Re: A question about audio cables.
Reply #14 – 2018-03-09 17:40:26
Would I be right then to assume that those laughable 700 dollar cables people speak of are just as vulnerable to these issues as others? Typically, yes. Sometimes even more so, as they use fairly radical constructions to "address" one alleged problem at the expense of others. For example, some cables are unshielded because they see the shield as a problem (for example regarding capacitance), which makes the cable more vulnerable to RF, which leaves RF immunity to the connected devices. So be particularly cautious with manufacturers who seem to think that everybody else does it wrong and they are the only ones who understand the issues. The behavior of cables has been known for a long time, with very little chance of true innovation left. I suppose that backyard scientists always have a chance of making amazing discoveries, so it can't be ruled out that small companies could come up with something revolutionary but... If any great breakthrough were to happen in the filed of conducting electricity along cables, where might we truly and realistically expect to see it: audio-boutique cable makers, or multinational manufacturers of all kinds of cable with huge resources and real r&d? But the audiophile ego, especially in its communal form, insists that everything about processing and conducting "music" is difficult, and faces huge hurdles that only they, using expensive components, can overcome. The fact that musical signals are absolutely trivial compare to some other applications for which cables are made is anathema to them, and must be denied. Some time ago, when I was trying to cure myself of audiophilia (still in recovery!) I found some very interesting stuff on Belden's site. Informative blogs by real engineers. I remember one guy saying that they make a cable for frequencies so high that the entire signal is carried in the skin, and the core is just there to give strength. He commented, in passing, that it would probably actually make a lousy audio cable!