".... but a few minutes which is no time at all to someone so familiar with the discipline of research" a wee bit cheeky methinks, but i will answer your question more fully than you deserve. it may take you a few minutes to reverse cables in your system. can you see where this is going yet? it's a bit like saying poping down to the supermarket only takes ten minutes that's only if you have a car.....
so, to swap the cables round, i'd have to resolder the plugs. no way round that problem without introducing additional variables. that obviously doesn't apply to your system. i don't have your system......
I trust you read the previous from Pluto, as your reply seems more directed to me, and to state 'my active Naim system' is hardly detailed, re the bit you read on the web site, my words were 'prompted me to order a pair of the latest Quads', however on visiting the shop again, Tripath in hand, and dealing with a different sales person, I saw the situation anew.
First he was rather reluctant to have his Quads driven by a 'homemade' amp.
Second, the room acoustics were not good, and placement terrible, under these conditions the Quads did 'not do it for me' I asked to hear a pair of large floor-standers.
At this point he claimed to have a visit to do, but as a final gesture I offered a printout of my class 'D' article, this generated the reply - 'I will only read what a manufacturer has to say and never the writings of a DIY cusomer', at this point I vowed never to go there again.
The system I have now is on the 'news' page, Maratz CD/DVD, Magnat Vintage 650s and of course Tripath 100WPC amp and cheap copper cables.
So what are we to gather from this, you have nine year old hardware, five year old copper cables, but can hear differences over supports, directionality, and deep freezing.
Take your point about your interconnects cables not being phonos.
John, yes my comments were for you, can see why you didn't buy the Quads. I know that I'm starting to sound like an echo, but I do hear what I've said before. I don't know why (especially with such ancient kit, both me and the electronics) or what causes the effects - quantum physics & other physics aren't for me. But I just don't hear differences....the differences are better than that I heard before the change I made. IYO or not
Sorry - I completely forgot to include this earlier. The most interesting of all the web research I've done over the past few days relates to the most basic reason of all why cable directionality is likely to be little more than an elaborate hoax.
The audio waveform spends roughly equal time above and below the reference point. If you listen to nothing but sine waves then these two times will be exactly the same, but music is not totally symmetrical, hence 'roughly'. When the audio waveform is represented by an electrical analogue, we have an alternating current that spends the same proportion of time above and below the reference point, zero volts. The key point here is that, no matter what model you choose for demonstrating the transmission of electricity through a cable, the actual flow of energy is constantly reversing direction, consistent with the nature of the waveform.
In short, the cable does not, indeed cannot, differentiate between which end is which because it is almost as though the cable itself was being swapped around every time the waveform passes through the reference point.
This strikes me as the most intuitive reason of all to deny the concept of cable directionality, yet not one of the 'pro' faction even began to attempt to formulate an argument to stand against this most basic reasoning. As ever, I am entirely willing to be proven wrong. In fact, proving me wrong could be very lucrative. This page gives the details. While James Randi normally concerns himself with claims relating to more spooky things than audio cables, it would appear that the ability to perform feats such as reliably determining the orientation of a cable within a properly designed protocol, does count as 'paranormal'! A million bucks could be yours, simply by demonstrating an ability claimed by thousands of audiophiles.
Just had a look at the James Randi site, I have heard of this guy before and even seen a T.V. programme about him.
Never realised that he now embraces the 'cable' thing, but the fact that he does, and offers a million for proof surly only adds credence to my ramblings.
So what are you waiting for, the offer of a million is out there, you claim to hear the differences, now win that, and you could have the system of your wildest dreams.
Pluto, much as I appreciate what 10% of a million is, it does debase the discussion somewhat!
Now please concentrate on the serious issue of a new audiophile vinyl pre-amp to beat all, to transcend all previous thinking and maybe to bring vinyl reproduction one step closer to CD.
The overload problem, the scratch problem, how this cannot be allowed to get to the power amp and then create 'hangover' and other 'recovery' problems.
Now I have many solutions but will say nothing until I have results, I have ideas, but untill proven and tested, I will remain shtum.
Actually, the Randi challenge isn't as simple as all that. It appears that the rules require a kind of pre-verification as described by the following:
This offer is not open to any and all persons. Before being considered as an applicant, the person applying must satisfy two conditions: First, he/she must have a “media presence,” which means having been published, written about, or known to the media in regard to his/her claimed abilities or powers. This can be established by producing articles, videos, books, or other published material that specifically addresses the person’s abilities. Second, he/she must produce at least one signed document from an academic who has witnessed the powers or abilities of the person, and will validate that these powers or abilities have been verified.
Still, anyone who can demonstrate the ability to consistently determine whether a symmetrical cable is one way round or another should have no difficulty in satisfying the above, and will probably become quite the golden-eared celebrity into the bargain. Like I said, if this really can be done, an awful lot of theory that has been in place for ages will need to be reconsidered.
To Pete, sorry to disappoint, but I am referring to - audio hangover effects - like overload recovery etc. something I'm sure you would rather not hear.
The principle being that if a scratch actually gets through the pre-amp to the power amp and then momentarily overloads it, the result could maybe cause a 'recovery situation' resulting in a 'hangover', these are sounds that are far more disturbing than the original scratch.
The preamp idea is to limit any transient to within the power amps ability and therefor negate the possibility of any such occurrence.
I know this discussion has gone a bit cold of late, but would anyone be interested in a blind cable test sometime next month? We’d need some cable fans and cable naysayers, for balance, and I’d be looking at trying out speaker cables, interconnects and power leads one weekday afternoon. AVR will pay your transport (within reason) to the venue, somewhere central London-ish, and we’ll lay on some drink and grub to see if we can settle this argument once and for all (or perhaps more realistically, have an informed discussion based on the evidence of exactly the same information reaching the ears of each of us).You can of course help us decide the criteria of how the test will be conducted –make your own suggestions and we’ll try to arrange it.Reply to me on the forum here http://www.avreview.co.uk/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/4/UTN/2028/V/6/SP/ or drop me a line at editor@avreview.co.uk
