DO CABLES REALLY MATTER?

It’s funny how we get in these debates with people who have and never will hear your system in your listening enviorment. Very few people in the USA have my speaker. I have one of about 10 pair in the whole country at this time.  In addition very few people own my integrated KR Audio va900 or my Dac Resonessence Mirus Pro.  I think everybody reading this thread needs to know that your equipment and cabling combinations will perform differently from what they might do in some else’s listening enviorment.  Room dimensions.  Carpet vs hardwood floors. Speaker placement all play a part. So does recording quality. Trial and error is important for you in your system so enjoy your equipment and cables and don’t worry about what others say. Most of the time they will never hear your kit. Find you a knowledgeable sales guy who actually loves music. It’s a big help. Thank you Bob Spence at affirm Audio. Gary at Audio emotion in Scotland. Rick Schultz at high fidelity cables. Scott at Advanced Home theater systems for assisting me with demos and arriving at my system! 

So true. System and room acoustics differ necessarily. Yet the debates of refutation abound. But remember what elizabeth reminds us of regarding the price recommendation for the newbie purchasers: one should consider spending on cables 10% of the total cost of the system. Audiophiles are exempt from this advice—lol.

By way of example, I’m running a full loom of IC cables from Teo Audio between only an Oppo DVD player, a Teo Audio Liquid Pre passive and a pair of ATC SCM20-2 active monitors. System components (including power accessories and PC’s) cost me ~$13,000. The IC cables cost ~$2,500. So my IC cable cost exceeds 16% of total system costs.

It's always down to personal choice how much you want to spend. Experience has taught me that if I had to build a system from scratch I'd be looking at 75% on loudspeakers, 10% on CD player, 10% on amplification and 5% absolute tops on cables/ancillaries. 

Even If I fancied something more exotic, we're talking vinyl and valves (tubes), I'd still be looking at 50% on loudspeakers and 25% on a turntable and 20% on the amp. 

It'd certainly make assembling a great $1000 system interesting. On the other hand it's worth remembering that $1000 can be a big psychological hurdle to overcome for anyone who doesn't see themself as an audiophile. 

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It’d certainly make assembling a great $1000 system interesting. On the other hand it’s worth remembering that $1000 can be a big psychological hurdle to overcome for anyone who doesn’t see themself as an audiophile.

>>>>Maybe for you, but not for me. My system cost $100 tops, including Grado SR-80 headphones. Why visit your psychological theories on everyone else?