Cables

Hifi or Audio cables are an important part of a solid and balanced hi-fi system. In fact, your equipment will not work without connecting devices. What will you do without mains cables (power cabling) or how will you connect your streaming bridge without a digital cable? And what about your amplifier and speakers? You won’t get very far without speaker cable. You get our point.

Testing audio cabling

At Alpha Audio, we listen carefully when reviewing audio/hifi cables. However, we also like to gather evidence. That’s why we try to measure as much as possible. We have very sensitive and advanced measuring equipment. You can read more about our cable measurement equipment in the training on reading and understanding measurements.

Analogue cables

A hi-fi system usually needs connections for both analog and digital signals. We test both types at Alpha Audio. Analog interlinks you use, for example, between the source (CD player, record player, streamer) and the amplifier. Or between the amplifier and speakers (speaker cable).

Many skeptics say that cabling can’t make a difference. If the current and voltage remain the same, there can be no difference. We just say: believe your ears. While testing hundreds of cables, we have heard for ourselves that they do make a difference. In some settings the differences are greater than in others. We leave it up to you whether you find it worth the investment.

Digital cables

Digital cables are needed in case of a connection between for example a streaming bridge or a CD drive and a d/a converter. There are various types of digital links. Think coaxial cables, optical connections or, for example, AES balanced digital interlinks.

There are also many discussions about digital interlinks. They are 1’s and 0’s, so how can they make a difference? Again, we listen a lot to these types of cables and have observed differences. And since we have measuring equipment for digital equipment, we have also been able to show that there is indeed a difference in digital cables.

Do audio/hifi connections make a difference?

Yes: they do make a difference. Go listen for yourself: on a solid system, differences are clearly noticeable.