Looking for RCA Interconnect Upgrade

FYI

I have a meter of the AQ King Cobra's around here, probable in my emergency cable box.

M~

 

Hmm, all 10 minutes were calling people stupid with nothing new to add. A waste of my time.

 

The OP didn't ask for opinions on whether or not cables are worth it, but suggestions for upgrades.

John K.

 

I often wonder if contrarians in topics like these operate like this in real life. Like, if someone at a party starts talking about a softball game they enjoyed the other day, but this person doesn't play, watch, or like softball, do they go up and start talking about metrics that prove baseball is better? Or try to shame the other person for liking softball?

Most people, would skip right over those threads or that conversation and go on about their business. But oh no, not in a cable thread. Bring out the axes, the tar, and the feathers. Someone's gettin' a shamin' this evening.

 

No offense meant. Upgrading ? Do a blindfold comparison with the cable that was supplied with your CD player or whatever.
Expensive cables the biggest scam in audio.
That guy in the video is right but he is not an aimable personality to call people stupid but he is tells something from the other side, the right side.
However it is not my intention to deny the pleasure of having a nice looking impressive cable, but it has nothing to do with soundquality.

 

It seems to be your intent to repeatedly thread crap, which some people find offensive.

John K.

 

FAIL

 

My recommendations (to try with your gear)
In ascending price order, but within your budget.

Chord Clearway
Kimber Timbre
Kimber Hero


Regards

 

Wireworld Oasis 7 is the value sweet spot in that line, IMO. Probably worth consideration.

 

DAC is Schiit yggdrasil. it has two separate outputs so I get to connect two different IC's into my headphone amp, the Pro Ican which has 3 inputs. by the turn of a switch, I can A-B test, so in half a second, I can switch between cable A and cable B.
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Honestly guys, im scratching my head here.

I have 6 interconnects here, ranging from 500$ to 100$ retail value.

Cardas quadlink 200$
Cardas neutral ref 300$
Audioquest Water 500$
Analysis plus one oval 100$
Kimber hero 100$
MIT2 100$
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I cannot distinguish any of them accurately.
they sound so close to each other that its a bit ridiculous to try to describe the difference.

I will try harder for a couple of weeks, but right now, I have to really try to hear differences and I dont. they basically sound exactly the same. bit dissapointing.

just for fun, ill throw in couple of 1$ IC's and see if they also sound exactly like the high ends one.

 

$1,100 worth of analog interconnects, and there is no audible difference between any of them.
There must be something wrong with your ears.
By all means, compare your $2 ones to these, and report back. Folks here would love to know how that experiment turns out.

 

Rapid switching doesn't work very well. Instead, live with one cable for a few days or a week. Take notes on the aspects of the sound. Repeat with the other cables. Compare notes at the end.

 

Is it the improvement in sound you were looking/listening for?

 

Hilarious . I hope those are all demo/loaner cables and that you didn't actually buy any of them.

Would love to see an electrical engineer cut these open and show what is really inside along with measurements.

 

Neither does F1nut.

 

Why?

I'm asking because I usually never put much money into interconnects - and all the ones listed there are more money than I've ever paid for any of mine - so I'm just not sure if you are saying they aren't worth the money, or they are all the same inside or etc etc...

Trying to make sense of the info on this thread without all the filler. Thanks!

 

The truth is that there is a long list of design parameters that might influence the sound. What can be tested is rather rudimentary and rather simplistic—it doesn’t take an electrical engineer. They are not all the same inside, but many are very, very similar. Quality of wire (metal), size of the wire or sizes, dielectric (insulation), and geometry (Litz, single wire, etc.) can all be addressed. IMO, quality of the connectors and the connection should be a priority.

 

Because I'm not a member of the "cable cult".

 

Perhaps a member of the "cast-derision-at-those-who-do-appreciate-cable-differences cult"?

 

I dunno. it makes very little sense to me. if I cannot hear any difference in A-B testing, how can I hear a difference over a period of time?

id make a very bold statement: BIAS is the only reason why people hear differences between cables.

I get to turn a switch, within mili seconds, I hear the other cable. there's is no difference between any of my cables. My friends also do not hear any difference.

just for kick, i just connected a 20$ vs my 500$ IC: no difference.

I really actually want to hear a difference but I have to be honest with myself, I dont. I wish though, would have been fun to add a bit of warmness to my Utopia, or more bass or to tame the highs. no matter how hard I try to hear a difference, any difference are so subtle that they basically do not exist and I know that nobody could AB test all the cables and could say which is which. that is enough for me to conclude that yeah, the difference between cables is in the range of negligible or imagined.

and this is with a very revealing headphone system which is even more alarming to me.

problem with this argument is that you cannot back it up with measurements. there's no measurable difference between analog cables.

so we have to rely on subjectivity. and the problem with subjectivity is well known in audio and how much our BIAS affect what we hear. just look at Harman research about sighted testings about even speakers.

 

It would only cost you a bit of time to try it.

Bias, the cry of the naysayers. As I have stated before, I've had more expensive cables that I didn't like compared to less expensive ones, so for myself I dismiss the bias notion.

 

im trying your suggested method right now. will report in a few hours!

well, based on my experience, yes bias would be the most important factor. and price is not the only bias for people at all, far from that actually. we all want to find something just as good that is cheaper.

 

A bit like the god thing.

 

I don’t think you read my post.