Wisdom of Russ

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Geoff.R.G
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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

If you treat every cable as a capacitor (C) in parallel with the output/load and an inductor (L) in series between them it soon becomes obvious that it is going to behave in the way one would expect from those components*. The different cables will have different values of C and L and thus have different effects on the sound. Get the values "right" for the components on either end and you get the best possible sound, get the values "wrong" and the sound will be compromised. It isn't what you spend on the cables that matters it is matching the cable to the equipment. Some manufacturers will have done the work, Quad with the 77, 99 and Elite series offered the Quad Link cabling system which one would hope had been designed to get it "right". Other manufacturers will just buy in a cheap phono to phono interconnect and stuff it in the box.

The problem for the enthusiast, and opportunity for the dealer, is that we simply don't know what the characteristics of each combination of boxes might be so we are forced to experiment with different cables to get the sound we want. I am sure Tomaz and Paul could tell us the best cable, and length, to connect NVA pre and power amps because they have control of both ends. The "right" cable to connect my Teac X10 to a passive pre-amp might not be quite so easy.

As Fretless points out every wire sounds different, I prefer to think that every cable affects the sound differently, of course the truth is that every cable sounds different in different situations. This what sounds great in his system may sound dreadful in mine because the components it connects are different. It isn't what the cable costs that makes the difference, it is the characteristics of the cable.

*Radio engineers tend to think of cables, and wave guides, as a string of parallel capacitors separated by series inductors.
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Fretless (Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:56 pm)

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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by Daniel Quinn »

Is it possible to prove expensive cable will make a cheap cd player sound better than an expensive one.

Deos a £500 cd player beat a £200 cd player.
Can wire reverse sound quality.
Deos wire lose information or just present the information differently.

Many of these appear logical truisms, but I am prepared to bet know one can empirically prove them.

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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by Lindsayt »

Russ's statement is pure reverse engineering marketing :Bllocks:

He sells cables and accessories, so he's come out with some surface logic that indicates that cables are important.

In my systems, trying different cables has made fuck all difference compared to differences I've made in changing the analogue source, the speakers or the amplification.

I believe I can eke out another step or two in performance from my system by going DIY in the speaker department. And creating a Frankenstein speaker. That's where my time and money will be spent. It won't be spent on cables or stands.

In my main system, cables and supports account for about 0.2% of the total amount spent.

Any wise buyer aims to get the best sound quality for the least amount of money.

Although having said that, I realise that people with different systems to mine may find that cables and supports are more important than in my system. For example, my SET power amps appear to be non cable fussy. Which makes sense as they have output transformers = all that thin wire in the transformer windings.

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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by savvypaul »

Russ' statement is just as daft as the 'rule' that he seeks to disprove. It's not down to price, it's down to synergy.

If I owned a large pair of horn speakers, I would use an NVA S80 and (probably) a set of NVA LSTS. With less efficient speakers, I would us NVA M600s or bi-amp, and use NVA LS6 or LS7.

Work out what works with your own system. Trying to apply a general rule to everything is daft, but makes for appealing marketing, as most people seem to only want very simple, but absolute, answers. Hence the resurfacing of the 'measurements are everything' brigade. Marketeers have latched on to that and told designers to make something that hits those specs - or tweaked the way that the measurements are taken.
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Geoff.R.G
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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

It used to be common knowledge that a RIAA input has an impedance of 47KΩ with a number of capacitance values that I can no longer remember. If the input impedance of the phono stage was different from that specified the sound quality suffered. In practice the impedance of the arm cable and the cable from the arm to the phono stage needed to be considered but it probably didn't make a significant difference, everybody knew the cartridge wanted to see 47KΩ.

Today we have a range of possible source components and guess what, the manufacturers don't specify an optimal input (load) impedance. Often different amplifiers will have different input impedances from one another but again the manufacturers don't tell us what the input impedance is. As a result it is very easy to mismatch components, if they are very different, I suspect most do actually match pretty well. If you are unfortunate and the components don't match the cable is the only way to adjust things, even if you have no idea of any of the values. The only way is trial and error, which is where the cable manufacturers and sellers make their money.

Paul has the knowledge to suggest cables for use with NVA amplifiers and I would strongly suggest following what he says, speaker cables are mandatory so do as you are told. Other makes of equipment will probably benefit from a well specified cable but sometimes a cheap cable is what is required, possibly because the designer wanted it that way.

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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

One thing in the linked article was a suggestion to check the security of the drive units in the cabinet "they will probably be loose" well I thought that costs nothing. I checked, they weren't loose. Neither were the drive units in some PA speakers I was working on last week, and they had received some pretty heavy use, as well as being moved around.
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karatestu (Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:12 pm)

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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by karatestu »

The mid bass in one of my speakers stopped working the other day. Oh bugger I thought. Checked continuity and nothing. Surely I hadn't done anything to blow them. Tweeters still working so amp must be fine. I opened her up and one of the female spade connectors had come off the male on the driver. WTF. I can't have nipped them up with pliers before pushing it on and it came off :roll:
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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

I am definitely in the cables make a difference camp, so much so that I have made from scratch 3 sets of ICs to test various theories. I also have bought a second hand huge airlink transformer, fitted one of Nick's wonderful DC filters, replaced all my component cables with MCRU heavy duty sheathed mains cable, fitted silver MK plugs and dedicated earthing circuit for good measure. I cannot say that on their own any one of these made a night and day difference but they did make a positive difference and this iterative approach is working. My next project is to find a reliable way to measure the impedance of my speakers and amps and then try to make to make speaker cables that match - the caveat here is it's relatively inexpensive experimenting with ICs due to their length and low cable count, speaker cables are an entirely different proposition so I will continue my research until I have the confidence to buy the appropriate materials.
As for Russ well, he knows how to extract the maximum amount of money out of the curious and less confident hifi enthusiasts but then so do so many others, he just happens to be better at it than most.
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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

FWIW one of things that gets under my skin is cable companies like Telreluim Q who refuse point blank to provide any information on their cable design and construction and still feel it's ok to ask the customer to pay up to £950 a metre for their top of the range cable. I accept they make good sounding, quality, cables but their smoke and mirrors approach is a sharp reminder of something the wise and pugnacious Alan Sugar once told me "tell them as little as possible - the greatest profit margin is in the mystery" and he was 100% right.
Thankfully we have the collective power of the internet, pioneers like Nelson Pass and companies like NVA & Blue Jeans etc who are open and honest about their work and help us make informed decisions.
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Re: Wisdom of Russ

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

An interesting take on cables from a guy who has been round more proverbial blocks than all of us put together.

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TTs, Kenwood KD 8030 with AT OC9XSH, Opera Consonance Wax Engine mk2 with modified Apheta 2 MC cart, PT TOO awaiting restoration.
LDA MCJ3 phono,Schiit Freya plus pre amp, NAD M23, Audiolab 9000 CD transport, Denafrips Pontus 2 DAC, Mano Ultra2 streamer, Cisco switch, Audio Technica ATH 70 cans, Serhan Swift Mu2 mk2 speakers & NSNO W48.5 speaker cables

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