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#1
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Truth for Truth
AES paper 6858 (2006) : Audio cable distortion is not a myth!
ABSTRACT Specialist audio cables are often sold to the consumer on the basis of eyebrow-raising claims for technical performance, though to date no repeatable test has shown any effect more surprising than mild frequency-selective attenuation. However, because the loudspeaker load is typically nonlinear and causes harmonic currents to flow, finite impedance in an audio cable does indeed cause harmonic voltages to appear across the loudspeaker. This distortion term is similar to, or even greater than, that produced by the amplifier's intrinsic nonlinearity. 1. INTRODUCTION Of all the various arguments to have raged over the general subject of audio, none has been both so fierce and so enduring as that about specialist cables. Simply put, the 'subjectivist' premise is that every cable design has its own 'sound', influenced by every factor imaginable - cable materials (both conductor and insulation), geometry, stranding etc. - while the common 'objectivist' riposte is that although the series resistance of a loudspeaker cable can certainly have an effect on the signal if it is too high (more than a few percent of thc loudspeaker's own nominal impedance), all other factors pale into insignificance. Measured evidence certainly provides much better support for the objectivist position. Faced with this, subjectivists typically argue either that the measurements were too simplistic and overlooked some as-yet-unidentified factor of major significance, or that the measurements are invalid because they have almost invariably been made with sinusoidal test stimuli, and 'music isn't made up of sinusoids'. These two arguments boil down to very nearly the same thing, essentially that there may be some effects which do not show up on conventional tests. It is actually very hard to envisage any form of distortion, in the broadest sense, which would not show up at all on any given test but it is certainly true that some are far more visible than others, depending on how a test is carried out. In addition to this, there is a very large grey area in the whole subject of audibility of distortion. It is also always possible that more careful analysis of existing types of measurement may show some distortion that had previously been overlooked. For all these reasons - but above all driven by a desire to accumulate some evidence which would be sufficient to refute the arguments of one camp or the other - I decided to conduct an investigation, by theory and measurement, of audio cables which would be as thorough as possible, not excluding investigation of any apparently bizarre claims made by subjectivists and cable vendors. 7. CONCLUSION The audio cable market certainly owes something to the appeal of 'audio jewellery' but there is also, with little doubt, a significant element of sell-delusion on the part of consumers and probably also reviewers, retailers and manufacturers. However, this paper has suggested a plausible mechanism, not invoking any outlandish concept, by which differences between loudspeaker cables may on occasion become audible. The cure - low resistance and low inductance - is simple and relatively inexpensive to apply and it is to be hoped that more manufacturers will attempt to do so. |
#2
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Truth for Truth
Arny Krueger wrote: AES paper 6858 (2006) : Audio cable distortion is not a myth! ABSTRACT Specialist audio cables are often sold to the consumer on the basis of eyebrow-raising claims for technical performance, though to date no repeatable test has shown any effect more surprising than mild frequency-selective attenuation. However, because the loudspeaker load is typically nonlinear and causes harmonic currents to flow, finite impedance in an audio cable does indeed cause harmonic voltages to appear across the loudspeaker. This distortion term is similar to, or even greater than, that produced by the amplifier's intrinsic nonlinearity. Perfectly true and I've seen the effect with some dummy loads too. As ever the effect is reduced by the simple expedient of using the largest gauge cable you can so as to reduce the cable resistance. Graham |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.misc
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Truth for Truth
"Eeyore" wrote in
message Arny Krueger wrote: AES paper 6858 (2006) : Audio cable distortion is not a myth! ABSTRACT Specialist audio cables are often sold to the consumer on the basis of eyebrow-raising claims for technical performance, though to date no repeatable test has shown any effect more surprising than mild frequency-selective attenuation. However, because the loudspeaker load is typically nonlinear and causes harmonic currents to flow, finite impedance in an audio cable does indeed cause harmonic voltages to appear across the loudspeaker. This distortion term is similar to, or even greater than, that produced by the amplifier's intrinsic nonlinearity. Perfectly true and I've seen the effect with some dummy loads too. Agreed. As ever the effect is reduced by the simple expedient of using the largest gauge cable you can so as to reduce the cable resistance. Copper is pretty dear right now, but it can still be part of the cheapest solution. ;-) |
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