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Superb cables on a budget

the caretaker said:
I'm not sure? I form my own opinions...I don't need science to listen for me and I certainly don't need books to do the thinking for me..but I do read poetry..poetry is great! They say music soothes the savage beast..I think poetry can also do this...why don't you go and read a poem?
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Generally I tend not to think of myself as a savage beast in need of a little soothing. But I'm willing to give it a go.

There was a young man from Nantucket...
 
the caretaker said:
Dr Joe? I wondered about the words he uses..it now all makes sense
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Unfortunately I'm not the sort of doctor who can heal people, so if the announcement goes out in the theatre 'Is there a doctor in the house?' I must refrain from volunteering. Unless they want advice on a doubtful reading of a line in Shakespeare, in which case I might be able to help.
 
the caretaker said:
I'm not sure? I form my own opinions...I don't need science to listen for me and I certainly don't need books to do the thinking for me..but I do read poetry..poetry is great! They say music soothes the savage beast..I think poetry can also do this...why don't you go and read a poem?
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Any book with "transform your life" in the title is dishonest before you've even opened it.

Went to the theatre in Finsbury Park this evening, a good play and I learned something more life-enhancing than cables. Managed to have a quick meal before the Arsenal fans got home.
 
Joe Hutch said:
Unfortunately I'm not the sort of doctor who can heal people, so if the announcement goes out in the theatre 'Is there a doctor in the house?' I must refrain from volunteering. Unless they want advice on a doubtful reading of a line in Shakespeare, in which case I might be able to help.
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A doctor may be a friend in need..but Shakespeare is a friend indeed!
 
sls4321 said:
Any book with "transform your life" in the title is dishonest before you've even opened it.

Went to the theatre in Finsbury Park this evening, a good play and I learned something more life-enhancing than cables. Managed to have a quick meal before the Arsenal fans got home.
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A quick meal? You chewed really fast? Lol
What was the play? Shakespeare? Timon of Athens? A cave awaits us all!
 
Joe Hutch said:
Unfortunately I'm not the sort of doctor who can heal people, so if the announcement goes out in the theatre 'Is there a doctor in the house?' I must refrain from volunteering. Unless they want advice on a doubtful reading of a line in Shakespeare, in which case I might be able to help.
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The closest I ever came to a heart attack was watching Tamsin Greig as 'Malvolia' at the NT. I remember a one man show where the performer was visibly dying on stage and at the interval asked if some people would mind coming back for the second half. We didn't. We went to a show only a few weeks ago that got one star in The Times and a banner headline "A mind-numbingly boring endurance test". Which only serves to illustrate that the problem with audio is not cable paranoia but predicability. Someone should invent some hifi technology that gives you a different performance every time you play an album.
 
sls4321 said:
The closest I ever came to a heart attack was watching Tamsin Greig as 'Malvolia' at the NT. I remember a one man show where the performer was visibly dying on stage and at the interval asked if some people would mind coming back for the second half. We didn't. We went to a show only a few weeks ago that got one star in The Times and a banner headline "A mind-numbingly boring endurance test". Which only serves to illustrate that the problem with audio is not cable paranoia but predicability. Someone should invent some hifi technology that gives you a different performance every time you play an album.
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Was the show boring? Did the Times get it wrong?
 
the caretaker said:
A quick meal? You chewed really fast? Lol
What was the play? Shakespeare? Timon of Athens? A cave awaits us all!
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https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-end-of-the-night
It reminded me a little about a great play called "Taking Sides" with Nigel Pennington and Daniel Massey as Wilhelm Furtwanger about 25 years ago, but nowhere near as good. On the subject of The Caretaker, Taking Sides was directed by Pinter, who wrote pieces for Massey's wife Penelope Wilton. We saw her do "Tess" that Pinter wrote for her, on a bill with The Birthday Party with a great cast (Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones, Zoe Wanamaker).
There's another biographical one coming up in a week or two, a Hare/Hytner play with Ralph Fiennes at the Bridge Theatre. Worth getting to. Last thing we saw there was a play about J S Bach, which wasn't very good, although the performance was good from Simon Russell Beale. He's back in September in John Gabriel Borkman, a play I think only has to be seen once in a lifetime.
 
the caretaker said:
Was the show boring? Did the Times get it wrong?
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No, Debra Craine, the dance critic, was spot on. It was a dance show to Biber's Rosary Sonatas. Two and a half hours and no interval. We survived 80 minutes and it felt like a week, before leaving. We could take no more. A famous choreographer we've seen many times, she often collaborates with top musicians, but this time completely lost the plot.
 
Joe Hutch said:
It is the title line of a song by the mighty Half Man Half Biscuit, written by the Bard of Birkenhead, Nigel Blackwell:

https://halfmanhalfbiscuit.uk/achtung-bono-2005/mate-of-the-bloke/
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Yeah..its brilliant! Mate of the bloke who sets up the PA ..lol this music would defo work on the uke..another good one is T Rex believe it or not..perfect on the ukulele! Thanks for that Dr Joe..I feel healed now after listening to that..now just got to figure out what my illness was? Lol...
 
cooky1257 said:
I'm not a cable sceptic but I am a cable evangelist sceptic( IME they are usually either delusional or FOS), there are some very good cables, you can get good performance on a budget or pay through the nose to the snake oil salesmen but still be happy.
One thing that does amuse and niggle is most companies with good reputations like Cardas make high quality/ high performance pro/ studio cables for relatively sensible money, say £10-£25/m. It's amazing really that (for donkeys years) the information from performances has been transmitted down these kind of cables and reached the recording. However in order to retrieve this same information they will sell you a cable costing £1000's /m.
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At the core of the controversy may be the question "what do you want from your cables?"

In my audio philosophy I want cables to create no audible change to the signal they carry from A to B. IMHO that's quite likely to be the goal of most studios producing the recordings to which I listen. I am quite happy to hear the audio the studio created and decide whether or not I like the music.

I do not expect all other audio enthusiasts to share my goal. If someone wants a cable to make an audible change then OK - there are undoubtedly people for whom a part of the hobby is tuning what they hear by changing cables.

In the video Amir mentions two things which are important to him that he did not test for, to which I pay attention as well. That's sufficient screening and low resistance in any conductor which may have to carry ground loop current. I also pay attention to getting a reasonable mechanical quality from the connectors including how they make electrical contact with the socket. I also favour some flavour of polyethylene insulation within the screen.

I have a few spare cables in my stock, bought over years according to my philosophy. These were bought for very reasonable money and I find I can use any of them and be perfectly happy that they don't do any audible damage. I would not use the ones Amir tested for the reasons above but it doesn't cost that much more for good ones.

Maybe someone will be along soon to tell me I couldn't possibly enjoy my music with this philosophy. Let me express my disagreement in advance.
 
sls4321 said:
https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-end-of-the-night
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I saw that recently. I'm afraid I thought it was not great. The review have been remarkably mixed (two stars in Times, three in time out) with particularly favourable reviews in local press (Ham and High). I think time out got it right in their review (although the selective quote on the Park Theatre website is skilfully chosen).
There's another biographical one coming up in a week or two, a Hare/Hytner play with Ralph Fiennes at the Bridge Theatre. Worth getting to.
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Certainly is -in a different league.
 
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