HIFI Cable Humbug and Snake oil etc.

There is too much emphasis placed on spending huge sums of money on HIFI cables. Most of what is written about this subject is complete tripe. HIFI magazines promote myths about the benefits of all sorts of equipment.

Before magazines pay any credence to the performance claims of manufactures they should test the cables using the scientific method and use double blind ABX listening tests and then subject the result for peer review by independent sound engineers and statisticians.

When I have swapped interconnect cables around on my system I have not noticed any difference in performance. In fact I have found that reasonable quality and priced interconnect cables from Maplins do not sound any different to much more expensive ones. The same applies to speaker cable; you can buy excellent quality speaker cable for £1.50 per metre and I am not certain that this performs much better than bell wire.

Good quality copper cable does the job nicely.

http://gizmodo.com/315250/pear-cable-chickens-out-of-1000000-challenge-we-search-for-answers

With the increasing use of USB DACs also beware of an claims regarding USB connectors as no scientific tests seem to have been conducted on these. The performance claims could be equally as bogus.


Like most houses we have umpteen sets of music and computer equipment plugged into the mains with WIFI connexions producing all sorts of radio frequency transmissions. You could be led into believing that you need power conditioners and all sorts of other equipment to "clean things up". Some power conditioners cost hundreds of pounds.

I have performed this simple test. I switched on every piece of equipment that we have in the house including set top boxes to receive terrestrial and satellite television. I switched on the BluRay player, the CD player and the DAC and Laptop which are connected to my amplifier.  I  then turned up the amplifier to half volume and three quarters volume. I could hear absolutely nothing even with my ears pressed up to the speakers. I then  turned up the volume to full and then heard a slight hiss with my ears pressed up to the speakers. None of the electrical equipment in my house or the power supply was interfering with the performance of my HIFI equipment. The slight white noise was coming from the amplifier which is only to be expected at full volume. The equipment is obviously well shielded and filtered.

I suggest that you do this test before investing in fancy cables or expensive power conditioners. In some houses there may be a case for shielding the gear from interference from the power supply. But test this first before buying; the interference could be caused by faulty equipment or poor connexions.

I am amazed that so called audiophiles and HIFI journalists can be fooled into thinking that  very expensive speaker cables etc. improve performance. These are the very same people who find the snap, crackle and pop noise and the surface noise acceptable when they are playing LP records  on exceptionally expensive turntables.

Don't get me wrong I love listening to LPs but I have to accept their limitations and no amount of money spent will cure the LP of the in built flaws of static build up, surface noise and dust. I also accept that a Maplin's interconnect cable performs just as well as a cable costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds more.

I spend the money saved on the music which is all that really matters.