Monster cable vs coat hangers. Who won?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Monster cable vs coat hangers. Who won?

jarledb

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#136448 27-Nov-2013 11:10

Pretty interesting article. In a blind test several audio buffs were unable to tell the difference between Monster Cables and coat hangers:
http://gizmodo.com/363154/audiophile-deathmatch-monster-cables-vs-a-coat-hanger

I have to admit I am not very surprised. Mind you, some amplifiers might have a problem with coat hangers and the resistance in them. But with normal speaker cables the differences between cables really shouldn't make a difference to a normal amplifier.

The whole story:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/general-av-discussions/2512-speakers%3B-when-good-enough-enough-3.html#post15412

Now this is a rather brilliant post about Hi-Fi think (and provides some background on the guy posting about the experiment):
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/general-av-discussions/2512-speakers%3B-when-good-enough-enough-4.html#post15419

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#941679 27-Nov-2013 12:34

In my opinion super expensive cables aren't necessary however I was a bit surprised when I bought my first set of hi-fi book shelf speakers and connected them to the crummy old Sony HT amp I had at the time using thin cables that I had been using with little satellite speakers. They didn't sound that great, the next day I went and bought some $3/Meter fairly chunky OFC speaker cable and the difference was like night and day.

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Klipspringer

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#941703 27-Nov-2013 13:22

I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Installing fancy oxygen-free monster cables would not have made any difference IMO. The gauge of the wire is probably the most important factor to consider.

TinyTim

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#941704 27-Nov-2013 13:22

Hmm... when I bought my stereo probably nearly fifteen years ago, we bought expensive speaker cables. The stereo was what you'd probably describe as high-end mass produced - $1000+ per component. We went to a lot of effort to get both it and the room set up well, and we could certainly hear the difference between different (expensive) speaker cables.

However now we have moved a few times and we have never bothered to set it up properly again. I would bet that any differences wouldn't be so clear - overwhelmed by a poor set up and perhaps by gear that doesn't sound as good as it did when new.

johnr

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#941710 27-Nov-2013 13:28

Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

ilovemusic

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#941720 27-Nov-2013 13:41

oxygen free copper is a myth.

as soon as it encounters the atmosphere it starts to oxidise, hence some companies are developing carbon based next generation cables.

as to whether there is an audible difference...

it depends.

:)

Klipspringer

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#941727 27-Nov-2013 13:45

johnr:
Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

Not at all.

I have a pair Infinity 6x9's, 330 watt, 2 ohm in the rear. After installing them I originally wired them to the existing factory wiring. They sounded good but not great. I then replaced the speaker wire and their true performance was release. :-)

ubergeeknz

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#941728 27-Nov-2013 13:47

johnr:
Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

At this level it would make a difference. The wiring installed in cars is pretty thin and not of great quality, the resistance would be significant enough for 4 ohm speakers. Which reminds me I need to replace all the very thin speaker wire in my own car :/

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#941735 27-Nov-2013 13:52

ubergeeknz:
johnr:
Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

At this level it would make a difference. The wiring installed in cars is pretty thin and not of great quality, the resistance would be significant enough for 4 ohm speakers. Which reminds me I need to replace all the very thin speaker wire in my own car :/

There is a table on Wikipedia which I found really useful.

16ga would probably have been good enough for me too :-)

jarledb

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#941758 27-Nov-2013 14:18

From that Wikipedia article I found this. A worthwhile read:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

"However, there is another side to the story and not all amplifiers show instability or overshoot when burdened with high capacitance wire. For instance, when further tests were made with amplifier B using a capacitor to simulate a capacitive load, values of capacitance of up to 20,000pf (.02mfd) showed no change in performance. A well-designed amplifier will not have a problem with any of the high capacitance wires found to date."

...

"It can be solid, stranded, copper, oxygen free copper, silver, etc.--or even "magic" wire--as long as the resistance is kept to be less than 5% of the speaker impedance. There is no listening difference as long as the wire is of adequate size. Bear in mind, as previously mentioned, a well-designed amplifier will not have a problem with any of these wires."

surfisup1000

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#941796 27-Nov-2013 15:25

TinyTim: Hmm... when I bought my stereo probably nearly fifteen years ago, we bought expensive speaker cables. The stereo was what you'd probably describe as high-end mass produced - $1000+ per component. We went to a lot of effort to get both it and the room set up well, and we could certainly hear the difference between different (expensive) speaker cables.

However now we have moved a few times and we have never bothered to set it up properly again. I would bet that any differences wouldn't be so clear - overwhelmed by a poor set up and perhaps by gear that doesn't sound as good as it did when new.

So , you thought the cable makes a difference to audio quality?

I'm skeptical -- I just don't think you cannot tell the difference between the high end cables and a suitable budget cable.

I have a reasonably high -end setup, and I bought expensive / cheap cables over the years and I couldn't tell the diff -- and , my hearing is pretty good according to some tests I took a few years back.

johnr

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#941797 27-Nov-2013 15:28

Klipspringer:
johnr:
Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

Not at all.

I have a pair Infinity 6x9's, 330 watt, 2 ohm in the rear. After installing them I originally wired them to the existing factory wiring. They sounded good but not great. I then replaced the speaker wire and their true performance was release. :-)

Excuse me while I roll around on the floor LOL, Next time use 30 year old telephone cable and you would not be able to tell the difference

mcraenz

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#941809 27-Nov-2013 15:39

Righto. Mind giving some technical explanation between your fits of laughter?

How about this, having a party at my place decided that I wanted to have some speakers near a window so we could have music outside. I decided to try the CAT6 cabling in my house, used 2 ports with all conductors joined together in each port. I didn't expect it to sound great but thought it was worth a go. Not surprisingly it was totatly unworkable, no base at all, and fairly faint/distorted. Instead I just grabbed a roll or 1.5mm TPS power cable which I had been using to re-wire my house that work perfectly.

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Klipspringer

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#941813 27-Nov-2013 15:59

johnr:
Klipspringer:
johnr:
Klipspringer: I installed new 14ga speaker wire to my car rear speakers earlier this year. The difference was very noticable when compared to the factory (+/- 20ga wiring)

Please tell me you are joking?

Not at all.

I have a pair Infinity 6x9's, 330 watt, 2 ohm in the rear. After installing them I originally wired them to the existing factory wiring. They sounded good but not great. I then replaced the speaker wire and their true performance was release. :-)

Excuse me while I roll around on the floor LOL, Next time use 30 year old telephone cable and you would not be able to tell the difference

Don't think so. Telephone wire is about 22ga.

Besides. Telephone wire is not easily available unless I go digging for it :-)

k1wi

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#941817 27-Nov-2013 16:12

I'm sure there is a threshold effect between that where speaker cables matter and that where they don't, but the background post does have some good points about the subjectiveness of sound and what it's replicating...

But my experience is that those who believe that expensive cables matter will disregard any evidence to indicate otherwise, as will those who don't believe expensive cables matter...

TinyTim

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#941821 27-Nov-2013 16:21

surfisup1000:
TinyTim: Hmm... when I bought my stereo probably nearly fifteen years ago, we bought expensive speaker cables. The stereo was what you'd probably describe as high-end mass produced - $1000+ per component. We went to a lot of effort to get both it and the room set up well, and we could certainly hear the difference between different (expensive) speaker cables.

However now we have moved a few times and we have never bothered to set it up properly again. I would bet that any differences wouldn't be so clear - overwhelmed by a poor set up and perhaps by gear that doesn't sound as good as it did when new.

So , you thought the cable makes a difference to audio quality?

Yes, both my non-audiophile wife and I heard the difference and we both preferred the red cables over the blue ones (even though the blue ones would have gone better with the decor) :-)

I have no idea what the difference between the cables was (beyond price) and I can't remember what the difference in what we heard was either.

surfisup1000:
I'm skeptical -- I just don't think you cannot tell the difference between the high end cables and a suitable budget cable.

I have a reasonably high -end setup, and I bought expensive / cheap cables over the years and I couldn't tell the diff -- and , my hearing is pretty good according to some tests I took a few years back.

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