Cables that cost more than the speakers?

Close. I have a pair of B&W P5. They listed for $1500 but have the same drivers as the Matrix series. I preferred them against the Matrix 804 and 805 when tested in my home. I use $650 pair of cables, but the real difference is actually in the amplification and other cables. My amp and preamp (which I bought used) have a combined list price of $4400 and I have a Nordost Quattro linking them $1600. I started with a CJ Sonographe combo ($2200) and Blue Heaven as a link. Each time I have gotten better amplification and links the speakers have been up to the task, so I have not changed them yet. Adding a REL Storm III to the mix also helped. Next time it will be the speakers; thinking about the Nautilus 803 or 804. (I am a big B&W fan). The P5 were never popular in the USA. I consider them one of the biggest steals in audio. Used mint they usually sell for only $700 a pair and blow the better known CDM series away.

Not that this little story means much, but a few years back when Wes Phillips was writing for Stereophile he ran into a similar situation. He was doing a review for a relatively inexpensive B & W stand mounted moniter. At that time the only speaker cable he had in the house (he claimed) was the top of the line Kimber. I don't remember the model name of the cable, but like the TAS article it cost several magnitudes of order more than the speakers. As WP told the story, John Atkinson stopped by during the review period and commented about the disparity between the cost of cable and the cost of the speaker. WP then played some music and JA was apparently awed. I probably don't have the story exact, but the idea is right and the whole idea is amusing to say the least.

I think that these guys get this stuff in their homes and often times their is a disparity in what they are reviewing. To me, it of takes the theory of a reviewers "reference system" and throws it out the window. I try to evaluate one thing at a time. These guys seem to be able to evaluate two or three things at the same time. Cheers, Doug

I just remembered a demo show by a B&W sales rep at my local B&W dealer back home around the time the original DM602 came out. The show was really to discuss and show off the Silver Signature, Matrix and CDM speakers, but at the end of the evening the Rep hooked up the 602 to the same high end system they were using for the other speakers to show off what $550 would buy. I remember everyone was impressed.

I'll admit that I have some power cords that retail for more than many of my components. The total retail cost of my cables (power, interconnect, and speaker) probably equals the retail value of all my amps. I only paid a fraction of those prices, however, thanks to the used market and such.

Doug is right, these reviewers who have 5 pieces of new eqipment that they review all at once are morons. Even worse is people who listen to their reviews, and don't think that these guys have a whole bunch of new components, yet are talking about the capabilities of just one of those five pieces.