Are audiophiles still out of their minds?

It's not nearly as bad as alcohol or many other legal, more socially accepted things. I actually don't endulge but as with cables, there is a ton of misinformation out there. 😳

Regarding the $24/foot in-wall power cabling, I would certainly envision that it might make a difference in many applications, to a greater or lesser degree depending on many variables. Including the length that is required; whether the incoming AC voltage at the particular location happens to be greater than or less than the voltage the particular components were designed to sound best at; the magnitude and spectral characteristics of whatever noise may be riding on that AC; whether the power amp is biased in class A or AB or D (which affects the extent to which the current it draws fluctuates with the dynamics of the music); the susceptibility of the components in the system to ground loop issues, which can also be dependent on how they are interconnected; and countless other variables involving the design of the particular components in the system.

However I also see no reason to rule out the possibility that depending on all of those variables the results that would be provided in many cases by the $24/foot wiring might be worse than ordinary Romex would provide, rather than better. Certainly from a subjective standpoint, at least.

Regards,
-- Al

Lest I compound the impression of being rich as Croesus 💰💰💰💰  I should not that for my most recent build out I did not use the JPS again but instead opted for the Synergistic Research cryo treated Romex at <$10/foot (I forget the actual price)

Do I think the JPS sounded better than the SR? No idea -- but the JPS was a bear to work with and given my use of other SR products I opted for the cheaper and lighter cable

One consideration on in-wall is that it has zero resale value ... unless you can demolish your construction, so cost of ownership is that much higher 

Almarg wrote,

"However I also see no reason to rule out the possibility that depending on all of those variables the results that would be provided in many cases by the $24/foot wiring might be worse than ordinary Romex would provide, rather than better. Certainly from a subjective standpoint, at least."

Hey, Al, correct me if I’m wrong but the whole point of thorough and conscientious testing is to eliminate all those persnickety variables you refer to, or at least as many as you can. Not all of the variables will be known, if that’s what you mean I agree! Hey, that would make an excellent topic, how many variables are there? The same way you would for tests of any cables, fuses, or any product.

The easiest (only) way to solve three simultaneous equations in four unknowns is get rid of one of the unknowns. - old audiophile expression

g. kait
m. dynamica

Hey, Al, correct me if I’m wrong but the whole point of thorough and conscientious testing is to eliminate all those persnickety variables you refer to, or at least as many as you can.

Well, of course, Geoff. Not sure what your point is, though, with respect to my comment about expensive in-wall wiring vs. Romex. Obviously not many of us are going to do A/B comparisons of those alternatives. And I see little if any reason to expect the findings of those few people who may do such comparisons to be applicable to other systems and installations, considering all of the variables I cited.

Regards,
-- Al