2. cables
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Cable Costs Relative to System

Since making a spread sheet with my audio system prices, I have been thinking(shocked) about my total investment in cables. My total system retails at $67,000 (Digital and analog front ends included). I purchased all of it here on Audiogon so my investment is about 50%. Of that I have about 10% invested in interconnects and cables and another 10% in Power Cables (Shunyata Hydra included). That's $13,000 worth of wire. I'm starting to question whether it might be more effective to put some of this budget into acitve components. It would take forever to listen to all possible combinations, but would like to hear others experiences with relatively high end systems and cable selection. It would seem to me that the point of diminishing returns would be reached sooner with cables than with speakers and amps. Do most of you follow the 10% "rule" for cabling? How do PCs fit into this rule? Are there any super bargain cables capable of keeping up with highly resolving electronics?
metaphysics
metro04
222 posts
 
Joeyboynj, How does one go about specifying desired cable performance? Does one merely provide one's equipment make, model number(s), and any available specs? Since the consensus is that cables are component or system-dependant, how does a cable designer/manufacturer guarantee a cables performance without utilizing the customers actual components?

Just curious how the process works.
inpepinnovations1e75
395 posts
 
So, Joeyboynj, Don knows how those effects work, but is keeping it secret from you?

Bob P.
joeyboynj
621 posts
 
inpepinnovations@aol.com, I’m not an engineer, just a music lover. Don at DCCA Audio is a cable designer just like RidgeStreetAudio and such. I don’t ask about how he designs his cables. That is why I hire him to make me my cables. I tell him what I want and he sends them to me. Why don’t you e-mail him and ask him a few questions and maybe demo some of his fine cables and find out for yourself.

Metro04, I tell Don at DCCA Audio what audio qualities I enjoy and what type of sound I am looking for. I also provide custom specs of how long the cable should be and the connector positions so the cables fit perfectly in my rack. DCCA sends them to me and I take a listen on my system. I made requests of any changes in sound quaities and I send them back for adjustment. The cables come back tailored to my specific likings for my specific system. These are my experiences and this is what worked for me. I'm just passing on my findings. I'm happy and that is all that is important.

Enough said let's move on...
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james1969
347 posts
 
I use to think that cables were an afterthought, but as my system developed over time, wires became the weakest link by far. I have since adjusted my outlook towards cables, I would consider cables to be a primary component, like an amp or preamp.
carl109
134 posts
 
Hi RidgeStreetAudio, I guess my definition of a tweak is altering the existing equipment in some way to make an incremental improvement. Replacing the supplied PC with an aftermarket upgrade is in my view a "tweak", just as upgrading speaker cables and interconnects from what you already have to something that performs better is a tweak.
I realise a power cable is equipment in the sense that the component wont work without it, but upgrading to something better (and usually more expensive) is a tweak.
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