why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

cleeds....seems like you are just in a mood to argue.  I don't have the interest or time.  For almost all purchases, my equation is accurate.  End of my participation in this issue.

dynaquest4m

For almost all purchases, my equation is accurate.

Your equation is subjective. ["products of like quality (durability, performance, appearance, etc), the one with the lowest cost represents the best value" ] 

So naturally, some will agree with your equation, and some will not.

dynaquest:"I always look for better for less...I always consider and understand the definition of value: "quality divided by price = value."...In other words for products of like quality (durability, performance, appearance, etc), the one with the lowest cost represents the best value. Everybody understands that but many don't care....or don't need to care...or don't want to care.  

This is an unfortunate observation and equally unfortunate is cleeds retort to this mistaken and myopic view of the meaning of value and how it intersects with the marketplace and forms the basis for actual purchasing decisions by actual consumers in the real world marketplace of existing products. You're reasoning here is one formed by someone thinking about how they will pay their rent and food bill for the month and maybe how they can fund in some small way their retirement accounts but these are the simple evaluations made by those who are at the subsistence level of income or just above it recent surveys show that a huge percentage of you Americans cannot afford to pay an emergency $1000 USD expense such as a car repair that number your CNN reports is 69% cannot afford the repair and in todays' world a $1000 USD car repair is not especially unusual! For these consumers the definition of value offered by dynaquest is actually not far from what such a consumer should apply when making purchasing decisions because of what they can afford although I would say it is still an incomplete "equation" which is what I would expect from someone in this economic situation especially in your US. But if we are talking about the actual highend of audio which certainly would be considered by reasonable people to be a luxury product such an equation has no place because the cost to some people as calculated in reference to their actual income and net worth would be trivial or inconsequential so another calculation of value is applied completely. It is a mistake to firmly insist that all economic decisions made by everyone every day apply the same rigid and forcefully defined "equation" because it does not take in to account the variables described above and that drive the purchasing decisions made by those who's "equation" is not so strictly influenced by more routine factors such as rent, food etc.

Here now is clearthink using this forum to flaunt his economic status (as he sees it) and making assumptions about mine which, besides being none of his business, are wrong.  

The value concept applies regardless of the consumer....it is not about the consumer about the product.  It is a simple concept and need not be debated.  Unless debate is your only pastime.

"Here now is clearthink using this forum to flaunt his economic status (as he sees it) and making assumptions about mine which, besides being none of his business, are wrong.The value concept applies regardless of the consumer....it is not about the consumer about the product. It is a simple concept and need not be debated. Unless debate is your only pastime"
Dynaquest you are the master of debate in this forum you are always debating and then you try to end the conversation with an insult such as this if you read what I wrote I said NOTHING repeat NOTHING about my economic status and only explained the flaws in your reasoning about how to arrive at a meaningful "equation" to calculate the value of a consumer product which you naively insist is a equation that you can apply equally all of the time to all consumers in the actual marketplace of all real consumer items which of course ignores a large body of knowledge of established and researched economic and consumer theory and science of course you are free to believe that you have this apparently "universal rules" for your "universal equations" but you are simply wrong but I can understand your frustration in trying to justify your opinion and had you claimed it was only your opinion we would not have this discussion but instead you insist science and reason are on your side and it should be patently obvious to most that you are mistaken again remember that 69% of you Americans cannot afford a $1000USD car repair!