[Vintage-Audio] Audiophool Cables

Wed Mar 5 15:39:21 EST 2008

Thank you Bob for a most interesting audio cable test report.

I would have much prefered that the person doing the testing had used vinyl 
with better frequency coverage then the digital CD. I can tell the 
difference between a commercial CD and vinyl quite easily. Granted, I am 
totally blind now and I do listen more closely then my sighted compatriots, 
but most sighted listeners can also tell if they clear their mind of bias 
and let their ears do their thinking.

Now I do have difficulty in telling some of the vinyl that I have remastered 
to CD apart from the vinyl! Truthfully. Not just patting myself on the back. 
W9RAN has heard my work, so he knows of what I speak.

While I think this test was correct in its results, I do think more 
extensive frequency response would be needed to validate it. Such as some 
pipe organ highs or lows, J.D. Sumner to shake the room with 32 Hz Bass etc.

Several days ago I heard a commercial CD that I would have sworn was copied 
from vinyl, but I knew for a fact that it was not. I could hear little split 
second 'pops', or pauses, in the audio! I listened to this half a dozen 
times to be sure it was not my equipment or myself. Since this CD was 
digitally recorded live, then digitally mixed in a studio and digitally 
recorded to CD, I believe the problem is digital.

For what it is worth, I believe this CD was duplicated on a computer, not 
from a Glass Master like a big studio does for runs of a thousand or more.

What is it that is causing this split second pop, which is more correctly a 
total loss of sound and then the restoration of the audio? Other then bad 
work!

Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
dfischer at usol.com
HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
http://www.w9wze.net
HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
hhrp.w9wze.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Nickels" <w9ran at oneradio.net>
To: "Vintage home and professional audio equipment from 1975 back" 
<vintage-audio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 11:02 AM
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Audiophool Cables

> You've seen the fancy expensive cables and other crap the audiophooles 
> claim makes all the difference in the world.   Of course we know this is 
> silly, but try to convince THEM of that!   This guy ( Dr. Bob Dean) who 
> has a pretty serious home theater and a brother who is an audio guru 
> decided to do just that.  Results are as expected.
>
> 73,  Bob W9RAN
>
> I'm so sorry, but I do not buy into 90% of the hype brought to us 
> audiophiles by the commercial sector of our hobby and the home 
> entertainment industry at large. My brother, an audio engineering whiz kid 
> has proven to me what is real and what is not. Let me rehearse with you an 
> example of how he does this.
>
> We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my "old" Martin Logan 
> SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with 
> Monster 1000 speaker cables (decent cables according to the audio press). 
> We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a 
> simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX 
> switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 
> 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz 
> was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD 
> before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind 
> folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not 
> one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my 
> brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple 
> coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to 
> the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnected them and 
> twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He 
> stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to 
> what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact 
> length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none 
> could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. 
> Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked 
> if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard 
> sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occurred, it was impossible to 
> determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was 
> in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my 
> brother did, we learned he was right...most of what manufactures have to 
> say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the 
> more hyped it is.
>
> So you see, my friend, that is why I have joined up with this site 
> (audioholics) because their approach to good sound and education to 
> acquire good sound and video is based on science, not hype, hypnotics, 
> placebo effects or wishful thinking.
>
> Excerpted from: 
> http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?s=97d4a3c39d247bf955a57b3953326a34&p=15412&postcount=28
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