Tír Na HiFi

I can’t for the life of me understand how expensive mains cables can improve/alter sound quality. Based on there being cheap copper behind the sockets back to the consumer unit, back to the meter board, back to the ……. Etc.

Please help. I’m almost tempted to upgrade for aesthetics only, and maybe the system will sound better. Kinda like washing the car and it feels a better drive 😊

Any scientists out there? I know some guys that swear by them. Thank you.

My answer would be, why have to be expensive and what expensive means for you? 🙂

Ah, remember when we used to engage on such subjects...?!

Personally, I've never heard enough of a difference to really consider pursuing, but then again I haven't experimented much either. I had a 600 euro power cable at one point, I'm not at all sure it made any audible/meaningful difference, but I was happy to have it back then. FWIW, all of my power cables now are standard issue black leads that come with everything. I use them interchangeably, and I never think about them.

These days, I've no energy to argue with anyone on this score. If you have expensive cables and they add something to your enjoyment, have at it and continue enjoying, I say!

I don't intend to argue with anyone, don't get me wrong, all I can comment is from my own experience. 🙂
For some €100 is expensive, for some €1000 is cheap, so there is the debate, who is wrong? 🙂
Personally I do believe that good quality cables and connectors interfered in the overall sonic presentation of the equipment they are connected to.
It's a different story if the results are good or bad.
It's very much equipment depending, some cables work better with digital equipment and not with analog ones and vais versa. It is complicated and there is not a single answer to that question.
The best I can suggest is, try it, different cables from well known brands, not necessarily expensive, but quality ones.
If you can hear any difference good, if not, good again, you don't need to worry much, just enjoy the music. 😃

Just to say, I do put/build my cables with high quality materials/parts from Furutech, not buying 'expensive' cables.

Oh, the "you" in my post didn't mean YOU! I just mean that if people are happy, I'm happy.

At a basic physical level, I think its worth having good quality connectors each end. I know I've seen fuses blow because of really shitty IEC sockets on cables, and intermittent connections. I've also seen wall sockets with burnt areas because of bad connections with 13amp plugs. So the right connectors are a basic must. Outside of that, a good quality wire is worth a few bob.

After that, I'm not so sure. And when you see some of the advertisements, its hard to take them seriously. There are excellent choices on aliexpress around the 30e mark that are worth a look. Superficially, they look like nordost or whatever, so are a rip off of them, but generally the build quality inside is excellent, even if the internal construction is not nordost materials.

Thanks guys for the replies. I may actually go the Aliexpress route, if only for the aesthetics gain and maybe I’ll hear’ a difference !

I didn’t intend on the discussion to go down the “whats expensive” route. Although compared to the freebie cables in the box, a €100-150 cable will become a relatively expensive upgrade when you shell out for 4 or 5 of them !

I certainly couldn’t see myself paying anything like €150 or more for one. Thanks.

cbarone wrote: ↑Sat Nov 06, 2021 4:58 pm Thanks guys for the replies. I may actually go the Aliexpress route, if only for the aesthetics gain and maybe I’ll hear’ a difference !

If you are in Dublin area and want to try two different cables, before buying from AliExpress, give me a shout. 🙂

This thread has been disappointingly restrained! 😉