Cu vs steel parts leads: fantasy audiophoolery or overlooked (problematic) reality?

[dai h.]

sort of like some of those naive beginner notions (some which I certainly remember having) such as getting lots of even harmonics, or eliminating feedback being some kind of supercure for poor sound, alu electros ruining the sound, single ended triodes being better than pentodes, "pure star grounding", cryogenically treated underpants for cleaner sounding flatulence and so on and so forth.

[Enzo]

And all my amp designs are 100% di-hydrogen monoxide free.

[km6xz]

If hysteresis distortion is bad, ..........The most effective cure would be to get a solid-state amp.

Not only solid state but the dreaded SMD and integrated circuits have even less and only Ion speakers have low hysteresis. But then, it also means no violins or tympani, reed, hammered or plucked instruments, and worst of all is concert halls.

[dai h.]

I was wondering what the supposed problem is supposed to sound like, and here:

DIYHiFi.org • View topic - Magnetic lead out wires, good or bad?

some of the claims are that they make the sound "hazy", "murky", and (sometimes) "excessively brilliant in the top octaves".

Some (apparently) boutique hi-fi equipment designer gives his rationale here as well (see page 10) :

http://www.parasound.com/pdfs/JCinterview.pdf

[J M Fahey]

cryogenically treated underpants for cleaner sounding flatulence

Well, at least *this* test can be scientifically performed, meaning double-blind tested.
I offer myself as a test subject; we can set up an opaque, acoustically transparent curtain, I stay behind it and a specially trained Lab assistant changes my underwear without telling me whether it's cryogenically treated or not.
I already have the required elements: a 24 can case of NASA-approved Pork and Beans (100% oxygen-free) and, last but not least, Dr Claudette L'Amour, a French trained Lab Assistant:

Any sacrifice is small if it helps Science.

[dai h.]

LoL. Wouldn't you be STRONGLY discouraged from flatulating though, (at least when the lab assistant is in the room)?

Vive la assistant!

[Sweetfinger]

Wasn't there a true blind test of cables done a few years ago where one set of "cables" consisted of unwrapped coathangers? Personally, my listening system is completely saturated with hydrogen hydroxide and has difficulty sensing above 18,000 Hz, so I'm pretty sure that with proper layout I will not hear any difference between pure copper leads and steel leads in my capacitors.