How exciting are cable demos, really? Most are
as boring as anything. This shouldn't be! Cables are some of the most controversial
products in specialty audio/video -- products for which much can be explained.
Perhaps with all of this in mind, Siltech's
Edwin van der Kley decided to make his demo a little more active, and interesting, by
bringing in some of his test equipment and showing some of the tests that Siltech performs
on their products. Edwin contends that these illustrate the differences among cables and
explain why some cables perform better than others.
Edwin conducted two tests. In one, he
demonstrated how some 75-ohm cables don't meet their specification across the audio band,
and how the impedance can be altered by twisting and turning the cables in various ways.
Not surprisingly, Siltech's own cable passed with flying colors. We twisted and turned and
did everything we could, and it held constant at 75 ohms.
Edwin then demonstrated external noise
generated by power cords due to poor shielding, something, he says, that can affect the
performance of other cables and components in an audio or A/V system. First, he connected
the power cords to an amplifier with an 8-ohm resistor as its load. Then, he drove a 1kHz
signal into the amp. We photographed the results (shown below) as the demonstration was
performed.
Finally, he placed the sensor on a Siltech
power cord.
Whether the results of these tests amount to important
audible or visual differences is open to debate. In fact, one spectator did argue that
point as the tests were conducted. However, nobody watching would argue that this
demonstration was interesting and unique insofar as A/V shows go.
