I had a subwoofer under my sofa. Terrific bass and vibes.

I find that a negative improvement is much more elusive, and more satisfying as a result























Sorry Neal, I couldn't resist

Here's an observation that came to me yesterday whilst sat through a couple of demonstrations at Bristol, by two very personable and clearly passionate demonstrators, not just for what they had on show, but also a very clear passion for music. Two really nice guys who were very good at their job, in fact they put a lot of the other rooms to shame, but don't ask me to identify anyone as that's not the point of this post.

They were demonstrating high-end USB cables between a Macbook and DAC and later equipment supports and cable enhancements. Now before they started I already liked the system and it's sound and as they progressed through the demonstrations, you were able to notice differences when the item was there and when it was taken away. But what occurred to me was this - I liked both, because I liked the system in the first place. Yes there was a difference, but I could actually live with either, so would question the value of an investment against buying music. It was a very good illustration though of what is possible. I suppose the difference for me is not needing to keep going and being able to enjoy the music for what it is - I'm content to not always need more I also don't have a bottomless wallet

So there's a subtle difference for me Mike in your quote above, I often do hear a difference, sometimes I don't - but it's not a case of not wanting to believe, it that's it's not important to me once reaching a certain level.

The very fact that you could hear a difference between USB cables is significant, Tim

I think some people have this impression that there are those just waiting for the next tweak to install in their system. Just because we don't mention it in every breath doesn't mean we're not listening to hours and hours of wonderful music in the meantime. Tweaks are a little bonus, nothing else. I agree that the cost needs to be evaluated against benefit and many things fall by the wayside for that reason.

I think if you go back I would agree between a very poor quality cable against a well screened one. It not being so much the data stream (which seems a block for some - 1's are 1's and 0's are 0's), but what might be added from extraneous electrical noise due to poor screening or a lack of galvanic isolation. I could prove that to myself and did. Also that no cable was the best option, but not a practical solution in the home.

Not done any A/B testing for years, but this was always the best value connector I could find, again not very practical but a lot less than £500

I'm in shock Tim!  

I often wonder how many people actually mistake "different" for "better" when tweaking.

Good point, there's also "better" in the context of one system, yet the same tweak may be worse or just different in another, AB comparisons can also lead you to choose something that sounds more incisive, impactful, dramatic etc, but which then becomes fatiguing over longer listening. I've been there before, so I don't rely on AB comparisons without doing longer listening afterwards.

You could probably do an entire house full for under £20. I'm gonna get some. Thanks for the tip.