![\"DNA](\"https:\/\/www.speakerandstereostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/DNA-Helix-Patent-Timeline.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAs an older audiophile I remember when components were tested and the results printed in reviews. For example, amplifiers were given square wave tests at different frequencies and the photos of the scope results showed which ones had risen times fast enough to retain the high frequencies. But there came an era when audiophiles realized that traditional test results did not necessarily tell an accurate story, so subjective reviewing became the dominant style. And rightly so\u00a0– early solid state amps and early CD players tested great but sounded harsh, Reliance on test results fell out of favor, engineers have disappeared from the audio reviewing scene, and subjective reviewing dominates.<\/p>\n
My most popular cables, WireWorld, have the motto “Engineered for Reality” yet their website stresses that while they design with science and patent their technology, they refine the sound by ear. Once they engineer a cable they use a cable\u00a0switch\u00a0box to make instant comparisons to a direct connection. The goal is to compare their cables to no cable at all. WireWorld gives great results but no technical\u00a0explanations.<\/p>\n
But just because some favorite older measurements were not as good predictors as had been\u00a0thought\u00a0does not mean that the laws of physics had been repealed. WireWorld designs with science and tests by ear. On their website they show the evolution of cable, but do not go into any\u00a0technical\u00a0talk at all.<\/p>\n
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My other favorite cable brand,\u00a0Analysis Plus, takes a purely scientific approach. Their real business is a high-tech testing company, doing\u00a0projects\u00a0for Ford, NASA, GM, Mitsubishi, and others,\u00a0but\u00a0they got in the cable business almost by chance. After being hired by the world’s\u00a0largest cable maker to test some of their cables they were surprised that they\u00a0tested\u00a0so poorly. Being scientists (the three\u00a0principles\u00a0are PhDs) they\u00a0started\u00a0a project to discover how\u00a0to make\u00a0a better cable using computer\u00a0simulation. They found that many old ideas about cable were wrong, ( at this point please remember that much of cable design theory was perfected by telegraph and telephone companies many years ago and has not been\u00a0given\u00a0much\u00a0thought\u00a0since.) Analysis Plus used their computers to design a more\u00a0perfect cable\u00a0geometry and the result is their Hollow Oval design. They have\u00a0white\u00a0papers and videos on their\u00a0website showing the science. And they have\u00a0photos\u00a0of the square waves of their cables versus ordinary cables.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.analysis-plus.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/design_1figure5.gif\")
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