Tired of Expensive Speaker Cable. Alternatives?

In my system, the LAT international silver/copper hybrid clearly sounds better than the anti-cables - not even close. I won't spend truckloads of money on a cable, but there is a difference. However, LAT cables may not sound better in other people's systems so I won't presume that they will. Ditto for DH labs and AudioHorizons.

Hi Dan,
You'll note that I said it was not "very" high end. No way in hell is a VPI Scoutmaster "very" high end. Ditto on the Ayre electonics.

The table, preamp, and amp are high quality components from reputable companies but very high end is a stretch IMO.

His wire argument is totally bogus.

Before this gets off track and evolves into a pissing contest about what's very high end and what's not let me add a few caveats to my prior posts.

To begin only a few components from a handful of manufacturers, IMO, can be considered "very" high end.

That being said my list of very high end products would include top offerings from the following, but not limited to these, manufacturers (in no particular order):

MBL
Goldmund
Zanden
Wilson
Focal JM Labs
Aesthetix
Dali
Dcs
Audio Note Kondo

We could add another couple dozen I suppose and everybody's list would be different. OTOH, we could all agree that certain products are not very high end. To list names is not fair and actually unimportant in that regard.

Very high end, I admit, is a subjective, relative, and nebulous term. I’d opine that less than 5% of the gear for sale on Audiogon meets my personal “very” high end criteria. If you agree, fine. If not, oh well.

To further clarify, there are good systems, reference systems, and SOTA [State of the Art] systems.

Although there are no hard and fast rules, I would say that a Ref. system will cost $50,000+, while a SOTA system is $100,000+! An audiophile reaching this level will spend copious amounts of time, trial, and trade-ins to reach audio nirvana. And they will use plenty of tweaks and ROOM TREATMENTS [if not even a specially built audio room]...you've all seen a few of these systems listed here.

Also, just dumping a bunch of money won't get you a Ref. or SOTA system. You can have a system that will be bettered by a system costing half as much!

To further complicate things, there are no absolutes in audio. In racing, the fastest car wins. In audio, we all have particular biases regarding what sonic signature we enjoy. It's like trying to judge the best flavor of pie!

Tweaks and cables will produce a much greater sonic change in a Ref. or SOTA system. And of course, there are audiophiles who spend more time fooling around and adjusting their systems than they do listening to music...there is nothing wrong with that. How many car enthusiasts do you know who spend more time in their garage than driving? Just enjoy, knowing that you are a member of a small, select group who is blessed [cursed?] and can appreciate the passion and magic of good sound!

LOL What was that song refrain? oh yeah, "You don't piss into the
wind...."

Most of the time people spend a hundred grand on audio is because they are
in a sucker rut. My system cost less than twelve grand. Set up against one
notch less than an Audio-Note system can be, mine wins hands down. Silver
everything, oil capacitors, and a $140,000 price tag can't make up for the
power and finesse of my system.

Start with the speaker. The Apogee Scintilla is argued to be the greatest
speaker ever made. The amps I am powering it with play with it's 1 ohm like it
was a toy. My preamp, by the same builder, is second to none. I am sure of
that. At least it has trounced all comers.

My source, including an Audio Note DAC is a meager affair that has received a
great fortifying operation by the same builder. It is in the power supply, and
cap choices that make the difference.

There are relatively few outright geniuses in the audio world. Some just don't
make good businessmen. That's why you haven't heard of them, or know
their triumphs. In audio, just as with anything else, a large part of your
system success is due to who you know. I am a lucky audio freak.

Back to cables. The Anti Cable SC is NOT the last word in cable making. It's
just better than almost anything else out there, regardless of cost. And that
ties neatly into what I was saying above.