charlesphoto

Is there anything at all you can't be negative about? All I see listed under your audio system is 'electronics.' Have you ever tried ANYTHING that gets discussed on this site? Or are you just comfortable playing the role of denier? Because FYI the one liner denunciations of anybody else's first hand experiences has gotten to be extremely old (to the point of one foot in the grave). Say something positive for once please. Back on my ignore list.

I just went from 90db floor standers to 86db stand mounts. My Naim amp is 35 watts, and plays nicely with them, though low level listening suffers some. Ironically, with less watts that's where you might notice it most. In other words, once I get it up to a good loud listening volume it's fine, but kind of understated, and not as impactful at lower volumes as my floor standers were with the same amp. But Cambridge watts aren't Naim watts, and so it may struggle comparatively (for example, my ears will clip before my little 35 watt amp does). And like I said, it's not just about how loud you can play it, but how well it sorts the music - mine can fall apart a bit on really busy pieces sometimes - and how it controls the bass. But I would try it first of course, though if 6 ohms might be a stretch. Great price on those Elacs.

Th reality is there are no pyschoacoustics or ear/hearing specialists on here. I think that might have a lot more to do with the difference in sounds we hear than electrical engineers. For example, tinnitus can be caused by many different things (not just too much loud sound). And some of the reasons are not understood and/or not fully explored. So are people just imagining their tinnitus? I know I'm sure not. So let's not discount physiology in this equation. Our ears and brains are actually the 'endpoint.'

@zacho Did you JSSG the VH Cu21 cable? Been curious about trying that wire myself.

My sentiments exactly @Blackmorec Just watch your forehead - there’s only so much blood one can/should lose with the ‘bricks’ on here.

My parents dealt with the likes of him at their old country property. The new neighbors who bought the land next door, got all bent out of shape over the fact that the survey at the top was off by about a 2 X 20 foot strip, and my folks had accidentally built 15 years earlier their water tanks over it. Really a nothing burger, and my parents offered to settle for pro-rate (about $12k I believe) as they really didn't want to move these water tanks and it was obviously an unused spot beyond that on the corner of the property. Easily dealt with in a neighborly way. Long story short, these people wouldn't settle, and at the end of the day they lost, and lost probably about $45k in lawyers fees, surveyors, air photography, etc. (My folks about $10- 15K sadly). This was before the people had even built anyhting- by the time my parents sold four years later (in large part due to these people) they still hadn't built anything beyond plopping down an ugly septic that was an eyesore. This is beautiful, west facing San Juan Island sea side, but nothing could make these people happy. Nice neighbors to have in paradise, let me tell you. All to prove a worthless point over a grandfathered mistake.

No certification for DonaldT - too far out of spec!

Right here on another thread.

I think you're reading too much into it. No cabling I've added to my system has 'changed' the sound in a way a different DAC or set of speakers might, it just takes what's there and makes it come through better, therefore more bass, details, etc. But the nature of my DAC onwards (or streamer if we're talking ethernet cable and optical isolation) is still the same. Like applying a sharpening filter in Photoshop. You're not changing anything else (color balance, gradation, etc), just making what's there come through better. Now whether it's worth the hyperbole or the cost is up for argument, but the fact that wire quality, geometry, and connections can make at least subtle sound changes in digital audio transmission isn't, imo.

Exactly. Last I checked I've never listened to my printer (i do wish it were quieter sometimes). And as long as the data gets there, the printer head takes over. I can change the paper, the software parameters, etc. but not much I can do to that head. Black is black. I always wondered about a better cable to my monitor, but it uses LUTS for calibration, so theoretically it will calibrate to the perfect colors, no special cable needed. And just because a cable is special (ie military or space spec) doesn't mean it will sound good for audio.

I will say the differences I've heard with my DAC V1 in the very few USB cables I tried was minimal. The DAC V1 uses a very good Audiophilio designed async input and theoretically should clean up most anything. I just like the Uptone USPCB for it's form factor, price, and it did sound better than the $60 Atlas I was using before (that I convinced myself was marginally better than a free printer cable). I've heard bigger differences with ethernet cables, AC cables somewhat, but not enough to really care beyond them being good. DC cables between power supply and renderer considerably more difference heard.

Perhaps the use of the term 'enhanced' is where the confusion comes in. Perhaps 'different' is better. The data has to be 'pushed' so to speak from one point to another with electricity. That electricity picks up contamination, or 'noise,' which then needs to be ameliorated before entering the analog domain, or it will be passed right along with it. I will argue adamantly that good switches or optical isolation devices (and good power supplies for them if needed) will go a lot farther in cleaning up the signal then some fancy uber expensive cable can. But it does have to do with the 'noise' rejection geometry and material properties used that can make a sound difference. I've heard cheap, or wrong, cables 'muddy the waters' so to speak, and this can even be pretty far down the chain. But I'm just a layman so what do I know/hear? I do think hearing is a complex sense (perhaps the most) and can't be discounted from what we know scientifically about audio, and what we hear but don't actually understand - yet. If you read speculative fiction like Liu Cixin, the future, and interstellar travel esp, will be all about mastering physics way beyond where where we're at today (like toddlers). But we're all so mired in our human muck, it will take us longer than other alien civilizations might (I highly recommend his Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy). One has to be rigid about the science, but the importance of science is also to imagine beyond what we already know, and we shouldn't lose sight of that. So a middle ground perhaps?

The noise is on the signal.... and doesn't that signal carry on into your DAC? And the sound could be potentially 'shaped, tuned, whatever' by the cable? I think this is what I said - never have I thought that data would be affected by the signal transmission, but that the sound would.

Again and again we've discussed how digital information is carried by electricity (analog if you will) to where it needs to go. Therefore, the quality of wire, connectors, etc will have an impact on the sound due to the nature of the electrical 'stream' (just as in AC power cords), not the nature of the ones and zeros being carried by such. Now whether YOU can hear the difference between cables is up to YOU. But obviously they do change/tune/sculpt the sound or there wouldn't be such a huge industry surrounding them. Of course, everybody's values will be different. I put in an Uptone USPCB for $35 in the back of my V1 and have never looked back, and feel no need for a more expensive or 'better' USB cable as the Uptone one sounded better than the generic or $70 hifi one I had before.

I sincerely apologize then. Reminder to not listen to the news while commenting on an audio site.