Cable Pathways Between Audio Components Can Affect Perceived Sound Quality

[Kal Rubinson]

11 minutes ago, idiot_savant said:

I don’t think he says which is which, though…

 

Theres also a balanced/unbalanced issue, not really clear. 

Pretty clear:

"(A) a Straight-Wire Virtuoso higher-end (retail price ~$500 for 0.5 m) 0.5 m long balanced XLR-to-XLR cable with polytetrafluoroethylene insulation and (B) a MonsterCable11 Interlink 400 entry-level (retail price ~$50 for 2 m) 2 m long RCA-to-RCA cable with polyethylene insulation."

[Kal Rubinson]

28 minutes ago, Archimago said:

Is this seriously new knowledge, or a slow day at the lab? 

I am not sure of either.  

29 minutes ago, Archimago said:

The part about the "phonemic-restoration" in musicians is interesting though.

Yes.  I found the introduction and the discussion more interesting than the experiment, such as it is.

[Kal Rubinson]

7 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

He had to prove to the wife that the $500 was money well spent? I have a few sets of balanced cables 2m long (star quad and regular twisted pair) all costing within the $50 mark that I could have loaned to the investigator.

He made a number of choices and comments that should be inappropriate in a "scientific" publication. 

[Kal Rubinson]

12 hours ago, botrytis said:

Frank that paper, putting it bluntly, isn't worth the paper it was written on. Many scholars do make their names, early on, but then they just slide on their reputations, rather than actually doing anything worthy. I have seen this many times in my career. 

 

No squirming - just a fact.

That is not uncommon but nor is a more relevant issue.  Kunchar's training and previous experience is in an entirely different academic area.  He is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy and his main field of endeavor is in " in superconducting nanowires and thin films."  In this audio stuff, those credentials are not particularly relevant.

[Kal Rubinson]

21 minutes ago, botrytis said:

Well, Just because a person's ORIGNAL expertise is not in audio, does not mean they can't work and get expertise in that area.

Of course.  Training and expertise in one area of science can allow one more easily to "get expertise" in another but that is not assured.  I do not see that Kunchar has successfully applied basic scientific principles to this audio work.

[Kal Rubinson]

5 hours ago, botrytis said:

Not really. Some great technology comes out of people who have no training in a particular area. We tend to pidgeonhole people rather than allow them to fail. Failing is a learning process. If one doesn't fail, how can one succeed at anything?

I don't know why you keep at this since we are not disagreeing.  I said that "Training and expertise in one area of science can allow one more easily to "get expertise" in another" but that is not assured. (Emphasis added.)

5 hours ago, botrytis said:

I think the Kunchar paper, shows exactly what I was saying, based on name rather then innovation or tech. That paper should have never been published.

Again, I agree.