The results weren’t unexpected, but from around 13 minutes into the video, Amir explains why no one should be surprised that audiophile RCA cables aren’t worthwhile.
Competent cables like the Amazon model and better have “the lowest noise, lowest distortion, and widest bandwidth of anything in your audio system,” says the audio TechTuber. It isn’t a weak or sensitive part of the signal chain, prone to issues, and audio signals don’t push the ‘capacity’ of RCA cables, so there is little point in investing above a competent standard product like the Amazon Basics.
“Everything else in your system is the bottleneck,” Samir underlines, as far as quality is concerned. He likens the Hi-Fi audio signal chain to two cities connected with a 100-lane freeway (the RCA cables) – traffic problems are in the city, not on the freeway, he says.
To conclude, Amir admits to perceiving differences between cables when enjoying music, but puts the human experience down to feelings, mood, focus, and so on. When actually being clinical about A/B testing – like blind testing, etc – such differences evaporate, suggests the experience of this audio TechTuber.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-19/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Mark Tyson Social Links Navigation News Editor Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
Unolocogringo More junk articles on music? Why? Just because 2 speakers have the same basic frequency response does not mean they sound the same when set up in a room. Far from it. And the only equipment we have to measure the difference is our ears. Reply
PEnns Some people are really paying $4,250 for RCA cables ?? Some people just have so much money that they don't know what to do with it anymore! Reply
USAFRet Unolocogringo said: More junk articles on music? Why? Just because 2 speakers have the same basic frequency response does not mean they sound the same when set up in a room. Far from it. And the only equipment we have to measure the difference is our ears. This is about RCA cables, not speakers. Reply
voyteck Unolocogringo said: More junk articles on music? Why? Just because 2 speakers have the same basic frequency response does not mean they sound the same when set up in a room. Far from it. And the only equipment we have to measure the difference is our ears. Here, we are talking about electrical signal which can be measured with unbelievable precision. but puts the human experience down to feelings, mood, focus, and so on. …cable colour, width, sudden changes in external light temperature (clouds), possible bad amp design – specifically impedance matching (which happens a lot in niche high-end). Anyway, what really matters is: – natural room acoustics – room treatment – speaker and listener placement within a particular room (requires measurements) – speaker choice for a particular room – electrical performance of the amp (to avoid clipping) – impedance matching (seldom a problem) The rest is cosmetics at best, pure voodoo at worst. Of course – until we compare completely different technologies, like transistors vs tubes, but then it's all about measurable distortions. Reply
rooted Unolocogringo said: More junk articles on music? Why? Just because 2 speakers have the same basic frequency response does not mean they sound the same when set up in a room. Far from it. And the only equipment we have to measure the difference is our ears. What you just said has absolutely nothing to do with this article. This is about the wiring and signal to noise, and it's 100% accurate. Reply
DingusDog Anyone who spends $4000+ on RCA cables is an audiofool. Reply
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- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/sound-cards/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/sound-cards/comparison-of-usd4-000-boutique-audio-cable-to-usd7-amazon-basics-cable-shows-audiophiles-waste-a-lot-of-money-scientific-audio-equipment-analysis-with-analyzer-shows-no-difference-in-quality#main
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