I had the absolute worst experience with the Cable Company. The worst most condescending attitude I've ever experienced. Guy basically said that I wasn't worth his time because he sells equipment to people who buys tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear and my order was below him. Yeah, no thanks.
I'll always remember, it was about 23 years ago, we moved to a new place, was very disappointed with the sound. One weekend when my wife was at her moms for the weekend, I decided to move the speakers to where they should be, completely disregarding the living space and the sound just opened up. Not wanting to bother with spades I had used my cheap cables with banana plugs, I kept telling myself how incredible it will sound once I hook up my crazy expensive siltech cables. Well, I came to the conclusion that weekend that cables are mostly tuning devices and if your room is good you're ok with good ordinary neutral cables. Actually it was more an wakening from denial, because I had two similar experiences in the pass, but I was to indoctrinated to wake up.
Before I settled on my preferred cables I used to hand over my credit card as assurity and trial cables of ever kind. In my experience cables can produce tremendous differences but you must be aware that cables need time to run in and some need much more time than others. I've noticed changes after 100 hrs and some cables require longer than that.
@@sportsfanivosevic9885 Yes, the break in. When a new room is built and there is no furniture anything, we have problems hearing each other talk, but the brain slowly adjust and after a while we hear just fine. I guess in hi fi we could say this is breaking in the room, but we cannot return a room for refund, therefore there is no use for this term.
@@khoi83 You don't pair a $3500 speaker with a $150.000.00 amplifier and claim this is an honest review, hopefully you aree but if you don't then GOD help you. OCD says beware the bullshit that is given to you by the HIFI press, I will add RU-vidrs to that!
Hey Mikey ! Man, you really made me wanna visit Italy 🇮🇹 Some of the footages of old places brought back some memories when I was growing up in Poland. You have a very healthy outlook on this hobby, showing us that there more to life than auditioning countless gear, looking a unicorn. I love when you discuss other things, like when you mentioning riding bikes, food, clothing - do more stuff like that.
I think this is a reasonable question: why the AQ demo setup did not include the second pair of the same Elac speakers with $57 cables and A/B switch to DEMO the difference?
I have an inbuilt radar that detects marketing hype, but glad Mikey is educating those who haven't yet built one! For comparison, the opposite of marketing hype would be Teac, which simply states a long list of custom components they pack into their multifunctional transport/streamer/Dac/headphone amp/preamp units.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt Those Teac custom components include the CD transport, a discrete dac, the volume control and buffer, internal clock, etc, those are hardly "no difference" components. Compare and contrast to Audioquest.
The truth lies somewhere in-between. I’m willing to see the Elac/Audioquest pairing as a fun demo to show that an average speaker can sound better than average with high-end cables - not that anyone would put together a system like that in real life and not to fool potential buyers. Conversely, putting mediocre cables in a high-end system is just as ridiculous. I say that from experience. I own a high-end system and can clearly hear a significant improvement in musicality and emotional engagement from better cables.
You are right in one context and wrong in another. Spending more money, doesn't automatically equate to better sound from the same speaker. But using higher quality conductors can definitely change the way a speaker presents a sound stage. Better grade copper with a high grade di-electric will for sure without a doubt will make the same speaker sound better. I've done 12 years of testing on one system. Better wire on my system makes for quicker attack, longer decay, and more negative space around each instrument, thus a larger sound stage. Also, power cable upgrades makes for greater dynamics and louder volume. However, using a too large awg power cable can hurt the dynamics and reduce the power output. There's actually a sweet spot with regard to wire gauge and length. I did find that interconnect cables make more of a difference than speaker cables. Power cable upgrades just make the differences in interconnects and speaker wire more apparent. At least on my system, anyways. But I use Class A amplification, tubes, and A biased AB amplifiers as well as OpAmps in my DSP. Fully active quad amp system.
Lol. I founded VERASTARR cables 24 years ago and have a USA audio cable design patent. I'm very aware of what cables do. $5700 speaker cables on $350 speakers at a show is a dirty trick.. do you agree ?
@@OCDHIFiGuy It’s a dirty trick if it’s not disclosed. Isn’t there always a complete list of gear and pricing at shows? I know for sure there are hidden high tech devices that remain a secret🤐in some instances. I think that scenario is worse if it’s the case. I believe that without spending $5700, one could get equivalent quality wiring for much less cost. I do understand that there’s tremendous market up on cables and selling cables allows for profits. In today’s world, I also realize that it’s extremely difficult just selling only gear with marginal markups, so they have to do something to survive. Imagine what the world would be like if so many audio manufacturers went out of business because of lack of lucrative incentives. We probably wouldn’t be able to have our wonderful hobby. 🤔
Diminishing returns aside, did they make them sound better? I’d imagine it was incremental at best. High end cable companies biggest challenge is convincing people that their expensive cables improve sound vs cheaper alternatives. Once they “prove” (haha) this, it’s easy to sell even their lesser priced cables. They’re striving for their potential customers to say “if it improved those, what would it do to mine?” Personally, I don’t mind spending a few thousand for incremental improvements and they most of their customer base feels the same, so they target that group. Where it gets unethical is where people spend money they shouldn’t be spending on promises the changes are greater than they actually are. Companies feed off of people that need those serotonin spikes from making purchases.
If someone is a cable believer, in my view they'd be best placed to consider them as analogous to tyres on a car. They are the icing on the cake of a good system,but certainly not the biggest source of problems requiring marketed/pseudo scientific "solutions ".
Mark Levinson also favoured Litz silver in the past for years. But now he can correct the sound digitally with the Maria amp to sound similar to silver, with using a plain copper. But I dont care about class D trickery in the first place. After You have your dream speaker amp dac, than you will upgrade power conditioner and cables. Nobody will use wallmart occ on highend flagship equipment.
That elac would sound way better on cardas/clear/maybe beyond. My thunderbird zero is for sale. Cardas has way better balance/detail/impact. Thunderbird works if you need more bloom on a lower resolution system.
Arrrr, Mikey is back!!! Where did you go brother🤔 You got all soft, gooey and squishy there for a while, although I don't mind that side as well mate.👍🎧😅
I'm starting to not give a shit any more Shane. The brands I rep are selling well, the tribe is expanding and I can basically ignore the industry. So I only post when my subs send me material, like this one ! ;-)
Shit Stefano !! I would have LOVED to hang out !! I just left this AM !! In Florence now. Maybe next time !! Contact me via what's app and I'll put you in my travel list.. Phone number is at 11stereo.com
Ayre power cable vs audioquest hurricane variable current into my L5xe power distribution transformed my system. Better bass and clarity in a relaxing way. Ayre should bring back their power cables. I'm lucky enough to have argento flow/master reference pcs on the way but they will be judged against Ayre pcs!
Argento flow 2m pc 4600, flow master reference 2m pc 9200. I only purchased because Ayre pc unavailable. Ayre pc is many times the cable of audioquest.
Not just speakers cables, dont forget the overpriced power cables these companies push. I find it ridiculous when I hear someone bought a very expensive power cable and then plug it into a power outlet that gets fed from the cheap home depot romex behind the wall.😂
It’s one thing to hear about. And it’s another thing to hear. So many people on RU-vid speculate about these things without having any personal experience. I own a high-end system and can clearly hear a significant improvement from high-end power cables. Your reflexive response may be “snake oil” or “placebo effect”. But it doesn’t matter to me because I can clearly hear the improvement with my own ears. Of course, I also have an excellent power conditioner, an Audience aR2p-T4 Adept Response. Without a good power conditioner, a high-end power cord is a case of diminishing returns.
Your right ....why put a good power cord that's filters noise from the miles romex and is Thicker with a lower guage that allows more instantaneous current for a amplifier similar to why filter tap water to drink when all the water travels through that dirty ,corroded pipes....the water filter at the end will make no difference....😂😂😂
@stereo-nomad you just got schooled. Power cords filter the last 5 feet before the gear, and it's the one most significant change. My point was it's a hustle for me to wire a cheap system with world class cables at a show.
"No other component engenders more controversy than aftermarket power cords. Traditionalists will often wonder what difference a power cord can make when the electricity has traveled through miles of electric lines to get to your wall outlet. The real question to be asked is, “what kind of damage does your audio component sustain by using a standard small gauge power cord?” The answer to that question is, “plenty”. By their very design, stock power cords impede transients, radiate electromagnetic noise and resist the smooth flow of electricity between the component and the electrical source. More often than not, they are “reactive” meaning that their design introduces capacitance, inductance and resistance into the electron flow which will compromise the interface between the component and the power source creating systemic noise and loss of performance. In addition, they often act as antennas in their ability to attract radio frequencies. As one can see, the innocuous looking power cord can introduce major distortion in an audio system. Another way to look at the power cord is to reverse the traditional view. Rather than the last few feet in a long line of power delivery, the power cord is the first few feet of your component’s primary transformer winding. Viewed this way, the power cord assumes an all-important and essential part in preserving the performance or your system. Audience power cords eliminate the damaging choke point that is represented by the stock power cord. Not all electronic phenomena are understood by conventional science or revealed through existing test procedures. The superior sonic enhancement of a good high performance audio/video power cord is no exception. While aftermarket power cords are a most controversial subject, the improvements they offer are also the most easily demonstrated. In many systems going from a stock power cord to a high quality cord designed for audio/video playback can be nothing short of transformational." - Audience-AV
Coincidently got an e-mail from a prof friend of my that does sabbaticals to Italy for research every summer between teaching at a U on Antiquities, made me think of you sitting there! "If one could vaporize the tourists (horrible hordes), Italy would be wonderful. ... Sic transit gloria mundi." 🙂
@@OCDHIFiGuy Here's the rest of her comment! "As long as I stick to my route on the edges of town, it is pretty wonderful. The archivisti are always happy to see me. Any place mentioned by Rick Steves has been overrun and the staff are usually quite rude to Americans."
$5700 Speaker cables on $350 speakers !! LOL Munich HIGH END '24. Thats no worse than a $20,000 dac on $700 Magnepans!! LOL! After buying dac, had little money left for speakers! Just kidding. Actually thats a great setup! This is truth. Friend gave me $50 Monster Cables that was 10 times worse than any $1 dvd connectors that I ever used.
Yes cables make differences. But one needs to be coherent. The guy who puts Lamborghini tires on his Toyota Yaris believing that his car is going to go much faster is dreaming. Same here. 5,700$ cables on 350$ speakers is totally useless. When 350$ cables on 5,700$ speakers could make sense. You’re talking about Mark Levinson but have you seen any videos on Nelson Pass in his home ? He doesn’t have any thousand of dollars power cords, everything go straight to the wall with the original cords and his speakers cables look the same as lamp cables. These two genius know perfectly well that if you need a cable to improve your speakers then there is a problem with your speakers.
I think you can still buy MD 20/20, Night Train, as well as Thunderbird, (20% fortified "wines")but you know that Thunderbird is not for your common wino, but for your tasteful discriminating wino snob, who can be face down in the gutter but...still looking down on the world. Challenge, double-blind test on any BS wire". Watch out for that pasta, eating any regional specialties, if so wanna know
