Do phono plugs *really* sound different?

[keepitsimplestupid]

I 'prefer' to use Eichmanns of the JLE's but solely because I like the fact they are easy to solder and have little metal in them. Do they sound different, not at my house they don't.

As a species we are very good at discerning pattern and difference. We're hard wired to do it and genetically bred to experience differences where none exist. Really? Yes, let me explain.

Mr UGH lives in a cave with his family. Every so often a bear sneaks into the caves that his family and friends live in and maul them to death while they sleep. Mr UGH however has this strange thing where he think he's heard things, small differences, that aren't really there. So, occasionally he thinks he hears a bear in the cave just as he's about to fall asleep, jumps up, grabs his club and gets ready for the fight of his life.

99 times out of 100 he's actually not heard a bear and the loss to him is a few minutes of sleep every few nights. His best mate ARRGH however isn't overly sensitive to suggestive sounds in the cave, so he doesn't waste time hearing bears that aren't there. However at some point there will be a bear in the cave and the cost to him and his family is that they all get eaten.

So UGH's overly suggestive hearing gets passed down through the generations and ARRGH's unsuggestive hearing doesn't- cos his family are all bear food. And that gentlemen is why we are prone to think we've heard things that really aren't there...

[zebbo]

I just worry that some people 'hear' differences that aren't there in reality. I bought my loan TIS because I missed it when I took it out - same with the BMU and even though my vinyl sources don't deserve it, the Phono 2/PSU is so clearly 'better' for me, it ain't going anywhere right now.

I always make my final judgement on any changes by listening for a fair while then going back to the previous. I find it easier to notice differences that way.

[karatestu]

Best phono plugs are the invisible ones

[_D_S_J_R_]

DSJR, if you can hear the differences between different interconnect cables in your system then you're doing better than me.
The last time I compared interconnects (each with a different cable and plug) in my system I couldn't hear a difference, or the difference was so subtle that I didn't think it was worth paying any money for.

If comparing and picking different phono plugs makes other people happy, then that's fine by me.
I however am happy using my ultra cheapo / free gift interconnects and plugs.

For a while a couple of years or so ago, I was able to hear long term the SC, SSC, SSPmk2 and TIS loan cables and heard what I maintain were repeatable differences in presentation. SSC is my personal bottom line over SC (in 1.2m lengths) - just my personal vibe here) and SSPmk2 was 'bigger sounding' somehow, with a lot of the 'extra' emotional involvement I seem to notice in the TIS, which is staying where it is.

I've also done comparisons with the Klotz MC5000 to the originalMmark Grant HD1500 , the MC5000 using Starline plugs one end with Neutrik 1/4" jacks and the HD1500 with neutrik pro plugs (the ones slagged off) and same type jacks at other end. Both 'sounded' slightly different at first, but six months later, I was damned if I could tell the difference (my main rig was then set up for headphones as well as speakers using three identical amps, two bridged and all connected to the same preamp, so I could eaily switch cables at the amp end and listen over headphones, this before the workroom stuff was set up).

This is the thing though, the phono plugs to me made beggar-all difference!