2. cables
  3. 195574-58070

Case in point: a $90,000 power cord by ASUNZ

Open Letter to the Audiophile Community: When High-End Becomes High Farce

There is a line between excellence and exploitation. In high-end audio, we celebrate passion, precision, and engineering that bring us closer to the music. We accept that real performance costs real money. But every so often, a product comes along that crosses the line into absurdity — and, frankly, insults the intelligence of the global audiophile community.

Case in point: a $90,000 power cord. (https://eqaudio.ca/power-cables/ansuz-mainz-d-tc3-gold-signature-power-cable/) A blatant insult to the intelligence of the global audiophile community!!!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. A piece of wire dressed up as “innovation,” sold for the price of a luxury car. It is not just excessive, it is contemptuous of the very customers who sustain this hobby.

The danger here isn’t only to one brand’s credibility. When companies market cables at such outrageous prices, they make the entire industry look foolish to the outside world. They reinforce every stereotype: that audiophiles are gullible, that high-end gear is snake oil, that this pursuit is less about music and more about status symbols.

We, as music lovers, are not idiots. We know the difference between engineering and opportunism. We know when craftsmanship justifies a premium — and when pricing is simply a provocation.

If high-end audio is to survive, manufacturers must show respect for both the craft and the community. Otherwise, the “legacy” they leave will not be of sonic breakthroughs, but of arrogance, excess, and ridicule.

This letter is not just directed at one company. It’s a call for honesty, sanity, and responsibility across the industry. If the goal is truly to celebrate music, then let’s price gear like it’s made for music lovers — not billionaires with no sense of value.

Steve Pappas
A concerned audiophile

violi_doxari3a
devinplombier
898 posts
 

@hce1 

@kerrybh 

Good posts, but you guys leave out the most important point, which is not so much the cost of the object as the claims to sound quality. 

In other words, anyone should be free to spend, say, $8,000 on a couple of Ethernet cables if they wish. It’s still a free country, after all, for the most part.

Maybe their kids will put them under conservatorship if they find out, but that’s ok.

The problem starts when some of these people come on here and start making grandiose, absurd claims of HUGE sonic improvements due to the Audiophile CAT-6 cables.

Worse, when highly educated folks with careers in computer science-related fields make polite attempts to gently educate them as to why that’s just not possible, these people get all hissy and start assailing the so-called "naysayers" with charges of subpar hearing; mediocre, non-resolving systems; and more generally blinkered ignorance of "science" that conveniently has yet to be discovered.

Calling these people "idiots" is both hyperbolic and medically incorrect. Most of them seem to possess average intelligence; and, in reality, the reasons why they propagate false claims and sow division are far more complex than just idiocy, but that’s another conversation.

Suffice it to say that we should probably refrain from just calling them idiots. We can, and should, be more inclusive than that.

Post removed 
cleeds
6,306 posts
 

devinplombier

... The problem starts when some of these people come on here and start making grandiose, absurd claims of HUGE sonic improvements ...

Why is that such a problem? This is an audio forum. Why shouldn't people here be able to discuss what we hear on our systems?

yyzsantabarbara
5,127 posts
 

The US Justice Dept. should investigate Ansuz Cable Co. for wire fraud. :-)

Nice.

This is one audio company I do not ever consider, whatever the make. They seem to be taking it to the extreme now.

 

kerrybh
401 posts
 

@devinplombier I agree with you. I think the science around what is possible- and not- is important. This discussion can be carried on without name calling, which does nothing to advance understanding. Ultimately, we all get to decide. I’ve tried expensive switches, for example, and couldn’t hear a bit of difference. But, hey, if someone perceives an improvement, good for them- they get an improvement. We can hear differently and we can understand the science differently without making anyone an idiot. Denigrating people about how much money they choose to spend or not to spend is  particularly offensive. It’s nobody’s business

personally, I wish there was a competent, neutral organization doing properly constructed, blind testing of lots of this stuff and publishing the results I don’t say that’s perfect, but I think it would be very useful  

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