03-Aug-2020, 21:04
I'm with @BoyScout. We need reports from other people doing similar tests.
Yes, there are differences in the length of the positive and negative cable lengths to each driver because of the way the cable is connected to the crossover arrangement. Yes, as Pim and Jean-Marie have both stated, the differences in length are insignificant and will not produce an audible difference but we have no reason to believe that, if there is a difference, that difference is due to the difference in cable length. A difference, if there is a difference, could also be due to the difference in connection to the crossover.
Quick story: Back in 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first powered flight with a heavier than air aircraft at Kittyhawk. Some weeks later a noted engineer published proof that reports of the flight were mistaken or a hoax because heavier than air flight wasn't possible and using mathematics based on the accepted scientific knowledge of that day. His big mistake was not in the maths, the maths were sound; nor was it in what he claimed as scientic knowledge, his claims about that honestly represented the knowledge of the day. His big mistake was a lack of observation on his part. Science attempts to explain observations and that process starts with observation. While we use scientific theory to make predictions, that theory does not guarantee that the predictions will be right, it just predicts what we should observe if the theory is right. If the observations do not agree with the prediction then the first step in science is to repeat the observations and to determine whether they are correct. If the observations are determined to be correct then the current theory is wrong and a new theory which can also predict the new observations is developed.
Simply claiming that any difference has to be due to differences in cable length and that those differences in length can not produce an audible result is repeating the same mistake that engineer made when he "proved" that heavier than air flight was impossible. The history of science is littered with accounts of people making the same mistake.
We need confirmation or refutation of the observation that this connection method makes an audible difference. That can only be done by other people repeating the exact same experiment, connecting a speaker with this specific connection method and seeing whether or not it makes an audible difference. A nice, professionally conducted, double blind test would be best but we aren't going to get that so the best we can do here, in this forum, is to see what anecdotal evidence we can find and there's no reason to look down our noses at anecdotal evidence because the first observations that start any scientific process always appear as a single, anecdotal report which eventually is either confirmed or refuted.
It's possible to come up with all sorts of claims that any difference would have to be caused by one thing or another but if you're going to dismiss a report on the basis that those causes can not result in the claimed difference, your "refutation" is only as good as your attribution of the cause. If you don't identify the right cause, you don't have a refutation and the only way to find out the right cause, if there really is a difference here, is to start by repeating the exact same test as BoyScout has done and attempting to confirm or refute his observation. Asserting that any difference can only be caused by the differences in cable length is a guess and I'm quite happy to accept that those differences in length will not cause a difference but that fact does not mean that BoyScout's observation is wrong. All it means is that if his observation is right then the cause must be something else.
If we're going to be scientific about this, let's at least try to follow the scientific method which is to start with observations, confirm or refute those observations by replicating the experiment, and then if we confirm the observations start to look for an explanation for why the connection method makes a difference. The scientific method is not to assert that the only difference is in cable length, especially when that ignores that the difference in cable length is due to a different connection method, and to dismiss the observation out of hand because the difference in cable length can not result in an audible difference. That approach is the same approach as the engineer who "proved" that heavier than air flight was impossible used to dismiss the reports of the Wright Brothers flight.
Yes, there are differences in the length of the positive and negative cable lengths to each driver because of the way the cable is connected to the crossover arrangement. Yes, as Pim and Jean-Marie have both stated, the differences in length are insignificant and will not produce an audible difference but we have no reason to believe that, if there is a difference, that difference is due to the difference in cable length. A difference, if there is a difference, could also be due to the difference in connection to the crossover.
Quick story: Back in 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first powered flight with a heavier than air aircraft at Kittyhawk. Some weeks later a noted engineer published proof that reports of the flight were mistaken or a hoax because heavier than air flight wasn't possible and using mathematics based on the accepted scientific knowledge of that day. His big mistake was not in the maths, the maths were sound; nor was it in what he claimed as scientic knowledge, his claims about that honestly represented the knowledge of the day. His big mistake was a lack of observation on his part. Science attempts to explain observations and that process starts with observation. While we use scientific theory to make predictions, that theory does not guarantee that the predictions will be right, it just predicts what we should observe if the theory is right. If the observations do not agree with the prediction then the first step in science is to repeat the observations and to determine whether they are correct. If the observations are determined to be correct then the current theory is wrong and a new theory which can also predict the new observations is developed.
Simply claiming that any difference has to be due to differences in cable length and that those differences in length can not produce an audible result is repeating the same mistake that engineer made when he "proved" that heavier than air flight was impossible. The history of science is littered with accounts of people making the same mistake.
We need confirmation or refutation of the observation that this connection method makes an audible difference. That can only be done by other people repeating the exact same experiment, connecting a speaker with this specific connection method and seeing whether or not it makes an audible difference. A nice, professionally conducted, double blind test would be best but we aren't going to get that so the best we can do here, in this forum, is to see what anecdotal evidence we can find and there's no reason to look down our noses at anecdotal evidence because the first observations that start any scientific process always appear as a single, anecdotal report which eventually is either confirmed or refuted.
It's possible to come up with all sorts of claims that any difference would have to be caused by one thing or another but if you're going to dismiss a report on the basis that those causes can not result in the claimed difference, your "refutation" is only as good as your attribution of the cause. If you don't identify the right cause, you don't have a refutation and the only way to find out the right cause, if there really is a difference here, is to start by repeating the exact same test as BoyScout has done and attempting to confirm or refute his observation. Asserting that any difference can only be caused by the differences in cable length is a guess and I'm quite happy to accept that those differences in length will not cause a difference but that fact does not mean that BoyScout's observation is wrong. All it means is that if his observation is right then the cause must be something else.
If we're going to be scientific about this, let's at least try to follow the scientific method which is to start with observations, confirm or refute those observations by replicating the experiment, and then if we confirm the observations start to look for an explanation for why the connection method makes a difference. The scientific method is not to assert that the only difference is in cable length, especially when that ignores that the difference in cable length is due to a different connection method, and to dismiss the observation out of hand because the difference in cable length can not result in an audible difference. That approach is the same approach as the engineer who "proved" that heavier than air flight was impossible used to dismiss the reports of the Wright Brothers flight.
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