Who thinks $5K speaker cable really better than generic 14AWG cable?

"Just enjoy the music..." 

I could not agree more...this thread continues to amaze as there will never be a conclusion that everyone is happy about or a single point of view that is agreed to. Price does not mean one has a better (or worse) audio system. That goes for components and speakers as well as cables.  I have a good friend across town that paid $500 for a $1000+ used tube integrated amp that SOUNDS AMAZING and a system around it that sounds great regardless of price.
I honestly go home to my system and still enjoy it after but this and a couple of other systems I've heard that were intelligently assembled and sound great for far less money keep me awake at night (so to speak).... The price does not make it (or him) "mid-fi" nor does what I have into my current and recent-past systems make those systems (or me) "high-fi".   What rubbish :-) ...

There are a lot of great posts here on both sides of the fence with many great points of view including those on legitimacy of testing whether money is spent or when it's not and it's a pure test, and many other things to think about. There are also the posts that are blatantly fish bait and inflammatory.

I think I said it before but in any case, I'll say it now; everyone who thinks zipwire sounds the same as ANY other cable from $100 to much higher price, keep buying the zipwire and enjoy it and stop bashing those (of us) who can hear differences in cables....anyone who hears difference in cables at any level (and I do mean any level) buy what sounds good in your systems and continue to enjoy it!

Somebody delete this thread please and put us all out of our misery <LOL>!!!

Have a great day everyone!

no one is bashing those who hear differences in cables for dynamic speakers

... only those who are deluded by confirmation bias into thinking their perception is caused by differences in sound

post your double-blind methodology you used in testing or learn something about reality (here's a hint: you will not find it in your liberal arts major)

"One of the weakest links that many audiophiles overlook is the AC power source. Oh, yes, audiophiles love their sexy high-end power cables and AC power conditioners, and salespeople love selling these products, but wouldn’t it make more sense to eliminate a problem rather than spending money to compensate for it?
Since it affects your entire system, upgrading the AC power source that feeds your system may be one of the most impactful upgrades you can make. But first, take my advice: before you spend big money to upgrade power cables or install a fancy AC power conditioner or regenerator, install dedicated AC lines and a low-resistance ground. I’ll be writing about this topic in a forthcoming blog, but for now, let me say that you can hire a licensed electrical contractor to install dedicated AC lines in your home for less money than many audiophiles spend on a single high-end power cable.
Don’t Fall for Attractive Distortions
When I consult for friends and customers who complain that their audio system is either too hard, harsh, and fatiguing, or too soft, laid back, and veiled, the solution in nearly every case is to improve the quality of their source components and to upgrade their AC power source. Most of these audiophiles had followed the advice of salespeople and bought products that either filtered, equalized, veiled, or brought a false liveliness to their systems rather than resolving the cause of their actual problems.
Have you heard the children’s song about the old lady who swallowed a fly? She swallowed a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, and a cat to catch the bird. Much in the same way, many audiophiles buy one product after another in hopes that the next one will eradicate the source(s) of trouble and finally make their system sound musical and balanced.
Some salespeople love when audiophiles purchase aftermarket products to fix flaws in their systems because they know they’ve found customers they can manipulate into spending more and more money. A whole genre of products in the audiophile industry is engineered for just this purpose. I’ll make my point as simply as possible by dividing these purposely colored products into two categories: “more than” or “less than.” I use these terms because these products either have more or less bass, treble, and midrange so they can be used like an equalizer. Or they’re veiled to mask fatiguing sounds, pumped up to give more life to a system that’s too laid back, or have some other form of “attractive distortion” that enhances the audio illusion, such as an unnaturally spacious image.
The problem with any cable or component that is more or less than neutral is that most of the time the engineer that designed it had to sacrifice time, tune, and/or harmonic coherency to get the attractive distortion. When any one of these is sacrificed, it can never be regained later in the system."

Excerpted from: https://mojoaudiofiles.wordpress.com/find-the-weak-links-in-your-audio-system/

My equipment is plugged into a dedicated circuit wired with 12G solid copper. My small town has its own power company, I can hear the difference between some of the crap ICs that came with certain equipment and some $25 AQ Towers. Not so much between the Towers and some $110 WireWorlds. This may be because my power is good or my system not so much; but it sounds real good to me. Phono cables are another story. I certainly hear differences. Not huge; but worth a reasonable investment.

Last week I made a power cord from 14G solid copper (12 is too stiff). I didn't make an audible difference (although I haven't burned it in) and since it's as close to the circuit cable as practical I don't think any other power cable can improve on what comes out of the wall.

I may try some Blue Jeans speaker cable. What do you think would sound better, $20 Belden 10g or Canare 4S11 bi-wired for $30?

I'd love to see this kind of discussion at the next big audio show. Bring all the wise cracking and insults and own it, on the floor, in front of everyone and I'll just watch and laugh. 

Someone needs to call a priest to perform last rites on this thread.

All the best,
Nonoise

2channel8 / nonoise: great posts!

Randy: try again,...no liberal arts major here, quite the opposite actually a couple times over in very deep technical areas.   I will say for the record that many of the most open, logical, truly creative and free-thinking people I've worked with in the high-tech world over the last 30+ years had liberal arts majors originally so I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. It's not about what's on your diploma or where you went to school or what grades you got while you had the luxury to focus on one and only one thing (usually at someone else's expense unless you are like many of us who had to work full-time to pay for university degrees) as opposed to dealing with the rigors and realities of the world, it's about how you think, how you unwrap and solution a problem, how you recover from mistakes in that process and how you truly create versus simply regurgitate info.  

Ever heard the analysis of college degrees (joke);

B.S. = bull&*^%
M.S. = More&^%$
Ph.D.=Piled Higher and Deeper
*obviously meant as a JOKE, hoping that nobody like many of us with these degrees takes offense, please! 

I'm diverging heavily here and don't mean to send things down a rathole but frankly, type of college degree (or none at all) or GPA, etc...has NOTHING to do with a person's skillset. I've fired very well-credentialed high-scoping non-liberal arts majors who simply could not think let alone play well with others....

At any rate,....back to the thread.  I'd pray to find low cost cables that sound as good as what I have and hope all you anti-high cost cables guys are right; I'd switch in a heartbeat long term and reclaim lost funds gladly and stop the agony over next best cable and how to afford them!!!  Time for more double-blinds :-) !!!