$10k Speaker Cables??????????????

@ stevecham:  Your math is incorrect.  If I sell something for $1.00 and make $.10 profit, my margin is 10%.  Pretty hard to achieve more than a 100% margin (and we all give 110% here at my company, too!).  Your comment smacks of indulging in hyperbole.

Geoff, having been in the USAF on purchasing committees as well as on Pharmacy and Therapuetics purchasing committees (civilian and military) I can tell you for a fact that when an item is deemed "special purpose" vendors will charge more for identical items that are not "special purpose" and absolutely identical.

To trolls, everyone looks like a troll.

Yep, the high end cable racket.  Always something to behold, and one of the more depressing aspects of the hobby.  But once manufacturers found out how much people would actually pay for fancy cables...the sky has not been a limit.  And everyone and his mother wants to get in on those margins...even speaker, amp and other manufacturers have dabbled in selling cables.  Great for business.  Not so great for the credibility of audiophiles and the hobby in general.  Ah well...

Actually seeing the design and build quality of these cables is quite exciting and educational to me. Not at all depressing. I suppose my filter is set to see things in a more positive light. 

Goodie for you, n80. I was in procurement and budget too, including a $3B procurement. I was talking specifically about super high-price items like the $100,000 toilet and $1K hammer someone mentioned, that’s alwaysed used as some sort of example to prove cables are a ripoff. Everybody knows the government pays too much for everything. Duh! Getting back to the subject if someone doesn’t like the cost of some high end cables buy used or buy within your budget. It’s not rocket science. 🚀