The Cost of Cables

Something I don't think I've seen as I've skimmed this thread, and countless others like it is that when it comes to audiophiles, they aren't buying cables as a utilitarian item. They are buying them as art.

Expensive cables are not just made for the purpose of moving signal from point A to point B, but for a full kinesthetic experience. Not just aurally, but visual, tactile, and ultimately emotionally. If an object moves people, whether it's dollops of paint on canvas, a lump of bronze or a set of cables, how can you put a price on that?

I'm sure Martin Heidegger would have had something to say on this subject if you had asked him.

chris...your statement above ...'so obviously a few of us with various systems......' is the easy part.the difficulty begins when you begin to put your ideas into actual action. my guess is that you would quickly find out why cables ..as well as audio gear in general..like most of the rest of the worlds, non-essential possessions, are priced so high.the idea is the easy part...how many people in life have great ideas about 'a better mouse trap'..but don't have the guts to follow through with that idea?..my guess is that the individuals who own the cable companies...and most of them are probably individuals..are part of that small percentage of the population that did..fortunately for me and others..have the guts to put their money where their mouth was and go 'out on a limb' with their ideas..with the big chance of complete failure..and produce cables that now populate..expensive or not..all our systems...

And about all that "R&D"... Since the conclusion about ALL cabling is that they're system/component-dependent, and impedance/inductance-matching so important, what or why don't cable manufacturers provide technical criteria for which their cables were designed and tested (thus claims)? Why should it be such a guessing game (trial/error) for the buyer? Most other audio equipment provide some form of specifications, so why can't/don't cable manufacturers at least provide "recommended parameters" that their cables perform best with?

Calloway..not sure what you are trying to say? To be quite honest, I don't believe any of these cables companies started with huge R&D money and venture capital. I can only chuckle thinking of an individual starting with an idea going to meet with a Bank of America goup asking them to fund a startup for five thousand dollar speaker wires. If you note my post earlier, I freely admit that I do not have time nor inclination to start a cable company, my second post was for the very most part, tongue in cheek. I agree many people do not have "the guts to follow through with an idea". As a business owner of two separate businesses, the first of which I started with a five thousand dollar signature loan, and worked "part time" at it for four years, I understand the trials and tribulations required to get a business off the ground. I have never though, in my 17 years of owning businesses, done anything but provide superior value to my customers, the original question in this thread was a question of where the costs for these cables comes from, and my point is that it is cetainly not manufacturing cost, and very probably not R&D capital asset cost relative to most other industries. I do not intend to denigrate those entrepreneurs for their entrepreneurship, acually I am somewhat envious of what I see, and this is only my opinion, of their sheer elan in their markup over their manufacturing cost.

Cheers!
Chris

Great posts Chris.

I am certainly not saying it is easy to start a company, such as one to make and sell cables, but again, neither is it for any other part of the industry. Also, I wouldn't throw us all under the bus by saying we don't have the guts to start a company, there are myriads of reasons why people don't.

Metro04, I suspect that discussion could spin this discussion out of control.

Leedistad, maybe I don't follow your post well enough, I did have to use a disctionary a few times. :) Are you suggesting the beauty (visual appeal) of the cable itself or the performance of the cable as part of "art" of music that can be priceless? Either way, I go back to points already made, that I don't see cables different from any other part of audio gear, yet the profit margin of cables seems to me, and others, to far exceed other audio gear.

Brian