--- title: "In Blind Test, Audiophiles Unable to Tell Difference Between Sound Signal Run Through an Expensive Cable and a Banana" description: "A forum mod ran high-quality audio through a banana, old microphone cable soldered to pennies, and wet mud. Nobody could tell the difference." date: "2026-02-22" modified: "2026-02-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/blind-test-audiophiles-cable-banana" categories: - "Computing" - "Devices" - "Future Society" - "Physics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Science & Energy" --- # In Blind Test, Audiophiles Unable to Tell Difference Between Sound Signal Run Through an Expensive Cable and a Banana ![A forum mod ran high-quality audio through a banana, old microphone cable soldered to pennies, and wet mud. Nobody could tell the difference.]() *Pano / diyAudio* High-quality cables have long been marketed as a key way to get the most out of high-end equipment, such as expensive studio-grade monitor speaker cables and gold-plated HDMI cables for cutting-edge TVs. In the high-end audiophile world, which is renowned for eye-bulging prices, cables [can cost tens of thousands of dollars]() for ultra-pure copper with silver plating, specialized insulation, and dozens of individual conductors that manufacturers claim will squeeze the most out of a luxury-grade sound system aimed at the uber-wealthy. The laws of physics, however, have long dictated that spending that kind of cash on cables simply isn't worth it in the vast majority of circumstances — as long as you don't go for the cheapest option from the dollar store, of course. To put the decades-long debate to the ultimate test, a moderator who goes by Pano at the audiophile enthusiast forum diyAudio conducted an eyebrow-raising experiment back in 2024, which was [rediscovered by *Headphonesty*]() late last month and [*Tom's Hardware* last week](). Pano ran high-quality audio through a number of different mediums, including pro audio copper wire, an unripe banana, old microphone cable soldered to pennies, and wet mud. He then challenged his fellow forum members to listen to the resulting clips, which were musical recordings from official CD releases run through the different "cables." The results confirmed what most hobbyist audiophiles had already suspected: it was practically impossible to tell the difference. Listeners had an extremely hard time picking out what signals were run through the banana or mud, according to a [results table Pano posted]() roughly a month after announcing the experiment. A mere six out of 43 guesses were correct. According to *Tom's Hardware*'s analysis, the "results are consistent with randomness." "The amazing thing is how much alike these files sound," Pano [wrote](). "The mud should sound perfectly awful, but it doesn't. All of the re-recordings should be obvious, but they aren't." "Banana and mud (and in the older tests, potato) are simply like putting a resistor in series, meaning that other than changing the signal level, they don’t do much," he added. While you may get great audio reproduction when running a signal through a green banana or mud as a conductor, there are still some key reasons why we shouldn't rely on them for our audio equipment. "What does seem to actually matter for interconnects is \[DC resistance\] and shielding," Pano [suggested]() later. "Mud and bananas cause signal level loss and one of those materials does not have a flat frequency response." "What doesn’t seem to make much (if any) difference in sonic quality is the material of the conductor," he added. "You don’t need \[oxygen-free copper\] or 99.999999 percent pure silver, or Litz wire or anything special. Good old copper wire does the job. Steel, iron or aluminium probably would too." "Maybe there are high-end bananas," another forum member joked in response. "The common (Cavendish type) tastes not the best." The experiment eventually [went viral on several niche subreddits](), leading to plenty of jeering comments aimed at companies still [charging over $100,000]() for a simple speaker cable. "I replaced my speaker cables with trays of mud years ago," one user on the r/audiophile subreddit [quipped](). "I prefer bananas as interconnects for the warm fuzzy potassium," another user [wrote](). **More on audio:** [*AI-Generated Sound Effects Are Now Fooling Human Ears*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()