Blue Jeans Cable Iconoclast

They are selling power cables under the Belden / BAV line at the request of customers like me. The wire geometry used has been explained and the connectors are top quality.

The power cables are high quality and worth the asking price IMO.

I believe they are working on a power cable for the Iconoclast line but it is not fully developed yet.

A 4 foot pair of XLR in OCC = $2100.  I would say that is very expensive.  I did read the whole intro and I'm sure they are good cables.  I do have to chuckle a bit at the supposition that what makes these cables so good is the fact they finally found an engineer who knew how to make good cables.  So all these other high end manufacturers have just been guessing up to know? I mean really, has there ever been a cable manufacturer that hasn't made the same claim, just using different words?  Otherwise the guys at Cardas must be slapping their heads and saying "oh, that's how you do it".   😆

So all these other high end manufacturers have just been guessing up to know?

I suspect in more than a few cases, yes. How many of these wire and cable guys actually had a degreed electrical/RF engineering background when they first had “an idea”? Some, but I’m guessing not all by a long shot. If it’s any comparison worth noting, how many other companies have the engineering basis for their designs fully documented for all to review, and (for those who understand the papers) open to challenge and comment? OTOH, how many companies describe their products by relying on catch phrases, touting the purity of materials or some magical treatment, etc etc?
 

Doesn’t mean some of these cables aren’t potentially good, even great, but as with everything in audio it seems there’s more than one way to get to something good. Some ways are done by people who have the engineering background to know why they need to do something a certain way - and have the ability to explain it, some are done by dedicated DIYers who’ve figured things out over years of trial and error who have to presume the basis for why something they just did sounds the way it does, some by people somewhere in between.

Skating close to the argument that measurements are the way to judge good equipment?

Not at all. Nor am I saying they don’t matter at all.

At this year’s AXPONA I attended Galen Gaeris’ tech talk, where he explained how the engineering affects basic parameters for cables. It was well attended, including a very well known member of the audio press. At the end of the talk (which included the math behind how each of the three Iconoclast cables are different) the well known fellow - whose been in the business for decades - asked “which one would be the best for my system”? First, lovely guy that he is, the question at the end of that tech talk was a giveaway he really didn’t understand what was being said. Second, the answer he got from Galen Gaeris was “that’s not something I can tell you as I don’t know the reactive characteristics of the particular equipment you have, and even if I did it’s still a personal choice”. His recommendation was for the fellow to try all three and decide for himself. The poor fellow seemed a bit perplexed by that. Iconoclast claims only what’s stated in their technical papers, nothing more. The company flies under the usual audiophile radar, but a little searching will show two or three of the usual online characters having written about them.

I use what for me are the right cables in the right places. Some are Iconolclast, some are Audioquest Dragon, some are Purist Audio. There are others. They each fit best where they are to have my system perform the way it sounds best to me. No presumptive decisions made in advance without trying first. Seem fair enough? 🙂