What % Of Your System Are Your Cables?

% is actually depends on the system. Tube amps require way more cable matching than solid state. Digital less than analog and so on. Some people like gold Ethernet, but whatever...

0.1% if you exclude the speaker cables. I like gear where the interconnects do not have to be boutique.

With the Audience FrontRow speaker cables it is about 10%.

Though in my office system, a Magnepan Mini speaker, I found that the Blue Jean cable at 10 AWG is as good as the FrontRow. So, selling that set of FrontRow speaker cables. On my bigger system the second set of FrontRow is considerably better than the Blue Jean.

Although I am retired, I refuse to do a deep dive into the actual ratio, but my best guess would be a maximum of around 10%.

0.1%.

10 to 15 %

For me if I just count cables, it's about 10%.  But, if I add, rack, running dedicated lines, and power conditioners it's closer to 17%.  At this point, if I want new cables, I will research and learn to build my own.

@mitch2 They’re BELKIN AV20302-06

The old metal plug version. Something of a low-level cult favorite for folks who know how good they are. They are very specific and all the others in the series are no way near as good.

Wow, who really cares but less than 5%. Just have to know your magic key. 

Having owned a audio store and good rule of thumb 20-25% of your  Audio system 

Digital cables cannot be overlooked either 

Probably 2%

I agree with @steakster.  I am at 40%.
 

I was taken aback when I tried some crazy expensive cables with my moderate priced system, Chord Dave and Grimm Mu1 on the front end.  Three power cords and a pair of speaker cables.  Suddenly it sounded like systems in the $500k+ range.

I fortunately found another brand that was almost as good at a lower price (which many would also call crazy.)

 I am now of the opinion that cable and power conditioner upgrades make a bigger impact than most component upgrades.

No clue, I bought all my cables used with the exception of the 3 Acrolink cables, those were purchased new.

Around 7%. There are some amazing cables in the 500-1,000 range.

7% but my cables were all DIY.

If I bought the same cables ready made it would be higher.

I remember in the olden days, it was 1/3 source, 1/3 speaker and 1/3 cable.

Around 5%

around 11% here incuding power cables.

Over 50%.*

This includes cables, power conditioning, power supplies, distribution blocks, grounding, etc. They’re all intrinsically linked.** They’re all part of the transmission.

IMHO, it was worth every penny. My very modest system can run with some of the big dogs that I hear at audio shows.

The best part is that I had fun putting it all together. It’s been a fascinating exploration into physics - particle theory and wave theory.

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* This is somewhat skewed since I got some great deals on my primary components.

** Without a transmission, a car won’t function very well. Without a high performance transmission, a Formula One car will not compete very well.

In general, I don’t allocate but work towards an optimal system through testing. Then when I am done, I figure out how much I spent. I have done this more than once on systems upgrades... and in general, it turns out to be about 10 - 12 %. I think it’s at 12% right now.

I have done the same with components and in general have ended up with them at around the same value category each.... streamer, DAC, preamp, phono stage and amp. So all my components in my main system are about $18 - $22K. Generally my speakers are a bit more expensive. 

I don’t believe in allocating certain % to cables or tweaks. Cables can easily be your bottle neck so audition as many cables you can within your budget and keep the ones that brings best possible sound out of your components and to your ears. If you can’t hear or believe cables can make a differences….well, good for you!

IME, some components are just immune to aftermarket cables and others responds very favorably.

Surely the 10% "rule" was developed by the cable industry.  Up there with De Beers convincing the world you should spend one month's income on an engagement ring, if you truly love her.  And lately, they've upped that to 3 months salary.  The cable industry is falling behind. 🤣  Having said that, my cables are +/- 7% of my total system.  

No more than about 5 percent. My experience is that money is typically better spent on the actual components and speakers than on cables and tweaks. YMMV.

BTW, @noromance - What are "NOS Belkin interconnects"? Are they made with a certain type of commonly available cable such as Mogami or Belden? Also, I agree with you about "solid core...wire" sounding best for speaker cable. My three favorites here (Cardas, Harmonic Tech, and DIY Jupiter wire) are all solid core.

Are we counting cost of stands/racks, dedicated lines and acoustic treatment, as well as other tweeks some may have into the total system cost?

If that’s the case, my cables are about 13% of the total. 

I'm around 12% based on what I paid.  At normal retail for new, it would be higher. 

4%.

I’ve tried some relatively expensive cables but wasn’t impressed.

I made my own speaker cables from solid core OCC wire. I was lucky enough to buy 10 pairs of NOS Belkin interconnects that are sublime. I tested them against a number of ICs in the $250-$500 range, but they simply sounded better.