Re: TV and sound over CAT5

[Keith Doxey <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Tim,

As I said....
IN MY PERSONAL OPINION.
Your views and those of many others will differ greatly on this as it is a
very hotly debated subject.

When I was over in Northern Ireland visiting Mark a couple of months ago we
went to a Hifi show. Out of interest I sat through a demonstration of high
grade cables etc. I PERSONALLY couldnt detect ANY difference but then my
hearing has been subjected to 20 years of abuse running and servicing disco
equipment.

Whilst I am not by any means deaf, I do have a small degree of high
frequency loss. The one thing that I do notice easily is hum, distortion,
clipping rattles and any other nasty artifacts that detract from the source
you are trying to listen do.

I agree with you entirely about the benefits of Bi-Amping, in fact most
larger professional sound systems are usually Tri-Amped as a minimum.
Somtimes even 4 or 5 way split. The one thing I dont see is the point in is
Bi-Wiring. The whole point behind Bi-Amping is that heavy bass transients
dont cause colouration of the mid and high frequencies, with Bi-Wiring both
sets of speakers are being fed from the SAME amplifier so any transients
introduces into the amp will affect both sets of speakers.

By hype I meant things like directional arrows on the cable sheath. An
audio signal is AC which means the current flows both ways so how can it be
directional. If you go into any professional audio environment you wont
find any 99quid phono leads or such like. What you will find is BALANCED
AUDIO running everywhere. With balanced audio, earth loops become a thing
of the past and any interference becomes self cancelling. You can even use
unscreened cable if you wish but the cables are generally screened just to
provide an extra obstacle to the interference.

When I first visited Mark in Northern Ireland I demonstrated how resisitant
to interference balanced audio really is. I first set up a balanced audio
link between a sound source and his amplifier. I then deliberately
connected the output of a CD player via a 300 ohm resistor to one lead of
the twisted pair carrying the balanced signal. The CD was plainly audible
above the original source. I then connected the CD player to both wires of
the twisted pair via individual 300 ohm resistors and only the original
source was audible.

To prove that both signals were indeed present on the cable I connected the
amplifier to one wire of the twisted pair at the receiver end instead of to
the output of the balanced line receiver. Both signals were audible. Then
just as a party piece I used both wires of the twisted pair fed via 300
resistors into the amp, the original wanted signal being balanced (equal
but opposite) cancelled out and only the CD player was audible with a bit
of hum due to the earth loop problems that normally affect unbalanced
connections.

The level of interference I introduced was far in excess of anything you
would normally get in even the most hostile of environments and the
hardware used cost under 10 quid. If I had the cable I could have run it
over 1km with no noticable difference. Now do that with a 1 metre 99 quid
phono lead :-))

The best thing I ever read in a Hifi magazine was
"Stop spending money when YOU cant notice any improvement"
It works for me.

If you feel that you need the Audiophile cables thats fine by me, after
all, its your money.

Keith

Keith Doxey
http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
Krazy Keith's World of DIY Home Automation

While I wouldn't dream of taking issue with on your electrical knowledge
Keith, I'm afraid I couldn't let this pass without comment.

While QED 79 or 46 strand is more than adequate for piping
"audio" around
the house, for example a pair of speakers set high up into the wall in the
kitchen, bathroom or bedroom for background music, audiophile cables do
have
their place.

<BIG SNIP>



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