Cable myths, or truths?

[KA4HJH]

A while back Julian Hirsch did a double-blind test of Monster Cable vs.
generic 16 gauge speaker cord for Stereo Review magazine. The results were
predictable. There was a difference, but almost no one on the test panel
could hear it. A few of the more astute panelists (in particular the audio
engineer) could hear the difference with things like test tones and noise
bursts some of the time, but not with "real music" (meaning violin solos
and jazz--maybe they should have tried Kraftwerk or a Stockhausen piece).
What was really funny were the letters they got in response. Aside from the
usual arguments against double-blind testing (which are about as bogus as
the one about why you can't test a psychic in a laboratory--there are too
many unbelievers around), one guy claimed that Monster Cable gave him a
"50% improvement in sound quality," whatever the hell that means. Wouldn't
it be great if you could get a 50% improvement in sound quality from a 3080
just by using solder that costs twenty times as much?

Does anyone remember the green magic marker hoax? I didn't mark up my CD's.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH