For the Hi-Fi enthusiasts among us...

TexOmega

Can you try before you buy?

If not, that's not a whole lot of cash to try.

What are you using now? That is an important connection, let your ears tell you after things settle.

Engee

Can’t try before I buy. They’re an eBay offer. I agree I could buy and not be too bothered if they’re not all that, but wanted to see if anyone here might jump to tell me either to buy ‘em because they’re great or to keep them a long way away from me.

SkunkPrince

They'll be well-made but whether they're an improvement will be impossible to say.

I've tried some weird stuff over the years because I could get some of the parts for free, like using ribbon cable for speakers (don't bother). The only interconnect I know of that will do little harm is star-quad shielded microphone cable, if you assemble it correctly, which means the shield is connected at one end only, and that end almost universally is attached to the preamplifier.

JwRosenthal

I think what gets lost in the debate on cables is not what they add, but what they subtract. Dropping the noise floor and removing all traces of EMI and RF is the goal. When people think a cable has “lifted a veil” or gave more punch and dynamics to music, it’s not really bullshit- it was always there in their system, it was just masked by poor signal transmission or the additional of environmental or electrical artifacts.
Part of the hype on cabling isn’t just hype:
There is truth to the metallurgy of different conductors- not bullshit.
Silver conducts differently than copper- not bullshit.
Solid core conducts differently than stranded- not bullshit.
Coax conducts differently than unshielded- not bullshit.
Resistance and capacitance effect the conductivity of signals (which can be both good and bad in different application)- not bullshit.
Skin effect is not bullshit.

My Urei speakers (by their specs written for technical studio applications) require a minimum of 12 gauge cable for proper dampening. Most high end speaker cables (AQ for example) use 20g or smaller braided conductor and massive amounts of shielding. They do not do what those specific speakers need. But, those same cables sound fabulous on my Quad L2 towers or Sonus Faber Electa’s .
I have found than solid silver core, or silver plated copper coax cable works fabulously for digital signals (as is used in head end stations for digital video transmission), but can be fairly high impedance. Low resistance cable (like microphone cable like
The aforementioned Canare or Mogami) is imperative for low output analog signals (like turntable leads).

Also how cables are routed is an issue as if not properly shielded and going past a source of EMI (like a duplex outlet), it will pick up a subtle 60 cycle hum (I learned that the hard way chasing a hum for years- and it was the proximity to an outlet). Heavy shielding can resolve that, but not always necessary- placement was the issue there.
There is a lot of truth and a lot of fairy dust in cables. Lamp cord sucks, it always has. But cables are a market where the results are fairly subjective and there is virtually no way to prove that a cable can provide a better image, or give more bass slam, or lift the back wall off the room…although I have heard all the above with different cables and not changing anything else in a system. But as to companies claiming such results- show me that graph.

JwRosenthal

Surprisingly quite a bit is audible- but the underlying din is what needs to be eliminated (emi/rf), and becuase it is a din and not actual “noise” that we perceive as sound, we don’t really grasp that it’s muddying the waters. a low 60hz buzz, no matter how subtle can muddy any musical frequency in that range (speakers are working to produce the buzz as well as the music in that range). That sound of “air” or a low hum that we hear with nothing playing is actually cancelling or masking other sounds in that range when music is playing.
The single most valuable “upgrade” I made in my listening room was speaker/furniture placement and room treatment. I am
Limited by my space (L shaped finished basement with 7” ceilings) I did an experiment where I covered the flatscreen tv with a blanket as well as the framed picture above the couch. I put throw pillows propped on stools up against the left wall where the left speaker reflects off the wall, and a large piece of insulation in the left corner to work as a bass trap. No amount of cabling has ever made the difference that made- image deepened by about 10 feet, widened beyond the speakers, instruments and vocals separates (three singers harmonizing sounded like three district voices and not a wall of sound) and I stated getting that rear sound effect @SkunkPrince mentioned earlier where we perceive sounds in the room and not just from the speakers.
Playing with cabling can truly make a difference in how the signal is transmitted- no doubt. But the room itself is more detrimental to what we hear than any component or cable.
Before someone upgrades anything in their current system, work out the acoustic issues in the room first- otherwise you are just throwing good money after bad.