2. cables
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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
inna
7,607 posts
 
If the whole world is out of mind why shouldn't audiophiles be?
Personally, I save on many other things to be able to buy good audio stuff. So $10k for cables is insanity, and $1k for a dinner for two is not?  $3k for a bottle of lovely French wine, anyone?  Not me, I'd rather go with $10k cables if I have to.
inna
7,607 posts
 
Still, I don't buy Levi's jeans, I buy vintage Diesel and Dior on ebay. And I never actually tried $3k wine, I tried something close to $1k but I didn't pay for it, it was a gift, and the one who gave it to me didn't pay all that much. That Bordeaux vintage was great, can't compare it to your usual $100 bottles.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,534 posts
 
Price should never be the determining factor for what one buys other than to stay in budget as needed.  Wires are no exception.  It just seems sillier when people spend large sums of cash on things to solve a relatively simple problem that might have been solved just as well or maybe even better perhaps for less.
jl35
4,098 posts
 
I assume all products are sold at the price the manufacturer believes will maximize profit over the life of the product...
dracule1 OP
1,085 posts
 
Mapman,

"It just seems sillier when people spend large sums of cash on things to solve a relatively simple problem that might have been solved just as well or maybe even better perhaps for less."

Very well said. This was what I was pointing out in my original post. There's more to be gained, for example, from simple affordable room treatments than any expensive cable can provide.

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