CABLES

[sastusbulbas]

Cables!

Dave Cawley?

[tfarney]

This should be fun. Where is that sitting by, eating popcorn icon? Ah well, I guess I'll have an ale while I watch instead......FWIW, I think good cable is all about enough copper, proper shielding and good quality plugs. All stuff that is easily, inexpensively obtained. My current sets are home made. Oh, and I work at a place that sells the stuff and can tell you that the cost of high end cables is almost all profit, for what that is worth. The mark-up for the retailer is huge, so I'm guessing the margins for the manufacturer are similar. Which would put the cost of a high-end (and this is not the truly mad esoteric stuff) well below what I pay for the materials to make my own. Read into that what you will, but it is a fact.

Tim

[DSJR]

Yep! dealer margins are *at least 60%* on wires these days. Mind you, some of the harware offers at least this margin if enough is bought at a time, so I've been told.

[StanleyB]

Many years ago I developed a range of interconnects under a certain brand name. A few years ago I left the company that I worked for when I developed those leads. But with all that chat on forums about if leads make a difference or not I have struck up an agreement to sell some of the leads in the range that I developed. I spent several years doing the research and prototype designs, so I am quite surprised when I read comments from folks who don't believe in cable designs. There can't be many on any forums on the web who worked with a wider variety of cable materials and designs than me. Audio, video, network, telephone, satellite etc. You name it.

The things that affect the performance of say an audio lead are reactance, bend radius, standing waves, screening, ground plane. I read comments where people attribute certain properties to a lead. In most cases, those attributes are directly related to the property performances I mentioned. However, there is little or no further comments with regards to whether the observed properties are desirable, deliberate, or a short coming on the part of the designers.

But looking at the marketing blurb from some of the well known companies that sell interconnects I wonder if the marketing people ever conversed with the designers, or if they just bought some leads in China and then invented some marketing properties for the leads they sell.

An interconnect is not a cable. Yes folks, let me dispel that suggestion here. Rather, it is a piece of cable with one or more connectors at one or both ends. The design of the connector is just as critical as the design of the cable. If they are not designed to match each other, the results are going to be pants. But the guy sitting in his shed, making up interconnects with bits and bobs in his trays, relies on luck and judgement, rather than sound scientific principles. There is where the problem starts: a lack of scientific principles.

[jandl100]

Every now & then I go through a phase of 'all cables sound the same' and get rid of my high margin foo cables and go with standard Van Damme or Gotham or similar.

That phase doesn't last long though, as I gradually find myself less and less pleased with the sound. It's such a relief after a while to go back to the high margin 'wanky wires'!

It may well be all in my bonce, but that's where the music appreciation thing happens, too, so that's OK with me.

[Dave Cawley]

OK Guys, I'm here now! I think although were wrong, that we call interconnects cables, and vice versa.

Before diving in, what was the C**** cable and what was the RS part number, and what magazine/issue was it in.

When we get to the end of this thread, the world will be a different place!!

Regards

Dave

[John]

An interconnect is not a cable. Yes folks, let me dispel that suggestion here. Rather, it is a piece of cable with one or more connectors at one or both ends. The design of the connector is just as critical as the design of the cable. If they are not designed to match each other, the results are going to be pants. But the guy sitting in his shed, making up interconnects with bits and bobs in his trays, relies on luck and judgement, rather than sound scientific principles. There is where the problem starts: a lack of scientific principles.

Hi Stan
I am really intersted in more around your thoughts about good scientific principles applied to cables (I just want to learn)
For myself I stay away from really expensive cables; for years I was always thinking if I change the cables perhaps I get the system sorted, rather than having my system right in the first place. Now very happy with the sound I have I use cables that are not too expensive and very happy with the performance (in the past I used a whole bunch of exotic cables)
Think its crazy to spend silly money on a cable but agree good cables make a difference. Guess my point is that you do not have to spend crazy money on cables to get you system to sound good

[Mike]

When we get to the end of this thread, the world will be a different place!!

And we'll all be considerably older!

[StanleyB]

A high grade interconnect does not have to cost much more than a bog standard lead. My digital coax TRC-222 has more conducting material and a higher quality of material used in it than some leads costing 10X more. What the punter pays for a lead bears no relation to any known financial formula. The final cost is: manufacturing cost X greed.

[John]

How true