2. cables
  3. 124957-818

Are audiophiles still out of their minds?

I've been in this hobby for 30 years and owned many gears throughout the years, but never that many cables.  I know cables can make a difference in sound quality of your system, but never dramatic like changing speakers, amplifiers, or even more importantly room treatment. Yes, I've evaluated many vaunted cables at dealers and at home over the years, but never heard dramatic effect that I would plunk $5000 for a cable. The most I've ever spent was $2700 for pair of speaker cables, and I kinda regret it to this day.  So when I see cable manufacturers charging 5 figures for their latest and "greatest" speaker cables, PC, and ICs, I have to ask myself who buys this stuff. Why would you buy a $10k+ cable, when there are so many great speakers, amplifiers, DACs for that kind of money, or room treatment that would have greater effect on your systems sound?  May be I'm getting ornery with age, like the water boy says in Adam Sandler's movie.
dracule1
jl35
4,017 posts
 
actually some of those guys are engineers. and if you buy the cable used, you can sell for very little loss after a few years. is the percentage markup greater the more expensive the cable? I know nothing of the business model. I never worry about the guys who spend a fortune on new cables. if not for them, we couldn't buy used cables.
jl35
4,017 posts
 
I had Transparent XL and Super MM2 for 8 years, at a $50 total cost after I sold them
dracule1 OP
1,085 posts
 
I never said all weren't engineers.  There are cables that are made with proven engineering practice by engineers. Whether they sound good to you or not is a different matter.

"I never worry about the guys who spend a fortune on new cables. if not for them, we couldn’t buy used cables." Well, you have a point there. Let the suckers buy them first, and you reap the benefits later.

"I had Transparent XL and Super MM2 for 8 years, at a $50 total cost after I sold them" So you do know the business model. Crazy markup.

jl35
4,017 posts
 
Transparent Ultra XL I meant to say. Yes, I am aware of the great markup in general terms. I also found these expensive cables to sound better than the dozen less expensive ones I compared them to. I wanted to like the cheap ones better. I thought of it as giving myself a loan, enjoying the cables, then getting my money back. That's the great thing about used cables, the price goes down steep and fast, then holds value for years. So encourage those that don't care about the cost to keep buying expensive new cables...
jl35
4,017 posts
 
Curious as to which cheap cables you felt sounded as good as your Ridge Streets 
More to discover