@graystoke:
At least most of the other high dollar cables are really really pretty. Of course one has to ask oneself why are they pretty? They are cords after all. They mostly hang out the back of otherwise pretty ugly gear.
So one the one hand if I'm spending huge bucks on cables I guess I want them to look expensive.
On the other hand, butt ugly cables for $100,000+ like the ones you linked too actually lends them some credibility. They don't have to look good to be worth it!
And that brings up two other observations:
1) If I'm going to buy ultra high end audio gear that requires, no, demands, $24,000 interconnects then by god I want those gorgeous uber techno things hanging out the FRONT of my equipment where I can admire them and point them out to my friends. Of course, on the practical side of things I kind of wish the cables were attached on the front of all components. Getting to those things in the back can be a real pain. And what a boon that would be to the cable market! If all cables stuck out into the room we'd want even average cables to look nice.
2) Second, I've been watching some videos on how to make your own cables. As best I can tell the prime motivation seems to be to make something that looks cool since in most of them they are using good quality but otherwise fairly pedestrian copper wire. All they do is pull some pretty tech-flex over it and add banana plugs or RCAs. It is certainly possible that the tech-flex does more than I'm aware of.
