I often have a smile on my face having watched one of these videos. Love them! I also learn quite a bit.

Your videos are a great guide for lay persons like us. So please keep them coming, no matter what certain individuals might say. I personally believe, and I think John Darko also mentioned this in one of his videos, that the impact of cables on sound becomes perceptible when every other part of the chain has been nearly perfected and that too to only individuals like John, you and others like you - who have practised the art over decades. As an electrical engineer myself - I greatly value your opinion as they're backed by the science and engineering principles

Paul , you are one of the most qualified engineers in the world. But let me the human ear, we all have different ways of hearing. The bones are the same basic design , but vastly different in appence, and how they vibrate to hear sound. What I like , you may hate and vice versa. Thanks Paul for you expertises

Paul you are 100% correct. Wires are plugs absolutely sounds different... I'm patently waiting for your CD player and I will not settle for anything else..

Paul you are 99% real. Thank you so much for the informative tube videos. You are absolutely giving magazine Gods and snobs something to think about.

For my 2 channel listening times. Using my Medowlark Kestrels with a Antique Sound Labs AQ1001DT. A true synergy. Been together for 20 years now and feel no need for change. I feel sorry for all those audiophiles constantly changing. All the while I have been enjoying the beauty of music.

Hi Paul! Your videos are amazing. Do not worry about the emotional ones you will find every now and then. :) They say if everyone agrees with you or if everyone disagrees then there is something wrong! A combination of these responses is always the indicator of things going good! Here though, I believe you kind of missed the point of the question. It's a very common doubt especially amongst new audiophiles or those who are building their system for the first time. I request you to please give it a shot again and try explaining how exactly is component matching done in a stereo system. For example, do you match a forward sounding pair of speakers with a laidback sounding amplifier or should the characteristics of the speakers be the same as that of the amplifier? Thank you!

Everything makes a difference I agree, and that goes for anything we can discuss. I bought a customer return of a Technics 1500C, (the age of playing with something and sending it back). It’s RCA cable fit loose and would fall off so I changed it for a Blue Jean cable I had, same result. I then bought a 3 ft World Best Cables with locking RCA’s for $40. What an improvement, not only did it not come loose but a much more solid sound, not subtle. The Ortofon Red it came with that is so highly recommended was great at reproducing surface noise so I changed that for a Denon 301 mk2 to play on my PMA a100 Denon integrated. Drastic reduction in surface noise and great sound the result with Canton Vento 7 Floor standers and Type 4 Audioquest cables, nothing extravagant but well made and easy to use. I’m very content now just playing LP’s like I did 25 yrs ago. Back then you had to have a belt drive because direct drives weren’t any good, that was BS.

A very good explanation to seek the musical truth.. 👍

Wow a hummingbird in your garden, that must be fantastic, maybe you can film it one day, grtz from the netherlands 🇳🇱, the country where we don’t have hummingbirds

I have a system I've been developing for a few years... the amps and speaker driver are from the pro audio world, so/and they are very honest and un-colored. For this system it is all about the signal 'flavor' being fed to the amps, so in service to tuning said signal I have a small fleet of interconnects, various hardware, tubes and op amps. With this group of stuff I can tune the sound over a pretty wide range. For quite some time I was doing as the questioner asked, compensating for the previous work with the next step, on through the chain. Then I tried a new, to me, interconnect that changed a ton of options and ultimately got me to where I put in the one fine quality tube I have in one spot... which allowed me to do a big weekend (this one just ended) of comparing different parts. I ended up with a configuration where all the parts build on/are in harmony with the previous parts. Comparing the results I would say it's a lot better when all the parts are on the same page as each other. Both results work and it's quite a process to come up with the right individual parts.... but this is for sure- every single part matters to the final sound. And by that I mean every single part from the electrical service panel all the way to your ears. (wires, wall sockets, stereo parts, acoustics, clean open ears.... cheers.

Rarely addressed in this component matching issue is the impact of input and output impedance. For example I have leaned to Tube preamps with solid state amplifiers. Tube preamps tend to have high impedance output and require an attenuator going into a solid state amp. Also does use of an attenuator (in line) have a negative impact on sound?

I have a new DAC that has a very neutral, clinical tone. It feeds a very neutral clean sounding amp. I have a few sets of speakers and have been swapping them back and forth just to listen to the differences. My wife thinks I'm nuts, but each speaker has a totally different sound and my DAC/amp setup really lets the speakers show their true colors. Before I always had receivers which always add their own sound before you even get to the amp. I love my receiver, but I believe this new setup is the cleanest, best way to go if you want to let your speakers show their true sound. I've been having a lot of fun messing with it, great distraction from the crazy stuff going on.

After you "answer" a question, reread the question. Did you actually answer the question? Takes a few seconds.

Yes! Paul I have always thought that hum was for the birds.

Every hummingbird has its own sound signature, believe me ;)

i guess its all relative to what you are looking to change. if you have warm speakers do you want a warm amp? maybe if you like it that way. same goes for bright or sterile equipment. the sound signature of your room also makes a difference, personally i like a little fun in my music. so a good mixture of both works for me.

A cloudy day? How dare nature not bathe Paul's video in the blessed sun....

My amplifier hums, and I have concluded that it’s advanced age has caused it to forget the words to my records! Just kidding, I haven’t gotten around to replacing the filter caps in the power supply... I’ve been using a nice rack power amp hooked straight to my mixing board lol... it’s not ideal for this use but it is very clean and hi fidelity of course. Just optimized for live performance rather than playback.

he´s rooting for you.Birds are a sign.

It's a package deal. Top of the line cables will not make your Montgomery Wards stereo sound better but you may notice a change if you have a 100 grand rig.

We will happily debate with the "Snake Oil" crowd. "We listen with our ears; crazy isn't it?" What a zinger! I love your opinion pieces and I've learned a great deal about your philosophy from these daily videos. Please keep up the supply.

So, what I get from the answer is, to keep the 'sonic signature' of the product, we need to have a pre and power amps from the same stable. If we replace either component with one from a different brand, we don't get the full benefit of the design. That, IMHO, makes a lot of sense as, all the necessary matching has been done on the bench when designing the product(s) so, we don't need to experiment in our living rooms. Having said that, this is perfect for the _music lover_ but, for audiophiles is another story.. They always want to 'mix and match' components from different manufacturers in order to get "perfection"..

Hopefully we are all here because we like audio and enjoy Paul with his great views on all things audio.

I agree with most you say....except about the wires and power cables....but I still subscribe and like! so there!

It boggles my mind on how folks can discount everything having its on sound signature as snake oil. What makes it more crazy is their denying it from somebody that has a crap ton of experience more than any of us and basically been doing this their whole life. Some of these folks claim to have experience with this component or that in various systems. I think they fail to realize what level of resolution it takes to make all these sonic signatures apparent. If your don't have a high enough resolving system than you will never be able to spot those different sonic signatures. I have been getting more in the diy part of this audio hobby and can tell you every part can have its own sound signature.. their is a reason folks use fancy capacitors and expensive out of production Toshiba jfets. End of rant and thanks paul!

I have never played with the true high-end cables, but have tested several against each other and it sure makes a difference with a little bit of extra money spent.

LOL, yes the snake oil scream. That snake oil made a 15db difference on my system as I could drop my audio levels after applying it. The math says it should not work but real life it is the difference of tuning a piano by ear and middle "A" or doing every note by scope (which will not work).

Hi Paul. i can't believe that you still have to preach the cable stuff, as it should be clear for any person, knowing basic electronics, that there is the skin effect that matters at high audible frequencies. and things like capacetys and diode like behaviors at grain bounderys, even if much smaler, may be of a magnitude that is hearable on high end systems. best wishes to you and your family, hope you all get savely throu these turbulent times

I think electrical matching considerations often don't get nearly enough attention when assembling a system. I've encountered systems where a tube preamp with a fairly high output impedance it trying to drive a solid state amp with a relatively low input impedance through a long interconnect cable, and the results are pretty dismal. Then of course there's the more obvious issues of matching amps with speaker drive requirements, and phono cartridges with phono stage inputs.

I know this question dosen't belong here but I have to try I opened up my planet audio 5150 amp and found what think is a tiny circle ceramic compactor and cant for the life of me find where it belong ....any pointers

Paul, How's the new Memory Player coming along? We were told last winter should be available in the Spring. Will this be an upgrade (more features? upgraded parts?) from your last Memory Player? If so, I'm ready for another trade in. Enjoying my new P15 after trading in my old P10. No Snake Oil there, they get the job done!

Paul! I know from my own experiments over the years that wires and plugs DO have a sound. Some improve the sound and some make it bad and, some even make a sound of their own! I know what you mean!

Wait a minute. I've been dabbling in audio for many years. I had absolutely no idea that cables make a difference. Do a video on that (if you haven't done so already) as to how to investigate this, since your comment about that has rattled my curiosity.

Definition of "Snake Oil." Everything is snake oil i can't afford.

I have came to hear abt difference from my stock power cord to a $20 custom one. Same with Interconnects. And my system is just an entry level hifi system

So the amp would be tuned differently depending on the speakers you use to listen to it in the testing/development process?

Bloody hell paul.. That looks like my garden. Where do you live ? Lol.

Paul you didn’t answer the question. You answered the question by stating how you voice your equipment but no mention on how you would recommend tuning a system using various equipment. Paul does mention that everything has a sonic signature which is absolutely true. They key is combining equipment, speakers, amplifiers, preamplifiers, each component in your source equipment, cables etc. to provide as close to a neutral sound as possible. It is simply trial and error with various equipment to give you that ideal sound. Do you use equipment to compensate for equipment that has large colorations in the music ? You can, “as long as” it is not coloring the music in a way that is masking detail. But it can and will make it more difficult to tune the system so it does produce a natural balance of sound. So typically you want to chose and work with equipment that is more neutral it self, then it makes it easier to switch out components in the system overtime as your system evolves.

The geometry of the wire’s winding greatly affect the sound signature. Everyone is so focused on material science within cables. It’s both mechanical and material quality.

Wow, I'm the first one! Hi Paul, love your videos! :)

If you can hear a difference, then it should be possible to show that difference with measurements too surely? If a silver cable makes it sound brighter, shouldnt the level on the top end be elevated compared with other cables? Or at least be seen on a waterfall graph? Our ears are nothing but microphones picking up vibrations so surely there should be a way to actually measure the effect and end result of cables?

that's Beethoven. Wow, Paul do read comments. instead at the beginning talk 'bout stuffs people don't want to hear, you can pick out a dislike comment.

Wiring absolutely has an effect on the sound you hear. My hearing is good but not as acute as it used to be 20 years ago or 30 years ago. But there was a high-end stereo shop that would have me listen to cables and speaker wire. My system was very revealing and I could detect differences in all of these products. I cannot remember all of the brands, but audioquest, vandienhul, cardis, Silver Sonic, are a few that come to mind. They all had a very distinctive Sonic difference. If you cannot hear the difference in these products, perhaps your system is not up to the task. They were obvious. No snake oil here, even my wife who is not an audio file could immediately hear the difference. Some people have criticized this video it's not dealing with matching components. I get that. However I do consider wiring and cables to be components. I'm in your camp on this one!

I like you because of your shitload of years of experience! Go through the same shit on the job site. Youngbucks think they know it all till u tellem to build it by they're self. Rather take advice from a man with 45+ years in the biz than a young dumbfck that listens to earbuds and thinks they know about sound. Gonna ride my old Harley out your way someday!

The problem is, absurdly expensive cables don't even measure differently than basic good cables. Hence, the snake oil. There is a signature sound to amplifiers, and it can be measured. Cables, not so much.

When I hear this term Sonic Signature I wince ! The art of producing true stereo sound necessities a ZERO Sonic Signature...

There's one favor every audiophile should do to themselves. Go out and listen to live music. It's the only way to begin comprehending what your sound system should sound like.

Yeah...you keep listening with your ears... See where that gets you...

@3:40 - unless you are able to compare the original master played in the mastering suite you have no way of knowing what the recording really sounded like - surely you actually tune for what subjectively sounds good to your listening panel?

Some folks seem to be angry all the time, and just get on the internet to vent their spleen. Do snake oil products exist? Sure, there's stuff out there. Do we all have to agree on what is or isn't snake oil? Hell, no. Everybody's entitled to an opinion.

*LOOL* The first I thought I got when you said that everything has a sound signature to it was: "Yes, cables has that too." and after a little while you said that also. *LOL* Poor "Anti-Cable people".

Snake oil is a very easy canned answer when someone can’t have an answer for something we can’t measure - and if you hear the difference than you are under placebo effect :). Snake oil is snake oil...

There is no do do. Only do. 😜

We have equipment that can masure spectrums of light no animal can see, measure sound that no animal can hear, we can i dentify tiny individual cells of cancer in a body in advanced screenings... But apparently we our extremely primitive ears relative to every other animal can hear cable changes we cannot measure. One person said that you cannot measure the interface between the human ear and brain, my response is the same now, if the sound reaching your ears is the same then the interface is irrelevant. Shielded cables and xlr will reduce noise and interferance, that is if you have any interferance, if the interferance is extremely minor or inaudible ( that is to say measurable but you cannot detect it...because the equipement will always be able to detect things before we can, not the other way around which invokes magic ) then you will hear no difference. This applies to million dollar cales or $10 cables. Cheap low capacitance cables still only cause rolloff above 20khz. Better/low capacitance cables might roll off at 24khz...I looked at a chart for hearing response based on age and I am better than quoted for my age by about 500hz and it still tops out at about 15500 at 34 years old. We have tools to measure these things. Send your $1000 cables in to audioholics for testing against a $4 monoprice or $20 blue jeans cable, Gene has an open challenge, I would love to see how much better they are so I can start saving...

I can never understand why the whole "CABLE BS" argument can still be an argument; run a system into a load box (resistive for quick and cheap, reactive for better) and record a line-out of as many passes of whatever bit-accurate repeatable source you fancy as are needed to understand the natural variations of the system. Swap wire and repeat. Align the recorded tracks and null test. If the nulls between wire groups are similar to the nulls within wire groups then you're on pretty safe ground to suggest that the cables are NOT making a difference (unless your system is horribly inconsistent) . If you have statistically significant differences then the cables ARE making a difference, and you can debate better or not better to your hearts' content.

LOL- DOO DOO- LOL

Noone agrees to disagree anymore

Trust your ears that’s all I can say. You can spend huge amounts on audio. Then realise it ain’t the sound for you. Then buy cheaper and find it better. Look at the NAD 3020. Bottom end budget. Looks terrible on paper. It stormed the audio sector. Still regarded as a great sounding unit even today. I personally own a few NAD units. Which I won’t say would compete with high end. Not in terms of build. Still the NAD 2200PE’s would give a lot of amps something to worry about.

Oh my duck! You actually use your ears in the design process? Just being facetious, this is well known on your channel, ;-) News reports that researchers in Germany are using trained sniffer dogs to detect changes in saliva odor to quickly identify persons with COVID-19. They are claiming a 94% accuracy rate. The sniffer dogs take about 6 weeks to train though. Back in the ancient analog days when I was getting a degree in geology with an environmental emphasis, I used to joke that if we could hook a strip chart recorder (remember those?) up to a blood hound, we could put a lot of scientific instrument companies out of business. Biology is good for you.

Blind AB or gtfo. IF and to the extent you deny that, you deserve no credit. Placebo is all fine and dandy until you call it a fact. Cables might make a difference, but it's surely measurable. I'll unsubscribe anyways.

I just got in to audio, and I can't understand the cable war. If a $5 cable works for you, good! Use that and be happy, if not buy whatever you thinks is best for your system and enjoy it. Why the drama about someone using $50.000 when you are happy with a $5 ?