Audiophiles can't distinguish audio sent through copper, banana or mud

Experiment & Its Limits

• The test compared CD-ripped WAV files to recordings sent through short lengths of copper, banana, and wet mud; listeners mostly failed to distinguish them.
• Several commenters say this isn’t surprising for short, low-resistance links in a well-gain‑staged chain.
• Others argue the sample size (~6 people, 43 guesses) is underpowered and the overall setup (DAC, amp, speakers, room) may not have been controlled or high‑enough quality.
• Some note that the result is only meaningful for small signal‑level interconnects, not for long speaker runs or power‑side experiments.

Audiophile Cables & Placebo

• Many see the result as further evidence that expensive “magic” cables are snake oil and that audible differences vanish under blind/ABX testing.
• A contrasting view: the experiment is attacking an easy straw man (nobody serious claims 6–12" cables transform sound), while the real debate is between ordinary copper vs “audiophile” copper at realistic lengths.
• Several describe the market pattern: a low physical cutoff for audible improvements, but a much higher psychological/marketing cutoff.

Placebo, Enjoyment & Ethics

• Some are fine with people enjoying $1,000 cables as a hobby or “vibes,” provided they can afford it.
• Others emphasize consumer protection: vendors making specific false technical claims are committing fraud, even if buyers enjoy the placebo.
• There’s concern about wider societal costs of quack products (e.g., “audio‑tuned” routers, switches, SSDs, magic rocks).

What Actually Matters for Sound

• Strong consensus: biggest audible differences come from speakers/headphones and the room, not cables.
• Many report clear differences between cheap and mid‑tier gear, but rapidly diminishing returns beyond that.
• Room acoustics, speaker placement, and sometimes active room correction are seen as far more impactful than boutique electronics.

Cables, Physics & Edge Cases

• For typical home lengths, properly sized copper speaker wire is “fungible”; pro installs just size by gauge and run length.
• Long or poorly routed cables can pick up hum or radio, or cause attenuation; extreme experiments (miles of cable, outdoor mud, amp output through banana/mud) would be audibly bad.
• Some argue that resistance, inductance, capacitance, and shielding can matter, but only in non‑trivial scenarios.

Views on Audiophile Culture

• Several audio engineers and practitioners say blind tests consistently show no difference between “decent” and ultra‑high‑end electronics; audiophile lore is largely placebo plus marketing.
• Others push back on caricatures, noting real engineering in good gear and large, obvious differences between truly bad and good speakers/headphones.
• Overall sentiment: enjoy gear if you like, but rely on measurements, blind tests, and room treatment rather than marketing myths.