was already f****d before it even got to your equipment!

(It does make sense to use chunky wire to connect up speakers, decent quality (but not stupidly expensive) screened cables for low level analogue signals, and reliable connectors.)

 

[threebikesmcginty]

The cable that is covered does not oxidise so discarding the bare bit at each end costs me 1" of cable a year (about threppunce worth) and ensures the best contact with the terminals so in over 20yrs of doing this then those 4 cable lengths are probably only 4.5 metres now.

So the cables have got longer!!!