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[chas]

Here's a link to an interview with a representative of Ultralink - it discusses their point of view on controversial topics such as directionality of wires:

http://www.ultralinkcables.com/guides/Ultralink_20Q.pdf

[drewface]

Here's a link to an interview with a representative of Ultralink - it discusses their point of view on controversial topics such as directionality of wires:

http://www.ultralinkcables.com/guides/Ultralink_20Q.pdf

good read. i skimmed a lot of it, but what i did focus on was pretty interesting! i'll give it another look when i have the time.

[BradJudy]

That's interesting - there seems to be some good items, but I'm always concerned when I reach items I know more about (like IT and wireless technologies) and the content is way off. This always raises a red flag for me to double-check other statements made.

Some things, like the common mis-perception about the velocity of propagation of a signal versus the velocity of electrons is good, but then he brings in a reference to the drift velocity of electrons (without using that term) that just confuses the issue.

While not totally accurate, one can view electrons in wire like water in a pipe. When you turn on the hot water faucet in your home, the water molecules don't have to travel all of the way from the hot water heater to the tap. That's because the pipe is already full of water - similar to how the wire already has "free" electrons (conductive materials have electrons that aren't "attached" to molecules and can move between molecules). The water starts flowing immediately (this is the "signal"). The "velocity of propagation" of your water "signal" would be measured from the source to the destination - in a fraction of a second, the "signal" moved several meters. Did an individual molecule of water move from the hot water heater to the faucet? No. How do you know? Because the water didn't get hot for a while. The actual velocity of the water was much lower than the velocity of the "signal".

Now, there is more complexity here because there's a difference between electron velocity and electron "drift" because the electrons don't flow as directly as the water does, but this is the best basic analogy I know of.

There are other examples of opportunities to "de-mystify" some of the mentioned science (like the mention of "Brownian motion" which is a term that sounds fancy, but generally means random motion) that make me sad. If he really wanted to make these things more clear and explain why they were good, he could have and didn't.

Of course, he's in charge of marketing, not engineering, so I guess I'm asking too much for him to go beyond paraphrasing things his engineers tell him. I'd like to see an EE PhD to answer the same questions (I know some, but I don't know that they'd have the patience to address the items).

[buzzy]

It might be interesting, on a few levels, to look at what SVS is doing on this, as they are fairly similar to Ascend (internet direct, somewhat similar target customer and price point). And of course it's part of good marketing to evaluate how the competition is addressing your target customer.

Link to SVS web page

We're not going to say you have to get cables as fine as these for your SVS speakers, or passive subwoofer (such as the CS, CS-Plus, and CS-Ultra)... but if you just dropped a good bit of cash on a great system, and simply want to know you have the best cables we can imagine owning... then these are them. Hot off the boat, you don't find many nicer wire sets than this. We told Better Cables to spare no expense and what resulted are wires that understandably aren't inexpensive, but are so well built and so nice looking you'll want to keep them casually out... say on your home theater front table!

We often tell folks that are on a tight budget to get good quality 12 or 14 gauge wire for their speakers or passive sub packages, and just enjoy the bass. Those that want to spend more, and show off their system in the process, need look no further than the new high-power wires from Better Cables.

[drewface]

Hey buzzy,

i agree, that is a pretty good way to go about selling cables, basically saying that if you have the budget and want the peace of mind that comes from having high-quality components, that those are a good product to get. i think throwing something like that in for the ultralinks would be a great idea.

the only thing about the svs listing is at the end of the second paragraph on the site:

Your SVS products simply can not sound better than they will with these wires.

you mentioned that listing features of a cable like ultralink has implies that users will hear a very audible difference in sound quality. to me, this straight-up stating that you will hear a difference is worse. i thought the stuff leading up to this statement was pretty good, though.

also, i think the ultralink looks a lot better than those cables

[drewface]

so... when will a winner be decided?

[davef]

Hi Drewface,

Sorry about the delay... This is high on my priority list right now but I have something else that I must complete before I get to the cable. Please allow about 2 more weeks...

Thanks!!!

[drewface]

Sorry about the delay... This is high on my priority list right now but I have something else that I must complete before I get to the cable. Please allow about 2 more weeks...

no worries! take your time.

[AndrewM]

buzzy - I'm curious why you've assumed that the measurements don't make an audible difference.

Fantastic point.

In this day and age, some people just rather disagree for the sake of disagreement. Without ever actually evaluating and deciding for themselves. And the fact remains, one person's decision may be the exact opposite of another's purely based on the fact that no two people are exactly alike, ie, hear the same things, have the same equipment, same room, same tastes etc etc etc.

To be negative is just some people's place in life, for one reason or another. Do I think $500 cables will make a truly audible difference compared to $25 cables, probably not... compared to say, spending that $500 on more power, room acoustics etc, however that isnt to say that it makes NO difference.

In addition, there is illustrated and scientific fact making the cables Dave is offering better... whether that data makes any difference to your home, is your decision to make.

[buzzy]

Do I think $500 cables will make a truly audible difference compared to $25 cables, probably not... compared to say, spending that $500 on more power, room acoustics etc,

I can't argue with that.