While the Cable Company loaner program is good it does cost, and their prices are expensive if you ever buy from them. An alternative is to be active in the used market -- there is little to no risk in buying used cables and those you do not like you can resell -- just spend time working out what cables are worth and don’t overpay. My rule of thumb is that for anything other than brand spanking new (i.e. launched within the year) you shouldn’t pay more than 30-40% of retail -- there are of course exceptions (e.g Transparent Ref XL digital) but frankly those are the cables you rarely see used anyway
Of course any reputable dealer will also loan as many cables as you want for you to try at home -- you may have to leave a CC number for the full price but as long as you get them back you will be fine
Of course any reputable dealer will also loan as many cables as you want for you to try at home -- you may have to leave a CC number for the full price but as long as you get them back you will be fine