Must Read: Sorry, but bringing back the Start menu won't help Windows 8

Topic: Telcos

Coat hanger wire is just as good as a high-quality speaker cable

Summary: Believe it or not, coat hangers can be used as audio cables, and the sound quality is almost indistinguishable from systems with expensive cables.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Here's a question that pops up regularly in the Hardware 2.0 mailbox:

Does high quality cabling make any difference to audio/video quality?

When you're in a store and faced with a cable that costs a few bucks and another that costs a few hundred bucks, it's easy to think that the expensive cable must have some special secret sauce that the cheap cable is lacking, and that the cheap cable is somehow going to offer you a sub-standard, lower-quality experience.

And if you're spending big money on AV or home entertainment hardware then it's easy to be tempted to go for expensive cables just in case you're not going to get the best from your gear.

And that's exactly what the makers of the expensive cables want you to think.

I've always maintained that there's no difference between cheap cables and the expensive cables, with the exception the price, the packaging, and the hype levels. In the testing I've done, I've never been able to see or hear any difference whatsoever between the cheap stuff and the big bucks stuff. And as we move from analog to digital, it makes sense that the cable won't make a difference.

Either those 1's and 0's are getting down the cable, or they're not. It's that simple. I always buy cheap cables and have been more than satisfied with the results they deliver.

But I'm no hardcore audiophile. Maybe people with better kit -- or better ears -- than I have can tell the difference between cheap cables and the expensive stuff?

Nope.

There's an interesting albeit old post over on the Audioholics forum where folks with some very good kit decided to put Monster 1000 speaker cables up against probably the worst cabling you could have - coat hangers.

The outcome says it all:

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 occurred, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use.

Needless to say, after the blindfolds 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.

The more they charge, the more hyped it is. Remember that.

Related:

Topics: Telcos, Hardware, Mobility, Networking

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

32 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Believe it or not, any web browser works just as well, regardless of brand

    of tablet, expensive or not.
    iYawn
    Reply Vote

  • Excellent article

    and absolutelly true. But then some people believe that the sound is far better with Monster Cables simply because they paid 5 time as much. They'll swear to it.

    What's even more amusing is that Best Buy was selling like a $1000 HDMI cable or something. I found the site of the manufactuer and looked at their catalog.

    Would you believe an electric cord, the standard style used for computers and a whole range of electrical products, selling for $395!!

    The "shielded" cable was supposed to elimiate any noise pickeed up by the house wiring!
    William Farrel
    Reply Vote

    • Magic power cable

      A audio manufacturer I once worked for was approached by someone wanting to sell a $500 IEC power cable. We waited until he left, then laughed our tails off.
      MC_z
      Reply Vote

      • MAGIC POWER CABLE?

        Give your $ to monster cable or whoever if you want.
        I go to the hardware store/depot and get # 12 clear lamp cord by the reel 500'.
        It is identified for polarity(one side has a ridge, the other is smooth).
        Then go buy some quality audio equipment with the $ the monsters did not get.
        # 12 wire is good for 20 amps(20,000 watts) ac power.
        and knock the drywall off the walls when you crank up that new system!!!!

        The old saying is a fool and his money go their seprate ways.
        GASGTO73@...
        Reply Vote

    • LOL

      "The "shielded" cable was supposed to elimiate any noise pickeed up by the house wiring!"

      LOL, that's like trying to improve the ride on your wife's Camry by replacing the shocks on your Taurus.
      dsf3g
      Reply Vote

    • Well, he may have a point with that shielded cable...

      Well, he may have a point with that shielded cable, but there're a few problems: One, shielded or not, if it's not properly grounded it won't protect it from anything; Two, a ferrite core costs about a penny and does the exact same thing. :)
      olePigeon
      Reply Vote

    • HDMI...

      I recently bought one of those newfangled LED TVs, and then needed 3 HDMI cables. In one store, the cheapest cables cost 20 euro, for 1 metre cables. In the DYI store I bought 3 1,5 metres cable for 10 euro.
      They work great.
      CarlitosLx
      Reply Vote

  • From an audio professional

    There have been several variants of this test over the years and they're generally consistent. The thing to look for in a cable is overall construction quality: Is the strain-relief good where the connector meets the cable? Does the insulation appear to be thick enough to withstand a little pinching as the cables weave under and around furniture? If it's RCA, does it grip the jack well? Otherwise does it fit snugly inside the jack?

    These are all issues of basic build quality and it is worth paying a little more in that regard. But the oxygen-free/aligned electron/cold-sink silliness is just that.
    MC_z
    Reply Vote

  • People who think

    they can are deluding themselves. Electronics don't care and higher resistance in the wire would at best limit the max volume. Get over it, cheap cables are just as good electrically as expensive. There is NO electrical arguments you can use. It's just not true.

    This is the biggest lie ever.
    timspublic1@...
    Reply Vote

    • they can are deluding themselves.....

      With only a couple of exceptions to your post.

      [i]Exception # 1:[/i] Low level [b]audio[/b]. With low level audio, the materials used for the [b]connectors[/b] makes a [b]big[/b] difference. Many cheap tin plated connectors encounter reliability problems as they age. Nickle or gold plated connectors are preferable (depending on your budget).

      [i]Exception #2:[/i] Internal computer cables. As the [u]unfortunate[/u] owner of an early "personal computer", (a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1), the problems with tin plated edge connectors totally ruined an otherwise unique experience (for that point in time). The urging to keep a stock of `pink pearl` erasers on hand to clean off the oxidation was one well heeded. Those of us who tired of monthly teardowns to remove the oxidation found that by soldering on [b]gold plated[/b] Berg stick headers, and replacing the ribbon cable connectors with [b]gold plated[/b] IDC connectors; those problems vanished. Ever look at the contacts on most modern memory modules, IDE/SATA interface connectors? They are [b]gold plated[/b] for a reason.
      fatman65535
      Reply Vote

    • Radar

      Nah, the BIGGEST lie ever has got to be the radar & laser jammers from Rocky Mountain Radar. They actually improve the radar reflection, which is why law enforcement don't shut them down. BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Being in the U.S., you would think that kind of crap would be illegal, but nothing stops the almighty buck.....
      Tinman57
      Reply Vote

  • True...

    I suggest everyone conduct an actual, honest to god, double-blind test to determine how precise your hearing is. Some time ago I ripped most of my AAC's to 192 bit on my iPod. Had I performed double-blind testing before then I would have ripped no higher tan 160 bit and saved mself some space, because when I performed such a test I discovered that the highest bitrate I can reliably distinguish is 128 (I can distinguish 128 from 92). And my theory is that you should go one bump above the best you can distinguish, to give yourself a little margin.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

  • Capacitance, amps etc

    Some of the finest studio condenser microphones in the world (most of them vintage) are transformer coupled at the impedance conversion from Hi-Z to Lo-Z. The wire in those transformers are unbelievably thin, are long distance wound around bobbins, yet they pass the full audible frequency and detail exceptionally. Of course its low amplitude, but the preamp is more important than the cable. When talking about speaker cable its more important how many amps the cable can handle than its construction. Not to mention that most of the "snake oil" cables use multitudes of thin and thick wires and there is a slight amount of oxidation that can't be helped, plus the shield is a ground and they may be insulated between the wire combinations. Two conductors running side by side with a small dielectric between them (or even just dissimilar metals) results in a change of capacitance, which affect audio frequencies and losses. Its entirely possible that monster cables are actually slightly detrimental to audio, although probably not even negligible. BTW, gold connectors are also not good for audio. Most will tell you gold is a better conductor, but it isn't in comparison to pure copper, nickel, silver, etc.. Gold is used in connectors because it has very low corrosion (and yes, gold can oxidize under the right conditions).
    I12BPhil
    Reply Vote

  • Agree but some details

    1) Article (not title) lumped all cables together analog and digital. Yet it still holds true. Cheap HDMI cable works fine or not at all and so does cheap speaker wire.
    2) You have to compare apples to apples. On a high power system 20 gauge speaker will not compare favorably to 16 gauge. So buy cheap wire but make sure it isn't too small for the job. Keep the wire short as possible. So if cheap wire means small gauge and expensive wire means big gauge then you could hear the difference if the small gauge is too small. But given equivalent gauges you should be fine. Note that 16 gauge should easily be able to handle 500 watts continuously as long as you don't go past 30 feet.
    3) Patch A/V cords carry small signals unlike speaker wire so. But as long as the cable isn't total junk it should work fine. Keep these as short as possible to avoid picking up noise.
    4) Length changes things. So for very long runs you need to up the gauge.
    DevGuy_z
    Reply Vote

  • Lamp cord works fine

    Have always used lamp cord and it works great. Just watch polarity. I am no engineer but I suggest that unless I am comparing two or more audio systems side by side (which I never do) that the sound I get is pretty much perfect. Of course I don't have expensive equipment but for most everyone but the audio snobs there is not going to be any difference in perceived quality I think. Using better cables will not make your hearing better either, I know that for a fact.
    falonia
    Reply Vote

  • Subjective vs Objective

    Well, there is A/B testing and there is A/B/X testing. And then there is the subjective comparison over time... In most A/B and A/B/X testing there is a switch which becomes part of the evaluated circuit. This element nullifies the validity of the test when used to test cables, since the cable is now married to the switch, which has become part of the circuit under test. Also, the simple fact the makeup of the human psycho acoustic mechanism is somewhat goofy for the most part makes the fast switching between outputs rather tedious and desensitizes the listener to differences that are generally subtle. In this test scenario the listener is not relaxed and enjoying the music, but is under the stress of a test. So, unless there is a profound difference between A and B in some category, the comparisons tend to muddle. Having a background in electronics and component level repair, I see the value in the A/B and A/B/X testing method for components, but have come to value it less and less in the old speaker wire battle.


    For the sake of argument, one day I and a friend spent three hours listening to specific cuts from some excellent CDs using a baseline system which consisted of Krell components and B&W 801 speakers all interconnected with the top of the line MIT cable that was way too expensive. The value of that system at the time was way over $50,000. On the other wall of the room was a system with Rotel components and B$W 805 speakers, connected with Monster Cable, I think. We would play two or three cuts on the $$$ system and then put the CD in the "cheap" (less than a 10th the cost of the big system), move our chairs and sit back and listen to the same cuts. We did that three or four times to get a real feel for the things we felt were different about the presentation of the music delivered by each system. Then the sales guy installed a set of the lower priced MIT cable in the cheap system. We went about our routine and both of us noted that the cheap system had a certain liveliness and transparency that was closer to the presentation of the expensive one. This took us about three hours, critically listening and comparing. We came to the conclusion that the better cable would be a good addition to the cheap system in this case. It was too expensive for my pocketbook and the perceived improvement was subtle, but that is one of the fun aspects of music listening and equipment evaluating. I would be very happy with 14 gauge zip chord more than likely once the system is up and running at my house. But if I had the money for higher priced cables in my budget I would do some subjective auditioning to make my choice, not A/B/X testing...
    notme403@...
    Reply Vote

  • Agree heartily!

    WRT speaker cable, I usually just go down to Lowes and buy the "by the foot" lamp cord in 16 ga. for basic home stereo use. It's cheap, plentiful and man can exploit it. If I have to run cable a long distance and/or in places that might be more abusive to the cable itself, I buy 14 ga. rubber jacket two conductor. If color doesn't matter the orange heavy extension cord wire is great.

    You do not want to use shielded cable on a speaker run, the higher current can create some weird tonal changes due to capacitance issues between the conductors and the grounded shield. Also for long speaker wire runs, you'll want to use twisted pair wire of the appropriate gauge, 14 or bigger, to help reduce induced RF interference. I attended a church right off an interstate highway and the truckers' CB transmissions would sometimes come through loud and clear... made for interesting sermons at times. ;)

    One benefit of using "somewhat" more expensive patch cables is that the really cheap ones use very small gauge wire for the coax core lead; they break easily if pulled or pinched just wrong.

    I'm a guitar and bass player, so I've sprung for the Monster brand guitar cable once. The main benefit for that was a heavier jacket, and really solid 1/4" plugs on each end. No audible difference really; it was supposed to be especially made for bass guitar... yeah whatever. The main thing there, again like the patch cables, has to do with the hardiness of the wire itself and the quality of the connectors. I don't think the electrons care when they're only running 15' down the cable.
    peter.bittle@...
    Reply Vote

  • Only Exception

    Is for long runs of cable. For example, if you use a cheap/thin HDMI cable over a large distance, it won't pass the it works or doesn't test. It won't work. So the only time I recommend using a thicker gauge cable for HDMI is when the length is significant. Alternatively, Monoprice has a great HDMI over CAT6 ethernet solution that can greatly reduce your cost when you are trying to route HDMI in a large home theater.
    t_mohajir
    Reply Vote

  • Monster = 12 ga solid core performance

    Just confirms my low opinion of Monster products. I bought them at one time based on reputation. One word to know about cables and that is Litz. Without getting into exotica, Litz cables deliver better quality. If your other equipment can convey that to you is another story. Litz construction can be inexpensive. I've build many sets of speaker cables and interconnects from CAT-5/6 Plenum cable.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litz_wire
    mswift@...
    Reply Vote

  • Just open your equipment and see if they use 'monster' cables inside...

    All I see, are thin 18 gauge wires coming from the binding post, or circuit board to the speaker voice coil... Even in my 2700W RMS Sunfire True Subwoofer signed by Bob Carver...

    You do realize a car drives better when it's all shiny?

    [i]~~~~~~~~~~
    Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.
    ~ Demosthenes

    The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men - the man he is and the man he wants to be.
    ~ William Feather

    Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.
    ~ Stephen Leacock[/i]
    WinTard
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close