What annoys me today in marketing and media that too often today then talking on hi-fi, science is replaced by bizarre belief structures and marketing fluff, leading to a decades-long stagnation of the audiophile domain. Science makes progress, pseudo-science doesn’t. Hi-fi world is filled by pseudoscience, dogma and fruitloopery to the extent that it resembles a fundamentalist religion. Loudspeaker performance hasn’t tangibly improved in forty years and vast sums are spent addressing the wrong problems.
Business for Engineers: Marketers Lie article points tout that marketing tells lies — falsehoods — things that serve to convey a false impression. Marketing’s purpose is to determining how the product will be branded, positioned, and sold. It seems that there too many snake oil rubbish products marketed in the name of hifi. It is irritating to watch the stupid people in the world be fooled.
In EEVblog #29 – Audiophile Audiophoolery video David L. Jones (from EEVBlog) cuts loose on the Golden Ear Audiophiles and all their Audiophoolery snake oil rubbish. The information presented in Dave’s unique non-scripted overly enthusiastic style! He’s an enthusiastic chap, but couldn’t agree more with many of the opinions he expressed: Directional cables, thousand dollar IEC power cables, and all that rubbish. Monster Cable gets mostered. Note what he says right at the end: “If you pay ridiculous money for these cable you will hear a difference, but don’t expect your friends to”. If you want to believe, you will.
My points on hifi-nonsense:
One of the tenets of audiophile systems is that they are assembled from components, allegedly so that the user can “choose” the best combination. This is pretty largely a myth. The main advantage of component systems is that the dealer can sell ridiculously expensive cables, hand-knitted by Peruvian virgins and soaked in snake oil, to connect it all up. Say goodbye to the noughties: Yesterday’s hi-fi biz is BUSTED, bro article asks are the days of floorstanders and separates numbered? If traditional two-channel audio does have a future, then it could be as the preserve of high resolution audio. Sony has taken the industry lead in High-Res Audio.
HIFI Cable Humbug and Snake oil etc. blog posting rightly points out that 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. I am as amazed as the writer that that so called audiophiles and HIFI journalists can be fooled into thinking that very expensive speaker cables etc. improve performance. I generally agree – most of this expensive interconnect cable stuff is just plain overpriced.
I can agree that in analogue interconnect cables there are few cases where better cables can really result in cleaner sound, but usually getting any noticeable difference needs that the one you compare with was very bad yo start with (clearly too thin speaker wires with resistance, interconnect that picks interference etc..) or the equipment in the systems are so that they are overly-sensitive to cable characteristics (generally bad equipment designs can make for example cable capacitance affect 100 times or more than it should). Definitely too much snake oil. Good solid engineering is all that is required (like keep LCR low, Teflon or other good insulation, shielding if required, proper gauge for application and the distance traveled). Geometry is a factor but not in the same sense these yahoos preach and deceive.
In digital interconnect cables story is different than on those analogue interconnect cables. Generally in digital interconnect cables the communication either works, does not work or sometimes work unreliably. The digital cable either gets the bits to the other end or not, it does not magically alter the sound that goes through the cable. You need to have active electronics like digital signal processor to change the tone of the audio signal traveling on the digital cable, cable will just not do that.
But this digital interconnect cables characteristics has not stopped hifi marketers to make very expensive cable products that are marketed with unbelievable claims. Ethernet has come to audio world, so there are hifi Ethernet cables. How about 500 dollar Ethernet cable? That’s ridiculous. And it’s only 1.5 meters. Then how about $10,000 audiophile ethernet cable? Bias your dielectrics with the Dielectric-Bias ethernet cable from AudioQuest: “When insulation is unbiased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio.” I see this as complete marketing crap speak. It seems that they’re made for gullible idiots. No professional would EVER waste money on those cables. Audioquest even produces iPhone sync cables in similar price ranges.
HIFI Cable insulators/supports (expensive blocks that keep cables few centimeters off the floor) are a product category I don’t get. They typically claim to offer incredible performance as well as appealing appearance. Conventional cable isolation theory holds that optimal cable performance can be achieved by elevating cables from the floor in an attempt to control vibrations and manage static fields. Typical cable elevators are made from electrically insulating materials such as wood, glass, plastic or ceramics. Most of these products claim superior performance based upon the materials or methods of elevation. I don’t get those claims.
Along with green magic markers on CDs and audio bricks is another item called the wire conditioner. The claim is that unused wires do not sound the same as wires that have been used for a period of time. I don’t get this product category. And I don’t believe claims in the line like “Natural Quartz crystals along with proprietary materials cause a molecular restructuring of the media, which reduces stress, and significantly improves its mechanical, acoustic, electric, and optical characteristics.” All sounds like just pure marketing with no real benefits.
CD no evil, hear no evil. But the key thing about the CD was that it represented an obvious leap from earlier recording media that simply weren’t good enough for delivery of post-produced material to the consumer to one that was. Once you have made that leap, there is no requirement to go further. The 16 bits of CD were effectively extended to 18 bits by the development of noise shaping, which allows over 100dB signal to noise ratio. That falls a bit short of the 140dB maximum range of human hearing, but that has never been a real goal. If you improve the digital media, the sound quality limiting problem became the transducers; the headphones and the speakers.
We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Soz, ‘audiophiles’, only IT will break the sound barrier article says that today’s loudspeakers are nowhere near as good as they could be, due in no small measure to the presence of “traditional” audiophile products. that today’s loudspeakers are nowhere near as good as they could be, due in no small measure to the presence of “traditional” audiophile products. I can agree with this. Loudspeaker performance hasn’t tangibly improved in forty years and vast sums are spent addressing the wrong problems.
We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Soz, ‘audiophiles’, only IT will break the sound barrier article makes good points on design, DSPs and the debunking of traditional hi-fi. Science makes progress, pseudo-science doesn’t. Legacy loudspeakers are omni-directional at low frequencies, but as frequency rises, the radiation becomes more directional until at the highest frequencies the sound only emerges directly forwards. Thus to enjoy the full frequency range, the listener has to sit in the so-called sweet spot. As a result legacy loudspeakers with sweet spots need extensive room treatment to soak up the deficient off-axis sound. New tools that can change speaker system designs in the future are omni-directional speakers and DSP-based room correction. It’s a scenario ripe for “disruption”.
Computers have become an integrated part of many audio setups. Back in the day integrated audio solutions in PCs had trouble earning respect. Ode To Sound Blaster: Are Discrete Audio Cards Still Worth the Investment? posting tells that it’s been 25 years since the first Sound Blaster card was introduced (a pretty remarkable feat considering the diminished reliance on discrete audio in PCs) and many enthusiasts still consider a sound card an essential piece to the PC building puzzle. It seems that in general onboard sound is finally “Good Enough”, and has been “Good Enough” for a long time now. For most users it is hard to justify the high price of special sound card on PC anymore. There are still some PCs with bad sound hardware on motherboard and buttload of cheap USB adapters with very poor performance. However, what if you want the best sound possible, the lowest noise possible, and don’t really game or use the various audio enhancements? You just want a plain-vanilla sound card, but with the highest quality audio (products typically made for music makers). You can find some really good USB solutions that will blow on-board audio out of the water for about $100 or so.
Although solid-state technology overwhelmingly dominates today’s world of electronics, vacuum tubes are holding out in two small but vibrant areas. Some people like the sound of tubes. The Cool Sound of Tubes article says that a commercially viable number of people find that they prefer the sound produced by tubed equipment in three areas: musical-instrument (MI) amplifiers (mainly guitar amps), some processing devices used in recording studios, and a small but growing percentage of high-fidelity equipment at the high end of the audiophile market. Keep those filaments lit, Design your own Vacuum Tube Audio Equipment article claims that vacuum tubes do sound better than transistors (before you hate in the comments check out this scholarly article on the topic). The difficulty is cost; tube gear is very expensive because it uses lots of copper, iron, often point-to-point wired by hand, and requires a heavy metal chassis to support all of these parts. With this high cost and relative simplicity of circuitry (compared to modern electronics) comes good justification for building your own gear. Maybe this is one of the last frontiers of do-it-yourself that is actually worth doing.
1,262 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Furutech DeStat II removes dust and eliminates the popping sound, and the clicker in seconds from LPs. Thats seems to be reasonable claim that could be true. The device costs more than 400 USD.
The following line in the article sounds like snake oil salesman talk though: According to Furutech the treatment not only benefit from the lp discs, but also CD / DVD drives, components, power cables, patch cords and speaker cables.
Source: http://www.hifimaailma.fi/uutiset/eroon-polysta-ja-staattisesta-sahkosta-sekunneissa/
Brian6 says:
This has been an ongoing phenomnena starting on internet forums. Many a guitarist has heard this untruthful lies written by some anonymous forum user, who knows all the guys on the forum. The Fender Telecaster is shrill. What. The Telecaster is the staple, the gold standard in country music, and rock. When forum users started using the internet. I think that many of us should have been suspicious. Isn’t in human nature to lie all the time about just about anything you can think of people lie.
When you hear that about one of the most iconic guitars in rock something should have rang a bell in most peoples heads. It took me months maybe a year to figure it out.
But I did.
What’s wrong with picture is that a couple of kooks who basically are problemed and who do not go by the standards of music are hell bent on ruining Fender, Boss, BlackStar, Peavey.
Heres the latest one. “Peavey uses Diode Clipping in the gain booster. Don’t they?”
They even me going.
So what kind of person does that. Spreading ill will and false rumors and why?
That hasn’t been decided yet. But I’m onto your scam.
Later we read the Mogami is selling $179.00 cables.
With 6L6 tubes, 12AX7 tubes, KT66 creating the lush, sound scapes, Superdistorion, The Breed, Tone Zone, many other creating the tone of the guitar, the tone woods of the guitar, the speakers like Celestion Alnico Blue, your stings, and your guitar playing, your fingers, and solos, riffs.
Big cable companies are taking credit for major contributotions to your sound. Lets not forget the circuit board, the reticifier. These are not small things in creating your guitars sound,
Yet Big cable says this to guitarist. Your mids will be too fizzy. Your lows not tight. My cables will change all that.
When a cable company tells you that your smoking hot sound is somehow wrong without them.
You better run like hell. Because if you don’t. That con artist is going to try to destroy you step by step.
Salesmen, or snakes oil sales men make false claims. The snake oil in history was nothing more than colored water. They claimed it would cure disease, insomnia, balding, near sigthedness.
The Snake oil salesmen in music are back again.
They don’t want to acknowledge that all the things I mentioned including my pro skills are making this happen.
Do you know why?
They disregarding what makes a great sounding guitar solo and lieing to very musicians that are making happen.
Because they believe that your hypnotized by their sales pitch.
They coming for you money.
I buy Hosa cables that don’t cost more than 20 dollars,
They do more than deliver great sound.
They give me peace of mind.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio interconnect cables: Myths vs. truths
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/01/audio-cables-myths-truths.html
A/V technicians at Youtube’s AudioholicsLIVE (a production of the online A/V magazine Audioholics) recently produced the following video, which investigates common myths vs. truths surrouding the purchase and deployment of audio interconnect cables.
Professional opinions aired in the video include the following claims:
– “For audio interconnects, shielded twisted pair or shielded coax work extremely well…Unshielded twisted pair is good for rejecting magnetic pickup but not so good at eliminating capacitive pickup (unless the interfaces between components are balanced). Shielded twisted pair provides excellent shielding for low frequency signals in which the magnetic pickup is the major concern. The effectiveness of the twisting increases as the number of twists per unit length increases.”
– “Shielded twisted pair is more than enough for frequencies below 100kHz, , but above 1 MHz, the losses in the shielded twisted pair increases considerably. In addition, a twisted pair cable cannot maintain the proper impedance necessary for video applications (75 ohms).”
– “Termination quality is also an important consideration. [We] don’t care for the turbine RCA connectors, as they tend to lock down too tightly on an RCA jack
– “Bottom line: If a cable can pass video signals over long distances with no problems, it will easily handle any line-level audio signal.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oculus is now making its own virtual reality movies
Story Studio is the company’s internal team exploring what it calls ‘VR cinema’
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/26/7896179/oculus-vr-story-studio-original-movies-sundance
The prominence of virtual reality has been one of the biggest stories of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and now Oculus itself is stepping into the fray to highlight the importance of storytelling in VR. The company has pulled back the curtain on Oculus Story Studio, an internal team focused on exploring the potential of what it calls “VR cinema” — and the group’s first movie is debuting this week.
Called Lost, the project is a real-time computer generated VR experience for the Crescent Bay prototype, and is directed by Saschka Unseld, a former Pixar animator who created the 2013 short The Blue Umbrella. Lost runs roughly five minutes in length, but in what Unseld touts as one of the project’s innovations, it changes the pace of its storytelling based on the action taken by the viewer. “It could be three-and-a-half minutes and it could be 10,” he says. “It all depends on you.”
Oculus’ First In-House VR Film “Lost” Is Cute, Immersive, But Hardly Interactive
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/26/oculus-lost-review/
Oculus just premiered its Story Studio’s first virtual reality cinema experience “Lost” that’s designed to demonstrate the narrative potential of VR to filmmakers. The experience features a massive robotic hand traipsing around a darkened forest in search of its body. It proves that a simple, character driven story can be told in an immersive environment. Yet while adorable, the film doesn’t push the limits of VR much.
All the action takes place in front of you, with just one scene overhead.
While the forest feels immersive in VR, the film could work just fine as a film, and that’s somewhat of a failure considering the point of Story Studio.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Full HD technology for managing a great Blu-Ray Disc Consortium estimates that as early as next Christmas can be purchased 4K playback capable Blu-ray players.
Consortium, the Blu-ray will support 3840 x 2160 dots resolution, the screen updates in 60 times per second, and the color space, which covers 75 percent of the human eye vision.
Future discs suitable for 66 or 100 gigabytes of data. Also, the data writing speed will increase from the current and H.264 compression technology will be updated to a newer H.265
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2337:blu-ray-tarkentuu-4k-ksi&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube now defaults to HTML5
http://youtube-eng.blogspot.fi/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html
Four years ago, we wrote about YouTube’s early support for the HTML5 tag and how it performed compared to Flash. At the time, there were limitations that held it back from becoming our preferred platform for video delivery. Most critically, HTML5 lacked support for Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) that lets us show you more videos with less buffering.
Over the last four years, we’ve worked with browser vendors and the broader community to close those gaps, and now, YouTube uses HTML5 by default in Chrome, IE 11, Safari 8 and in beta versions of Firefox.
The benefits of HTML5 extend beyond web browsers, and it’s now also used in smart TVs and other streaming devices. Here are a few key technologies that have enabled this critical step forward:
Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming is critical for providing a quality video experience for viewers
ABR has reduced buffering by more than 50 percent globally and as much as 80 percent on heavily-congested networks.
HTML5 lets you take advantage of the open VP9 codec, which gives you higher quality video resolution with an average bandwidth reduction of 35 percent. These smaller files allow more people to access 4K and HD at 60FPS
In the past, the choice of delivery platform (Flash, Silverlight, etc) and content protection technology.
Encrypted Media Extensions separate the work of content protection from delivery, enabling content providers like YouTube to use a single HTML5 video player across a wide range of platforms.
WebRTC
YouTube enables everyone to share their videos with the world, whether uploading pre-recorded videos or broadcasting live. WebRTC allows us to build on the same technology that enables plugin-free Google Hangouts to provide broadcasting tools from within the browser.
Using the new fullscreen APIs in HTML5, YouTube is able to provide an immersive fullscreen viewing experience (perfect for those 4K videos), all with standard HTML UI.
Given the progress we’ve made with HTML5 , we’re now defaulting to the HTML5 player on the web. We’re also deprecating the “old style” of Flash embeds and our Flash API. We encourage all embedders to use the API, which can intelligently use whichever technology the client supports.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kyle Russell / TechCrunch:
Prynt, a case that turns your phone into a Polaroid camera, is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter for $49
The Case That Turns Your Phone Into A Polaroid Camera Is Now On Kickstarter
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/the-case-that-turns-your-phone-into-a-polaroid-camera-is-now-on-kickstarter/
The Prynt case, which lets you print photos directly from your phone, is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter. While the startup still plans for its case to retail for $99, early backers can get it for $49.
When it arrives this summer, the Prynt will support the iPhone 5/s/c/6 and the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5. Along with printing photos as you take them or from your camera roll, it’ll also come with an app that brings a nifty augmented reality feature
“When you take a photo with Prynt’s app, it actually records a video of the moments around when you clicked the button and sends it to the cloud. When you hold up the physical photo to your phone’s camera with the app open, it is overlaid with a Play button that shows that video in place of the picture itself.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Music piracy has been ‘virtually eliminated’ in Norway
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/piracy-virtually-eliminated-norway/
The latest full-year music sales stats out of Norway show that the Scandinavian country’s revenues from recorded music were flat in 2014.
Even better for the worldwide industry, less than 1% of people under 30 years said that file-sharing was their main source of obtaining music.
Compare that to a 2009 survey by the IFPI and GramArt, which showed that 70% of the population under 30 years who had internet access were illegally downloading music.
The reason for this near-complete erosion of piracy in the region is clear: young people now have a better option.
75% of Norway’s recorded music industry income now comes from streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal/WiMP.
The IFPI’s December survey concluded that 80% of people under 30 in the country chose streaming services as their primary source of music.
“Younger audiences are using streaming services to the greatest extent. When older audiences [start] embracing these services we will probably see a somewhat different distribution of revenues.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sometimes in reading those reviews is sometimes hard to say if they are real or parody (like Onion)…
Audioquest Cinnamon USB review
A fine cable in every sense of the word Tested at £59
http://www.whathifi.com/audioquest/cinnamon-usb/review
The Cinnamon is a subtle cable, conveying details with a lightness of touch.
The sound is a little restrained, but not enough to be considered downbeat. Far from it: there’s an assertiveness to the proceedings that allows a little panache to come through.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AudioQuest Carbon, Cinnamon, and Forest USB Cables
http://www.goodsound.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=278:audioquest-carbon
Conclusion
I don’t know why better-built USB cables sound better. In fact, before I began my listening for this review, I was convinced that there was no way one USB cable could sound different from another USB cable in this particular application. It took me more than six months to gain enough confidence in what I heard to be able to write this review.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CAMdrive is an Open Source Time-lapse Photography Controller
http://hackaday.com/2015/01/29/camdrive-is-an-open-source-time-lapse-photography-controller/
You may already be familiar with the idea of time-lapse photography. The principal is that your camera takes a photo automatically at a set interval. An example may be once per minute. This can be a good way to get see gradual changes over a long period of time. While this is interesting in itself, time-lapse videos can often be made more interesting by having the camera move slightly each time a photo is taken. CAMdrive aims to aid in this process by providing a framework for building systems that can pan, tilt, and slide all automatically.
http://www.rohrhofer.org/r-tec/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IANAL, so maybe someone who is can comment: surely this is flat-out illegal?
The vendor claims that
1.’All audio cables are ‘directional’
2.’When insulation is unbiased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio.’
That’s two verifiably untrue or misleading statements with reference to a data cable, putting all subjective sound-quality fluff aside.
Puts me in mind of the claims of homeopaths, etc.
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9016949
Tomi Engdahl says:
But most of these comments are about cables carrying digital signals, a class of devices which only have two real operating modes: “working perfectly” and “catastrophic failure”. Instead of respecting the principles of the physics and information encoding associated with this layout, though, we see outlandish claims of frequencies traveling at different speeds and damaging your multi-octave audio.
USB has error checking (there are checksums on every USB packet).
Isochronous USB has no error recovery (so if that packet arrives with a mangled checksum, you have a data dropout).
However, cables are the least of your worries; it’s the driver stack (USB, ethernet, whatever) and the audio software feeding it that are the main sources of error. Unfortunately for Monster (et al) it is far harder for them to sell a $5,000 piece of software that does nothing than it is for them to sell a $5K piece of snake-oil-class hardware; the software is objectively analyzable without expensive tools, for instance.
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9016949
Tomi Engdahl says:
This £6899.00 Ethernet cable looks like HIFI snake oil to me:
AudioQuest Diamond RJ/E Ethernet Cable 12m
http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/product/8041/audioquest-diamond-rj-e-ethernet-cable-12m
Tomi Engdahl says:
$10,000 Ethernet cable promises BONKERS MP3 audio experience
Audiophile nonsense turned up to 11
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/09/perfect_your_mp3_listening_pleasure_with_this_bonkers_ethernet_cable/
Got £6,899 (US$10,500) to spare and worried that a Cat-6 Ethernet cable is keeping you from hearing the very best of your NAS-stored collection of MP3s?
Fear not, your moment has come, with this work of wonder from Audio Quest.
El Reg notes that the advertisement indicates the age of Audio Quest’s engineers. Since the super-Ethernet cable represents “a lifetime’s research”, and the first twisted pair Ethernet standard, 10Base-T, was published in 1990, the relevant engineers are 25 years old, max.
“This really is a ‘money no object’ cable for the dedicated Hi-Fi enthusiast that has extended into a world of digital audio sources,” the puffery continues.
The insulation generates an electrostatic field “which reduces energy storage and non-linear time delays to a minimum,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
There are plenty of products in the audiophile industry that can match or exceed this in craziness level. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a glorifying review of this in a hi-fi magazine.
$10K Ethernet Cable Claims Audio Fidelity, If You’re Stupid Enough To Buy It
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/02/10/0257227/10k-ethernet-cable-claims-audio-fidelity-if-youre-stupid-enough-to-buy-it
http://hothardware.com/news/10000-ethernet-cable-claims-earth-shattering-advancement-in-audio-fidelity-if-youre-stupid-enough-to-buy-it
Matti Rissanen says:
Unbelievable claims on AudioQuest Diamond RJ/E Features:
http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/product/8041/audioquest-diamond-rj-e-ethernet-cable-12m
Finnish HIFInews, The king of cables found :
http://www.hifimaailma.fi/uutiset/nyt-loytyi-kaapeleiden-kuningas/
Tomi Engdahl says:
AUDIOPHILE GROUNDING BOX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOVfFLTXB3k&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
How ground boxes are marketed
https://quartzacoustic.com/audio-ground-box-the-whys-and-the-hows/
Ground box has become an intrinsic part of an equipment in the audiophile setup. Fans of such boxes will never get hold of them enough in adding at least one to every equipment of theirs. Let us look at why it helps in the audio chain of equipment and how it can be connected
The fundamental of ground box is really just to ground out the signal further – no matter how audio equipment are designed and built with grounding in mind, inherent interference from anywhere will get into the signal path at every opportunity. These include cable pickup from the air, electrical noises introduced from power supply, electrical components receiving EMI pickup so on and so forth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DIYAudio/permalink/4085178554881293/
Some one says cable topic is prejudjement of price. I can offer to them, try to cables different topology even network, power cord, shehield antenna cables on your speakers carefuly and listen. Thin or thickness no matter for test. You will realise a lot of differences. If you didnt realise anything you can use cheapest choice and never spend money to anything for your system anymore.
…or you could listen carefully when you don’t *know* what’s connected. Very instructive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
oxygen free, multi-wire copper cable with adequate gauge for the current that will run through the cable is enough. hint: make it as short as possible, avoid making repeated loops like a coil, which will result in a cross-over like effect, with unforeseen results. rest is just placebo effect, the psychological relief after the spent bucks. btw; ofc is just good for terminal part, gets less patina after time, compared to non-treated copper. otherwise any real copper cable with a known impedance does the job as the most expensive alternative. tested, verified. if consumer defends expensive cable, it’s placebo effect. if seller defends it, pure cruelty…
Tomi Engdahl says:
From https://www.facebook.com/groups/DIYAudio/permalink/4087744671291348/
Back in the 1980s, What Hifi magazine used to recommend solid core mains cable as a five star Best Buy. Then, one day, it disappeared completely from their list. Followed by me disappearing completely from their subscription list. I cancelled and switched to HiFi Choice.
Most reviews of Hi-Fi equipment seem to be full of opinionated, subjective twaddle. I prefer the way reviews were done 40 years ago.
HiFi News & Record Review were very good.
They had excellent reviews, diy amplifier designs and loudspeaker designs.
There was very little snake oil involved.
All reviews in all fields now are just money talk.
Lamp cord is supposed to be pretty good
Solid core for speaker wire = bullcrap. Stranded wire of appropriate gauge is fine.
Solid core is very cheap in comparison though, and just as effective. As long as you don’t mind it not being flexible, which is why I don’t use it.
I think Audio Science Review are pretty good, and test stuff for free. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/we-measure-audio-equipment-for-free.1995/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/116637511-the-importance-of-star-quad-microphone-cable
Do Star-Quad Cables Sound Better?
This is really the wrong question to be asking. In most cases, star quad cables will not change the sound, they will only reduce interference. If no interference is present, any differences will only be a function of cable capacitance and the source impedance. Very long cables can introduce enough capacitance to attenuate high audio frequencies. In many cases, star-quad cables have some additional capacitance per foot. But, a loss in frequency response over a long cable run can be corrected with EQ. In contrast, interference cannot be removed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cables for digital and analogue audio
https://www.canford.co.uk/TechZone/Article/CablesForDigitalAndAnalogueAudio
By the 1890s, the choice of unbalanced landline operation was called into question for two major reasons. Firstly, unusual interference and landline characteristic changes on the long submarine cables, were guessed to be unknown effects of atmospheric electricity and the geomagnetic field. Interestingly, these mysterious effects motivated many of the early polar expeditions. Secondly, the emerging urban electric power distribution systems, along with traction (rail and tram) systems, all shared earth return circuits with the telegraphs and telephones. This led to the first proper use of twisted pairs, or for long distance telephones, four-wire circuits. Adding loading coils to these long circuits, formed a low-pass filter with peaking characteristics. This could flatten the electrical speech band response so that unamplified telephone calls could be made at distances up to 1000 km. By the 1920′s, vacuum tube ‘repeater’ amplifiers enabled trans US calls to be made on these landline cables.
Analogue cables for high quality audio – best practice requirements
‘Professional’ audio uses twisted conductor two or four wire screened cables. The four conductor cables are used exactly as for two conductors using parallel connection of opposite pairs. The advantage of this four conductor ‘star-quad’ cable comes simply from the symmetrical electrical geometry that gives a better impedance balance between the two signal paths.
In either regime, each of the cable pairs can be seen as a fixed ‘lumped’ capacitance or inductance depending on the receiving load. Typical transmission line impedances are 30 to 70 ohms. As a result, the impedance (as ‘seen’ by the transmitting end) of two 10km open-ended cables, where the only difference between the two cables is the gauge size of the wires, if plotted against the signal frequency, will differ in the following way.
Analogue audio cables are therefore normally driven from a low source impedance (50/100 ohms typically) with a high load impedance at the far end (10k ohm typically). There will be series copper losses and parallel dielectric loss. But signal losses across the baseband audio frequency range should certainly not exceed 1dB on a 100 metre run whatever the construction.
Balanced operation of transmission lines for high quality audio
Despite popular belief, a balanced signal is not necessary for noise rejection. As long as the two circuit impedances are balanced (including the cable), noise will couple equally into the two wires and be rejected by a differential amplifier, regardless of the signal that is present on them.
There are some benefits to driving the line fully differentially, though. The electromagnetic field around a differential line is ideally zero, which reduces crosstalk into adjacent cables. Also, for the same maximum signal level, the output from the differential drivers is twice as much, effectively improving the signal to noise ratio by 6dB.
Most audio cables are screened, and this keeps out the higher radio frequencies, and enables phantom power to be carried. However, telephone lines have always run over vast distances unscreened, and the BBC ran hundreds of metres of unscreened paper insulated cable successfully around Broadcasting House.
Conductors and dielectric
For any practical cable, the performance at all frequencies will improve with increased size, up to the point at which the core (or core to screen) width spacing becomes a significant fraction of the signal wavelength. Inside any screening braid, the ideal dielectric would consist of a vacuum, but practically the need to insulate and accurately space both the inner and outer conductors demands a dielectric material with tough physical and electrical characteristics. Air spacing or gas foaming will improve the electrical characteristics of any solid polymer at the cost of crush resistance, but accurate spacing of the conductors then becomes quite difficult.
For the most demanding applications expanded PTFE is currently the best dielectric, effectively reducing the size of any cable of fixed electrical performance by 20 to 30%, according to a specialist manufacturer of cables using this material, Gore. It is however difficult and hence expensive to produce.
On the conductor side, Gore exploit the ‘skin effect’ frequency dependent reduction of cable performance, by silver plating a resistive core, thus reducing low frequency performance to flatten the overall frequency response. They call this technology ‘Eye-opener+’, presumably from the digital electrical signal eye-diagram improvement produced. The value of these new techniques, and the associated cost, is however only worthwhile as very high digital data rates (e.g. video on coax) are approached.
Summing up therefore:
Analogue audio cables ideally require…
Good impedance balance – for noise rejection on balanced circuits. Essentially a question of preserving the physical symmetry of the cable throughout manufacture, installation, and use.
Low capacitance – 150 pF/m for short runs under 30 metres, down to 40pF/m for runs over 300 metres or where ultimate performance is desired (c/f digital cables).
Low resistance – 0.4mm diameter centre conductor for short runs under 30 metres where ruggedness is not an issue, but 0.65mm or more for runs over 300 metres or where ruggedness is essential.
Low crosstalk between pairs – Foil shields for RF protection, braid shields for low self-noise and protection 1kHz to 50MHz.
Good Physical performance -
Flexibility, including good maintenance of electrical performance after much flexing in use.
Low Self-noise generation. Audio noise can be produced as a side effect of physical deformation of a cable. This physical deformation leads to electrical deformation, particularly in capacitance and balance, hence resulting in signal modification, or conversion of phantom power voltage to audio frequency noise.
Digital cables – best practice requirements
Digital audio cables actually deal with a narrower bandwidth spread (less octaves) of signal frequency signals than for analogue audio. AES/EBU digital audio covers roughly the frequency range from 1.5 to 6MHz at a 48kHz sampling frequency, with a small amount of energy down to 100kHz. Because of the high frequencies, however, we can only treat the cable performance in the same way as analogue up to lengths of 5 metres or so. Cable lengths over 15 metres will start to show different source impedances depending on the length and the frequency presented, unless driven at the physically controlled characteristic impedance of the cable. This is simply the transmission line effect coming into play.
Cable resonances
Apart from frequency dependent losses, once any cable length exceeds several wavelengths at the signal frequency, cables have the potential of exhibiting resonances due to small cyclic physical variations, rather than the bulk transmission line reflected signal resonances caused by poor electrical terminations. A digital signal actually consists of an analogue square wave with a truncated harmonic spectrum. The most important harmonics are the third and fifth harmonics of the signal fundamental, and these are the ones that are most vulnerable to distortion caused by cable resonance. Apart from cable construction cyclic variations, another often worse source of resonance can be produced during installation by neat cable tying at regular lengths.
The significance of cable impedance
The best unbalanced coaxial cable impedances to use in high-power, high-voltage, and low-attenuation applications were experimentally determined in 1929 at Bell Laboratories to be 30, 60, and 77 ohms respectively, and this can be shown mathematically. In the case of balanced cables, these figures translate to 60, 120 and 150 ohms respectively, but higher impedances in screened cables than 110 ohms are rarely seen
High frequency skin effects and conductor design
As the frequency of currents carried on the cable conductors increases, the generated AC magnetic field progressively pushes the slow moving carrier electrons towards the surface of the conductor. The table below gives some idea of the effect on practical wire sizes. This effect produces the fundamental frequency dependent loss of the cable. For this reason, solid centre conductors are therefore normally used for digital cables, although in the case of balanced pair cables carrying AES/EBU digital signal, the excess losses produced by stranded conductors is marginal.
AES/EBU Digital audio twisted-pair cable requires…
Specific impedance 110 ohms – May vary between 88 and 132 and an excellent analogue/digital compromise would be produced using 100 ohms.
Low capacitance – Below 60 pF/m (most AES pairs are 40 pF/m)
Low resistance – Gauge size becomes the major factor due to skin effect. 0.4mm to 0.65mm is most common. 0.65mm can go about 10% farther.
Moderate crosstalk requirements – Only 30dB required (even UTP cables can meet this).
Maximum cable losses – AES/EBU specifications allow for 12dB cable attenuation at 6MHz, compared to the loss at 0.1MHz. This enables a typical run of 300 metres of PVC insulated stranded core cable or even unshielded Cat 5 cable to be easily compensated for.
Frequency dependent cable losses increase as the square root of the frequency, so a system using 192kHz (4 x 48kHz) sampling will in theory only go half as far on any cable as the basic 48k signal.
Using signal recovery techniques (similar to those used in digital video), the ultimate cable length would be limited by the crosstalk to signal ratio, not just by attenuation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cables for digital and analogue audio
https://www.canford.co.uk/TechZone/Article/CablesForDigitalAndAnalogueAudio
By the 1890s, the choice of unbalanced landline operation was called into question for two major reasons. Firstly, unusual interference and landline characteristic changes on the long submarine cables, were guessed to be unknown effects of atmospheric electricity and the geomagnetic field. Interestingly, these mysterious effects motivated many of the early polar expeditions. Secondly, the emerging urban electric power distribution systems, along with traction (rail and tram) systems, all shared earth return circuits with the telegraphs and telephones. This led to the first proper use of twisted pairs, or for long distance telephones, four-wire circuits. Adding loading coils to these long circuits, formed a low-pass filter with peaking characteristics. This could flatten the electrical speech band response so that unamplified telephone calls could be made at distances up to 1000 km. By the 1920′s, vacuum tube ‘repeater’ amplifiers enabled trans US calls to be made on these landline cables.
Analogue cables for high quality audio – best practice requirements
‘Professional’ audio uses twisted conductor two or four wire screened cables. The four conductor cables are used exactly as for two conductors using parallel connection of opposite pairs. The advantage of this four conductor ‘star-quad’ cable comes simply from the symmetrical electrical geometry that gives a better impedance balance between the two signal paths.
In either regime, each of the cable pairs can be seen as a fixed ‘lumped’ capacitance or inductance depending on the receiving load. Typical transmission line impedances are 30 to 70 ohms. As a result, the impedance (as ‘seen’ by the transmitting end) of two 10km open-ended cables, where the only difference between the two cables is the gauge size of the wires, if plotted against the signal frequency, will differ in the following way.
Analogue audio cables are therefore normally driven from a low source impedance (50/100 ohms typically) with a high load impedance at the far end (10k ohm typically). There will be series copper losses and parallel dielectric loss. But signal losses across the baseband audio frequency range should certainly not exceed 1dB on a 100 metre run whatever the construction.
Balanced operation of transmission lines for high quality audio
Despite popular belief, a balanced signal is not necessary for noise rejection. As long as the two circuit impedances are balanced (including the cable), noise will couple equally into the two wires and be rejected by a differential amplifier, regardless of the signal that is present on them.
There are some benefits to driving the line fully differentially, though. The electromagnetic field around a differential line is ideally zero, which reduces crosstalk into adjacent cables. Also, for the same maximum signal level, the output from the differential drivers is twice as much, effectively improving the signal to noise ratio by 6dB.
Most audio cables are screened, and this keeps out the higher radio frequencies, and enables phantom power to be carried. However, telephone lines have always run over vast distances unscreened, and the BBC ran hundreds of metres of unscreened paper insulated cable successfully around Broadcasting House.
Conductors and dielectric
For any practical cable, the performance at all frequencies will improve with increased size, up to the point at which the core (or core to screen) width spacing becomes a significant fraction of the signal wavelength. Inside any screening braid, the ideal dielectric would consist of a vacuum, but practically the need to insulate and accurately space both the inner and outer conductors demands a dielectric material with tough physical and electrical characteristics. Air spacing or gas foaming will improve the electrical characteristics of any solid polymer at the cost of crush resistance, but accurate spacing of the conductors then becomes quite difficult.
For the most demanding applications expanded PTFE is currently the best dielectric, effectively reducing the size of any cable of fixed electrical performance by 20 to 30%, according to a specialist manufacturer of cables using this material, Gore. It is however difficult and hence expensive to produce.
On the conductor side, Gore exploit the ‘skin effect’ frequency dependent reduction of cable performance, by silver plating a resistive core, thus reducing low frequency performance to flatten the overall frequency response. They call this technology ‘Eye-opener+’, presumably from the digital electrical signal eye-diagram improvement produced. The value of these new techniques, and the associated cost, is however only worthwhile as very high digital data rates (e.g. video on coax) are approached.
Summing up therefore:
Analogue audio cables ideally require…
Good impedance balance – for noise rejection on balanced circuits. Essentially a question of preserving the physical symmetry of the cable throughout manufacture, installation, and use.
Low capacitance – 150 pF/m for short runs under 30 metres, down to 40pF/m for runs over 300 metres or where ultimate performance is desired (c/f digital cables).
Low resistance – 0.4mm diameter centre conductor for short runs under 30 metres where ruggedness is not an issue, but 0.65mm or more for runs over 300 metres or where ruggedness is essential.
Low crosstalk between pairs – Foil shields for RF protection, braid shields for low self-noise and protection 1kHz to 50MHz.
Good Physical performance -
Flexibility, including good maintenance of electrical performance after much flexing in use.
Low Self-noise generation. Audio noise can be produced as a side effect of physical deformation of a cable. This physical deformation leads to electrical deformation, particularly in capacitance and balance, hence resulting in signal modification, or conversion of phantom power voltage to audio frequency noise.
Digital cables – best practice requirements
Digital audio cables actually deal with a narrower bandwidth spread (less octaves) of signal frequency signals than for analogue audio. AES/EBU digital audio covers roughly the frequency range from 1.5 to 6MHz at a 48kHz sampling frequency, with a small amount of energy down to 100kHz. Because of the high frequencies, however, we can only treat the cable performance in the same way as analogue up to lengths of 5 metres or so. Cable lengths over 15 metres will start to show different source impedances depending on the length and the frequency presented, unless driven at the physically controlled characteristic impedance of the cable. This is simply the transmission line effect coming into play.
Cable resonances
Apart from frequency dependent losses, once any cable length exceeds several wavelengths at the signal frequency, cables have the potential of exhibiting resonances due to small cyclic physical variations, rather than the bulk transmission line reflected signal resonances caused by poor electrical terminations. A digital signal actually consists of an analogue square wave with a truncated harmonic spectrum. The most important harmonics are the third and fifth harmonics of the signal fundamental, and these are the ones that are most vulnerable to distortion caused by cable resonance. Apart from cable construction cyclic variations, another often worse source of resonance can be produced during installation by neat cable tying at regular lengths.
The significance of cable impedance
The best unbalanced coaxial cable impedances to use in high-power, high-voltage, and low-attenuation applications were experimentally determined in 1929 at Bell Laboratories to be 30, 60, and 77 ohms respectively, and this can be shown mathematically. In the case of balanced cables, these figures translate to 60, 120 and 150 ohms respectively, but higher impedances in screened cables than 110 ohms are rarely seen
High frequency skin effects and conductor design
As the frequency of currents carried on the cable conductors increases, the generated AC magnetic field progressively pushes the slow moving carrier electrons towards the surface of the conductor. The table below gives some idea of the effect on practical wire sizes. This effect produces the fundamental frequency dependent loss of the cable. For this reason, solid centre conductors are therefore normally used for digital cables, although in the case of balanced pair cables carrying AES/EBU digital signal, the excess losses produced by stranded conductors is marginal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Balanced_line
A balanced line allows a differential receiver to reduce the noise on a connection by rejecting common-mode interference. The lines have the same impedance to ground, so the interfering fields or currents induce the same voltage in both wires.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intro to Wire types Part 2: Digital, Coax, CAT, Snake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r64sfUaW1RQ
Digital audio cable for AES3 or AES/EBU is similar to mic cable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Ridiculous Chonky Power Cord
https://youtu.be/VlJhTeoEECY
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interesting video about loudspeaker cables which proves beyond doubt that these cables, if terminated well, do not make any difference to the sound quality.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf3Yez8WTz4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Understanding Grounding in Audio
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f2soKg9JAUA
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hifi amp comments:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DIYAudio/permalink/4177839518948529/
Does class A have sonic benifets that don’t clearly relate to measurements?
Yes and no. You can measure clean sound by thd.
You can’t measure warmth and liquidity of sound
Class A inherently sounds better, but a good Class A/B can sound better than a bad Class A. There exists no clear correlation between measurements and perception of sound quality.
Subjective, they both have advantages.
There different harmonic structures between Class A, A/B and then add push-pull to the mix. Trust your ears.
I have never read a scientific paper explaining a 100% correlation between measurements and listening impressions.
in fact, it does not exist: we have some correlation elements, but they are very vague
The current measurements tell everything. In theoretically THD is less in Class A compare with others. So the sound quality is better but human ears can’t recognize the difference of class. The main moto is listening music not class.
I presume that you are discussing class a power output stages. Otherwise, unless your system is transformer balanced push pull from input to output, there are class a gain stages everywhere. As for class a power to drive a speaker, yes, you will probably not be slamming a hundred watts unless you are using either commercial RF power tubes or lots of silicon (or SiC) as your output stage continuous dissipation will be up to twice what you are putting into the speaker. However a well designed modestly powerful amp will inherently have lower THD than any type push pull stage. See the Wikipedia article on Power Amplifier Classes.
Nelson Pass makes a lovely single FET class a power amp. He originally designed it just to prove it can be done. Now it is part of his product line.
Pro/Car audio went class D decades ago.
You can’t isolate the word “class A” as the only thing that makes a product sound a certain way, good or bad. To say you prefer Class A over other designs is like saying you prefer certain type of wood for cabinets without considering the drivers. Class A is a design spec but in no way guarantees superior sound. That is in the circuit design and components, not only the “class” of operation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nope. In fact class A is often worse because it’s very limited in its power output and it’s often accompanied by low feedback designs which are always higher distortion than higher feedback designs.
Quality of components (transformers / tubes etc..) have more impact on sound “quality” than biassing. This is why class A amplifiers were highly rated, they were simply better built all around. Quality always has a price tag.
If it is not measurable you should wonder what is wrong with your measurements or with the interpretation of your measurements…….
We can all believe what we want to. I do not think that there is one answer for this. There are very high efficiency speakers that sound best with class A and low efficiency speakers that sound „challenged“ with class A. Is the reason the amplifier? In my world no. Everything counts and I do not believe that there is sonic bliss in class D amplifiers. It can be very good in the right context, but certainly not „reference“. Does that mean that class D is the problem? Certainly not. Just like there are huge differences in different models of class A amplifiers,
There is no common denominator attached to one parameter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quieter AC Power Cable For Digital Audio Components
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1E7Olxsocw
Quiet AC Power Cord Part(s) List
AC Connectors: https://amzn.to/3foEqCb
Mogami W3104: https://ebay.us/b7fXP8
Soundwire 12AWG Stranded Ground Cable: Best Place to buy is Home Depot (U.S)
Copper Shield: https://amzn.to/3bxQtMh
5/8” (16mm) Braided Nylon Sleeving: https://ebay.us/avFyUY
Ferrite Core(Mix): https://amzn.to/3fnl0gV , 13MM: https://amzn.to/3ycLdaF
16mm 4:1 Heat Shrink Tubing: https://amzn.to/3ygxOhH
Heat Gun: https://amzn.to/3eWr4ha
Tomi Engdahl says:
There were tubes before solidstate discrete components. There were discrete components before ICs (opamps). Now there are digital components replacing analog ICs. This is the natural historical progression of technology over decades. Older technology is not necessarily better or worse sounding. It just has mojo, nostalgia and romance. Clearly all the different technologies can and do coexist today. How one applies all the different methods is where the magic is.
Tubes are discrete components
Digital has less random and more predictable outcome
It’s a sound for sure
It’s what you do with all of the mixtures of topologies and daw that counts really
Sometimes I see continuations that Surprise me
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audiophile Grade Power Cables, Easy DIY AC Power Cords
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtAD6u-uaAw
IEC & Main Connectors Must installed In Correct Polarity.
Failure to do so can result in Component Failure or Severe Electrical Shock. You Are Responsible For Your Own Safety.
Video comments:
Again, very useful and this will save me from the most common audio snake oil. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for showing a correctly shielded (shield connected to ground on ONE end) power cable.
I want to thank you for sharing the info , this is invaluable information for those like me that want quality but cannot afford to pay the high prices that rich people do
I don’t think there are “audiophile grade power cords” technically, like there are no “gaming” motherboards.
But I love the appearance of your DIY cable.
The plugs look great. Thing is, I get it with interconnects and speakers but don’t tells us you need this or u will have problems. This is nothing, unless you have your entire house wired with this instead of the 12 or 14/2 wire windings through your entire house before it reaches your outlets. Looks good though.
Wire geometry is a big factor in reducing capacitance and induction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Upgrade power cables or audio cables first?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilz6ML8IWgY
Power Cables Make Difference in Sound?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSvr5e5aamM
Tomi Engdahl says:
Secrets of High-end Audio Cables: How to choose / make them budget-minded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91cCufCB9JQ
In this video we explore the main aspects of high quality audio cables, highlighting the best materials and brands in order to buy or create your own high-end audiophile cables without spending a fortune!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can Analog Distortion be Hi-Fi?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTYc7vZuM-c
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making High Quality Speaker Cables with Canare 4S11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snLExbyIJto
I kept on using Left & Right in this video while I was making the cables, what I meant to say is right = positive (red) and left = negative (white) in correct terms.
Sorry if I confused you, thanks again.
DIY Speaker Cables – How to Build Your Own High Quality Speaker Wire (w/t Canare 4S11 Made in Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9V095ChQ_Y
How do you make speaker wire cables for around $60-$70 that can rival cables costing hundreds of dollars?
Tomi Engdahl says:
$30 Audiophile Grade RCA Interconnects, DIY Better Sounding High Quality Cables
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0IABhWCMA
How to make 1000 $ Sounding audiophile highend RCA interconnect cable for 30 $ !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIalYQenAdc
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Make a high quality power cable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd25JfNB_nM
In this video I used 1,5 meters of ViaBlue X-25 € 18.95 p/m. All other components are available at Chinese websites for very low prices. in the end you will have a very good cable for a very good price.
Video comments:
Very nice work. Excellent result. Does the sheath do anything other than make it look nice?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Making a 5000 dollar power cable, easy how to guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3w4ciYyUk4
I consider this standard of cable a necessary tool for listening to a piece of good equipment.
It can make your amplifier sound like a 100 dollar or 5000 dollar amplifier depending on how good you are at mastering the craft.
These are the tricks i discovered testing several thousands of cables.
Remember that power cables are the most important cables in your system.
I recommend a really good one on your powerbar, amp, streamer, DAC (in that order)
Tomi Engdahl says:
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HI-END POWER CABLE: The fundamental role of power cables in amplification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlQXmQlBaVA
This video highlights the importance of high quality power cables in powering pre-amps and amplifiers/receivers. In the second part of the video we learn how to make our own high quality power cord!
Video comments:
ATTENTION!: If you want a safe cable you should connect the GROUND to the external SHIELD/braid. This will avoid electric shock.
I prefer silver to gold, but silvered items are more expensive. Strange, because gold has more value per weight.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Power cord termination with Furutech FP 209 spades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlbS6-3EfgE
Terminating large gauge power cord with Furutech’s FP-209 spades and Furutech’s FI-50 NCF connectors
Tomi Engdahl says:
This looks like snake oil:
Furutech NCF Booster-Brace-Single
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXDEoiEx4A
Furutech’s NCF Booster-Brace-Single is a connector supporter and resonance noise eliminator.
https://www.furutech.com/2020/01/06/19155/
FEATURES
Nano Crystal² Formula (NCF).
Incorporated into selected Furutech products, NCF features a special crystalline material that has two ‘active’ properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far infrared. Furutech combines this remarkable material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional ‘piezoelectric effect’ damping properties. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material. Created by Furutech, it is found exclusively in Furutech products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to assemble a LoRad cord set with basic tools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oeUmZKtW0s
How to assemble a LoRad cord set with basic tools. A step by step tutorial.
Supra Cables made in Sweden.
Supra lorad silver powercable. Lorad silver stroomkabel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOJCb5cTc64
VOORDELIG AANKOPEN – Supra LoRad power Cord Sets – pre-connected met Supra LoRad 24K gold plated connectors
Tomi Engdahl says:
Part 3 Hear Sound Loss in Speaker Cable. Part 3 of 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRcAcsDFmgY
Part 3 of 4. Dave Rat has come up with a simple method to hear the loss in speaker cables.
In this part 3 Dave Rat will test and you can hear the difference between twisted THHN vs install grade coiled vs uncoiled vs Romex coiled vs uncoiled vs twisted THHN vs flat wire coiled vs uncoiled
Tomi Engdahl says:
How do Power Cables work? – Demo Shunyata Research – Hifi Studio Wilbert Utrecht
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2yKdd4WYI
How does power work? And how do Power Cables Influence the performance of a system? We filmed the presentation of Shunyata Research at Hifi Studio Wilbert in Utrecht – The Netherlands
Shunyata Research Venom 14 Digital power cord demonstration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2SAj7aKXGo
A demo showing the impact of the Shunyata Research Venom 14 Digital power cord and its noise suppression capabiility.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interconnect Cables, More Money The Better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FoWfFxhVJQ
6:38 “Honesty is the last thing you will find in this industry” Amen!!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Furutech FI-50 NCF $380 AC plug – TRUTH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNYTUoHp5_M
I seek the truth on the FI-50 NCF plug because its so dang expensive, and some of my clients are adamant that they be used even though it adds $800 to the cost of the cable. If I can save them $800 on plugs they can buy another cable instead.
NCF = Nano Crystal Formula
Video oomments:
Give me a break… more snake oil for the dumbest of audiophiles in this hobby. I have a plug that’s made out of bamboonium and is filled with ferrite which has zero resistance and only cost $570.
Looking forward to it, I’m betting it’s the Hospital Grade connector that works better.
I use Furutech FI-28M R Male AC / Furutech FI-28 R IEC connectors and Furutech FI-28M G Male AC / Furutech FI-28 G IEC connectors… Both are great sounding connectors.
Yes, they are great, I am trying to see how much if any audible difference there is .. There should be ..
The truth is never found when one lies to ones self .
Sensible people DON”T think that the connectors make a powercord.
Connected with high quality cable, like Furutech FP So 32N, these plugs make a hell of a cord though.
And I know, cause I spend two weeks comparing different Furutech cables and plugs.
The FI-50 really does make a difference. However, if it’s worth the price, everybode has to dicide for themself.
so for any of this to matter, one would have to assume that the miles of cable and termination points that ultimately bring the power to your home are completely irrelevant ??? only the last four feet matter ?? roflmfao !!!!!!!!
Dude. Are you for real ? How much easier could it be to understand. You filter the last 5 feet and clear the crap out. Lol. Like we are dumb asses that dont consider what leads to the house. Some of us buy our own transformer and put it in the yard. Bottom line is normal house AC is dirty.
I really dig your vibe. OCD for sure but backed up with logical science and reasoning. Everything you do you explain it and then back it up with a demo to prove it. I know empirically it’s hard to show with numbers and measurements but it still makes sense to me.
blindfolded you cannot tell the difference standard cord
Oh you have just not heard a good cable yet. Its so clear its night and day difference. Ill bet you could even tell if you were outside the room with the door cracked. There are a few vids in my library that show the clear difference.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a Tube Amp! Does it produce better audio quality though? EB#47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoSIzgvEGtA
In this video I will be having a closer look at a commercial vacuum tube amplifier aka a tube amp. I will show you how such vacuum tubes works and how to create a simple class A amplifier with them. At the end I will then show you why some people still like using them even 100 years after their invention, even though they offer lots of disadvantages.