The fallacy of the weakest link

The weakest link is a false metaphor. It’s a puzzle why it’s still even around. Probably because people keep referring to things like “the recording chain”. Signal does seem to go from one place to another, all linked together as in a chain. There the grain of truth begins- and ends. 

Unlike the physical chain, the weakest link of which will indeed break, music passes through a number of components each of which is capable of transmitting it either with distortion, or fidelity. Because of this then a much better metaphor for listening to music is looking through a window. 

In this case now your system is comprised of a number of panes of glass. The speakers are the pane of glass closest to you. But to get to the speaker the signal must travel through many, many panes of glass: crossover, binding posts, speaker cables, amplifier, and so on. All the way back to the electric panel.

Or however far you want to take it. Point being, there’s a lot of panes of glass. 

Some panes are thick, some thin. Some clear, some colored or tinted. Some wavy and distorted, some polished flat, others sand blasted. Some a little bit of everything. Some you can hardly even see through.

Clearly, if any one of these many panes is removed and replaced with one a lot more clean and clear you will see it. The view through the window will improve. Won’t matter if it’s the first pane or the last. Won’t matter at all. It will be exactly like cleaning the windows in your car. You can clean the inside. You can clean the outside. Either way improves your view.

So it is with cables. Doesn’t matter the electricity traveled a thousand miles down crappy aluminum high tension wires. The last few inches inside the speaker cabinet still matters. 

Because: everything matters. 

But there may well be another reason for this albatross hanging around: audiophiles love to think they found the answer. As if there is but one answer. As if it were so simple. 

What’s it say there? “Makes more sense to match the quality….”? Good one. How? By looks?

Sorry. No such luck. Go and listen. You will see.