Pic from Gizmodo.com 

An interesting gear review at Audioholics.com comes from a Dr, Dean and  5 ”audiophile buddies” who had some extra time on their hands  (via Gizmodo) .  It pretty effectively refutes many audio cable manufacturer’s claims that their cables make a big difference in sound quality. 

We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my “old” Martin Logan SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with Monster 1000 speaker cables (decent cables according to the audio press). We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnectd them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occured, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my brother did, we learned he was right…most of what manufactures have to say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the more hyped it is.  (-Dr. Dean )

One of my engineer friends related his experience with a certain popular brand of “High Quality” instrument cable actually screwed up the input jack on his vintage Les Paul.  After using this cable for a while, he noticed that none of his other cables would fit tightly in his guitar again.  He reached for his micrometer and compared the diameter of said cable and a regular Belden cable and discovered the awful truth;  –the “High Quality” cable was larger in diameter and had bent the input jack’s clips outward.   Now only a “High Quality” brand cable would work with his guitar rig.  He was not a happy camper and has made it a point to spread the truth about the cable company’s tricks.  So I’m sharing his story with you. 

Moral- If you love your equipment, don’t buy a “beastly” cable.