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
Geoffkait 6-27-2016 10:08am EDT
Your conclusion is a judgement call, I’d opine, as to whether someone is being over zealous, insincere or dishonest, or shilling for someone. But I actually don’t think one can discern the difference between enthusiasm and insincerity or even shilling on the Internet so easily any more than one can detect irony or sarcasm is certain posts.
To be sure it's clear, I have not stated or implied any such conclusion. I was simply stating my interpretation of the last sentence in the gentleman's post, and I was stating it because the meaning of the reference in that sentence to "genuine audiophiles" was subsequently questioned. But I agree that any such conclusion would be a judgment call, and I agree that in many cases the facts may be hard to discern with any kind of certainty.

Regards,
-- Al
Silly question and am embarrassed to ask, but what does "TL" mean?
The reference to TL in the post you are referring to means "TARA Labs."  Not a silly question, though.

Regards,
-- Al
 
TL is a reference to Tara Labs I believe.

When people read or hear teh words of others, its always a judgement call.    People's perceptions matter and do not always match the facts even if the facts are made clearly available.   Its just the way things are and good for one to be aware of as opposed to banking on facts alone.