Cable Costs Relative to System

I think that's what they said about the Shelby Cobra : )

I agree with you wholeheartedly even though i joked about what you said. Just like anything else, something that is well designed to start with needs less "finessing" than something that was "lacking" when it left the factory. Buy better gear and go and go from there. Sean
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I'm with cornfed; the whole wire and power cord thing is the most shameless ripoff in all of the High End. Yes, good wire makes an improvement, but not a huge one, and the cost structure is so obscene it makes me sick. If you knew the markup on most brands of cable and cords, you'd feel like punching the next guy that has the gall to try and sell you this stuff at near-retail. Yes, I used to own pricey wire and I have an expensive system that can reveal wire differences. It doesn't mean I have to buy into this swindle though. But ultimately it's your money and your value system, if expensive wire works for you psycho-acoustically or psycho-somatically, than go for it. Me, I'm back to nice but sanely-priced wire from now on. And no more "magic cords" filled with nonsense and galling hyperbole. Hey, who wants to buy a $2000 power cord--it'll make all the difference in your system, I promise!! Yikes......

I am in the same boat almost as the original poster. I've got around a $70K retail value in my system and probably 19% of it is cable, wires, power cords and a Shunyata Hydra ordered. I agree that getting the big important pieces figured out at first is more important such as getting your "dream speakers' and the perfect amp to mate with them. Then getting front ends that you really enjoy and pass them through a great preamp is of the utmost importance. THEN, tweaking with good cabling and power management really finishes off the sound and seems to make the most difference becasue the transparency of the system allows it to be heard. I am into those final stages now, just getting the hydra, power cords and the last piece of some really expensive speaker wire. Each of these changes now brings me closer to the music and makes it more enjoyable. I don't think the "fringe" improvments would have made sense a few years ago before I got my transport, dac and speakers that I have now. But as I said the "other" stuff is about 19% of the total retail value of the system and I've gotten 70% of my equimpent used. Some pieces were bought new at very steep discounts too.

If you guys are reading this it means you probably buy at least some of your gear on line . At 40-70% off of list price. Unless you are the ruler of a country Spending
$ 3,000.00 on a power cord is nuts! I bought an MIT powercord from HCM for $ 99.00. 15 foot M2.4 Biwire monsters( list $ 1,100.00) for $ 300.00 Monster M10001 @ $ 115.00 M etc . By the way Dan from Krell uses Monster cables on his $ 35,000.00 speakers . I would never use lamp cord but lets try to be a little objective. One of the reasons high quality cables sound better is that they lower the background noice level & shield against interference.
I know they look cool , but if you find an electrical engineer that buys any of the cable hype, please let me know. PS I think the most noticable step I have taken toward getting closer to the music in my 30+ years of obsession with Audio has been my discovery of TUBES ! Enjoy the ride!

I have always heard 10%-20% of retail is a good pricerange to operate in for cable budget.Myself running close to the 20% mark.