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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
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oros's avatar
oros
43 posts
 
I never get into cable debates, I am not looking for trouble.
Pays you money and takes you pick, who cares, whatever rocks your boat.

Are Audiophiles Mad?   Anybody who labels himself/herself as anything let alone an Audiofool must be Daft. IMO.

It is all about the Music not so, not those golden ears attached to you skull.  
danvignau's avatar
danvignau
935 posts
 
A person with no budget spends this money on cables for one reason, to please his friends who will say it could sound better with more expensive cables. You wouldn't put Yokohamas on your Ferrari. would you?  If you answer in the affirmative, use normal cables, then man up to the derision of wannabe know-it-alls with their green CD markers and Special wooden volume knobs, while we sane people enjoy our music. 
grm
149 posts
 
Hello all,
College student still very new to Audiogon. Found this forum interesting and I wanted to contribute to the question of Interconnects. The thoughts I would like to share:
1. I believe in symmetry, my whole system is Kimber Silver Streak both balanced and single ended.
2. I do not believe in drinking by the label, I listen and give every cable a chance regardless of price.
3. I believe that there is a diminishing point of return, Its akin to a parabolic curve.
4. Yes, I believe interconnects can have a significant influence on sound reproduction quality. (but more expensive vs improved SQ has a loose correlation at best IMO)
5. I believe that many/most cables have a huge markup in price to the point of some being an all out theft. Come on, are 10K single ended cables hand made in every way by Monks thinking only pure thoughts? Though I can not say I ever auditioned a 10K cable, I can say unless I win the lottery I will not.
6. I have learned through my own experience that going Balanced in my system was the best option in terms of SQ and seems to be more forgiving with respect to Interconnects.

Going back to point 4, the best IC I have auditioned were the Kimber KS series with their "Black Pearl" silver. Going back to point 5, from an engineering standpoint, I do not see where in their UMC of this cable are they able to justify the retail price. Please don't get me wrong, I really like Kimber, I just do not have the $$ to delve into their top-shelf hooch!

Hey, thank you for reading this, I guess I just had to get this off my chest and in some way positively contribute.     
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