From stonedwolf@gmail.com Sun Aug 15 16:22:34 2010
Subject:Re: Cables (OT-sort of)

I wish I kept the clipping, but British news magazine Private Eye have an occasional column, Music & Musicians. They recounted the story of a classic music reviewer who had previously described one orchestral take on a work as magnificent and ranted and raved about it. A few years later he was called to review the same piece conducted by a less-famous conductor, and found it flat and uninspired.

It later transpired, thanks to a mix-up, at the CD pressed for the new work (you guessed it) were actually from the older recital.

To me that summarises much of audiophilia - the placebo effect. The sheer weight of expectation (positive or negative) from equipment or performer vastly exceeds the mechanics of our reasonably primitive ear-drums.

For my money, if you can't hear blatant crackle, hiss, or hum, and the cable doesn't give you a possibly-lethal electrical shock, you're onto a winner.

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, David Jacques wrote: