| For years it has been well understood in home audio | | | | as the ground return path. This allows noise from car |
| that cables can have a tremendous impact on a sound | | | | components such as the alternator to be inducted into |
| system, both good and bad. Choose the right cables | | | | the audio cables via EMI. In terms of RFI, unless proper |
| and you can expect a system to come to life. Choose | | | | shielding is used, the longer cables in cars will act as |
| poorly designed cables, and you may forever be | | | | antennas and pull in more noise. A third source of noise |
| wondering why you can't get your system to come to | | | | in a vehicle is vibration. This is of course far worse in a |
| life. | | | | vehicle than in a home system. Pear Cable is the first |
| Car audio however, has been a different story. While | | | | company to bring out a car audio cable that virtually |
| many companies still offer coaxial interconnect cables, | | | | eliminates the noise caused by cable vibration. The |
| most have come to realize that the basic twisted pair | | | | TRIBODeadÔ technology present in the Comice |
| design offers far better noise rejection in a vehicle. | | | | Silver Interconnect is an electrically conductive plastic |
| And then... Nothing. That's it. Innovation seems to have | | | | layer that prevents static electrical charges, caused by |
| hit a brick wall at the shielded twisted pair interconnect | | | | vibration, from building up in the cable. |
| in car audio. This begs the question; Should Cars Have | | | | - Is Quality Sound Just for Home Audio or does it have |
| High End Audio Cables? | | | | a Place in Car Audio Too? |
| To begin with, let's briefly go back to home audio. | | | | Some people feel that a car audio sound system will |
| After many years of fighting an uphill battle, the idea | | | | never be as good as a home audio system, and |
| that cables make a difference has become a | | | | therefore high fidelity cables are a waste of money in |
| mainstream ideology amongst audiophiles. But it isn't | | | | a car. This is a faulty conclusion. The experience of |
| just audiophiles who can hear the difference. In fact, in | | | | listening to music in your vehicle while driving down the |
| our own testing, the differences can be heard by just | | | | highway is unique and cannot be replicated in the |
| about anybody, even on very modest audio systems. | | | | home audio environment. The bottom line here is that |
| It just takes a willingness to discard any preconceived | | | | many people spend more time listening to their car |
| notions and actually listen to some music. | | | | audio system than their home system, and they want |
| So, if cables make a difference in home audio, is there | | | | it to be the best that it can be. The characteristics of |
| a reason why it shouldn't matter in car audio? The | | | | bad audio cables (listening fatigue, poor realism, overly |
| quick answer is no. The following outlines some of the | | | | bright treble, or general noise) will all still be audible in a |
| reasons why cables matter just as much, if not more, | | | | car audio system. Just like home audio, the wrong |
| in car audio. | | | | cables in your vehicle will kill the listening experience. |
| Many people are under the impression that car audio | | | | At the end of the day, many people want quality |
| uses shorter cables than home audio, and therefore | | | | sound in their vehicles. If you are installing an |
| does not need to bother with high fidelity cables. This is | | | | aftermarket system in your vehicle and you care |
| completely incorrect. While the typical interconnect | | | | about sound quality, you need to care about cables. If |
| length in a home audio system is about 1 meter, | | | | you are only interested in having the loudest car, |
| vehicles will frequently use 5 or 6 meter interconnects | | | | without regards to accuracy, then high fidelity audio |
| to put amplifiers in the trunk. In terms of speaker | | | | cables probably aren't for you. Otherwise, it simply |
| cables, car audio almost always uses cables longer | | | | doesn't make sense to shell out good money on |
| than the 6-8 feet used in most home audio setups. | | | | amplifiers and speakers, only to hook it all up with |
| Vehicles represent a far more challenging environment | | | | mediocre wire. Car audio enthusiasts are every bit as |
| for cables than home audio systems. Two typical | | | | serious as home audio enthusiasts, and now there is |
| sources of noise in cables are Electro-Magnetic | | | | finally a cable company that is serious about serving |
| Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference | | | | their needs. |
| (RFI). In vehicles, the entire chassis is frequently used | | | | Article written by Adam Blake. |