Are audiophiles still out of their minds?

Watts, you're so weird. You're perseverating on the same issue over and over again. Are you sure you're not suffering from OCD? I'm worried about you.

Folkfreak, don’t be so sensitive. I didn’t lambast the dCS. It’s just not what I call realistic based on my experience as a regular concert attendee of classical and jazz music and as a classical guitar player. I love my Golden Gate DAC, but you will likely hate it because it’s the antithesis of the dCS. But I wouldn’t care if you lambasted the GG because we obviously have different tastes in what music should sound like.

Nordost SPM? Remember the original van den hul D102 IC from the 80s? I think I got you beat.

Getting back to the important subject at hand, you didn’t answer my original question. Did you compare your expensive cables to the cables in the $300-$2000 range? My guess is you have not. I have heard the top of the line offerings from Nordost, Transparent, Audioquest, MIT, etc. While some are very good, just as good or better cables can be found for a lot less depending on your system. A big chunk of the cost of these megabuck cables goes into advertising, but I’m assuming you know this if you’re a seasoned audiophile.

If you were wise with your money, wouldn’t you have given these "lesser" cables from less known manufacturers a chance? I did and saved tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

As for cable dealers working hard for a sale, I can assure you he hit the proverbial jackpot when he sold you those Odins even after losing $900, which btw is his own fault for not paying attention. Some of these cables you’ve tried have some of the highest markups in the industry. He probably made more by selling a pair of Odins than selling many of his speakers or electronics. According to my industry sources, the markup of some of these cables can be as high as 10:1.

If you feel happy with you’re purchase knowing what I’ve told you, then oh well.

Inna, why wouldn’t you try a $300 cable? Just because of the price you’re assuming it wouldn’t sound good? IME, that is one of the biggest fallacies in high end. I gave it a try and found cables in this price range competing with cables 10 to 20x the price. These are audio cables, not speakers or amplifiers that require in depth knowledge of electronics and physics, although some cable manufacturers will argue otherwise. It doesn’t take a genius to come up with great sounding cables. But it does take a marketing genius to convince audiophiles to buy mega buck cables - Oh wait, I take that back.

Ok dracule1 -- for one last time let’s deconstruct your response and hopefully 😕 help you understand how you come across

It’s just not what I call realistic based on my experience as a regular concert attendee of classical and jazz music and as a classical guitar player.

Implication -- I’m the only one that knows what "real music" sounds like, my ears are better than yours, your opinion is worthless.

Note that your original ding at DCS was

BTW, dCS equipment never sounded correct to my ears. No amount of cabling can correct what I consider is inherent flaw.

"Never sounded correct to my ears" is fine, we each have preferences but you had to add "inherent flaw" which is an absolute statement and comes across as pejorative

Getting back to the important subject at hand, you didn’t answer my original question.

Sorry, how was it not clear when I described my process in a DCS rig of going from the "free" BNC and Firewire included in the box, to a $500 AQ Eagle Eye, to $1000 Valhalla (bought used), to $2000 AQ Wild to $3000 Transparent Ref XL. A good cross section of manufacturers and price points all with the same equipment and improvements at every step that were obvious. Could I have found other cables that worked? Maybe, but as others have noted my time is valuable and the combination of dealer recommendations (Brian Berdan) and manufacturer recommendations (John Quick) led me to the Transparent. Same story on the other sorts of cables in my system, especially power cords where I’ve been amazed by the improvements that have been possible.

If you were wise with your money

Another insult for no reason. I also spend money on mechanical watches ... and I like to buy my wife jewelry and first edition books, would you like to criticize that as well?

I did and saved tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

Bully for you. I’ve wasted way more money than my cables cost buying a new sports car and seeing it depreciate .. so what, who cares? At the end of the day every $ we spend helps someone else make a living, isn’t that a good thing, called capitalism? Spend money and feel happy, otherwise I think we have something called a recession.

Some of these cables you’ve tried have some of the highest markups in the industry. According to my industry source, it can be as high as 10:1.

Seems you don’t understand pricing theory, Dealer markup, manufacturers cost are all irrelevant -- what matters is price:value for the end buyer everything else is irrelevant. As it is apparent you as an end user place an extreme premium on "getting a deal". Have you never purchased software? What do you think that costs to make? As a consultant for the pharma industry I have a pretty good handle on the complexities of pricing and personally have no issue with the same manufacturer having a markup of 2:1 on their cheapest cable and 100:1 on their top of line, the latter will sell in tiny quantities relative to the former and btw the ads (and the trickle down from the positive feedback on the top of line) drives sales of the former. Plus I appreciate the dealer service I get. This is the same in every industry so why do we get so bothered?

If you feel happy with you’re purchase knowing what I’ve told you, then oh well

This just about takes the cake -- Dracule the savior here to tell it as it is. It's great you help people find bargains and different lines to consider but why do you have to be so holier than thou in the process? Oh and by the way I, like you, trust my ears at the end of the day and am very happy with my system. A quick review of my other posts show the small adjustments and tweaks I enjoy to get the most out of it, cables are part and not by any means the most important (acoustics and isolation matter more) but making those small changes whether they cost $1 or $10K is all part of the fun and fun is what it should be, not winning arguments so on that note this audiophile will exeunt this thread and return it to the OP

Oops, I’m not up to date pricing on BNC cables for digital gear. My bad. For that my apologies. It would be helpful if you put the pricing in your original comment. After all, this is about pricing of cables. You can’t automatically assume we know the prices of all your cables. I was concentrating more on your other cables, but again it would help if you list what you paid for them. I know some are expensive as hell.

But boy, you’re really reading into my comments for things that weren’t implied. I have my own taste, just as you have yours. If you thought that my opinion on what sounds more realistic to me as being superior to your opinion, then you got some inferiority complex to deal with. For this, I owe no apology.

If you have no issues with 100:1 markup, then good for you. Most of us do because we’re not filthy rich.

So because I like affordable cables I’m looking for an extreme deal? These cables I buy are not discounted, and I pay the retail price because they're affordable.  So I’m cheap scraping at the bottom of the barrel for the best deal? Here is where you’re coming off sounding like a complete douche. I buy based on what sounds good to me within my means. Some are expensive and some aren’t. Some I pay full retail, some I don’t. So if you’re looking down on me because I can’t afford some of the rediculously priced items you can afford, then we all know you’re the kind of audiophile that gives a bad rap to the audiophile community.