High end Cables not important for certain electronics?

@willgolf Sounds like you have some great gear. Lot of good dealers in the LA area with a lot of variety of speakers.

BTW - I have not heard this but your Lumin X1 connected via a fibre optic cable is something I want to hear. Before ethernet connectivity became common I was wondering if ethernet would become popular for DAC, now that question is whether fibre optical connectivity will become more common. Sonare is making it rather easy to try fibre optic to a ethernet DAC but you should have the best option (direct fibre optic)

Why do audiophiles praise short connection paths in ultra-high-end equipment and then purchase long interconnects? Anybody see the contraction?

In the droning conversation of the value of very expensive cables, the only practical advice is that this debate is over personal opinion. Substitute the word "speakers" for "cables" and there is no debate. Otherwise, just avoid poor quality of materials and workmanship and you can be confident that your money is well-spent if YOU hear a substantial difference. 

As to balanced cables being immune to quality differences... that is just silly talk. 

As to balanced cables being immune to quality differences... that is just silly talk.

@mambacfa, no one is claiming that balanced cables, in general, are immune to quality differences. The Makua preamp, specifically, is said by its manufacturer to be "amazingly immune to influences like mains quality and choice of interlinks." The OP’s question was:

Are there other gear people have owned where the designers eschewed higher end cables? I am curious as to what aspect of the design leads to this type of statement.

The link I provided in the first response to the OP, which is to a post by a highly experienced designer of renowned high end equipment, explains that equipment can be designed to be largely or entirely immune to differences between balanced interconnect cables, although in most cases it is not. And he states the technical criteria which are necessary for that immunity to be realized, as well as providing what I consider to be compelling proof of his contention.

Regards,

-- Al

I own an Antipodes DX3/Curious USBcable/MakuaDAC/Acrolink $2k balanced IC/Electocompaniet AW250R power amp/ Gauder Berlina RC7 speakers. I auditioned for 2 years before buying the Makua.

Like Ron I wanted less boxes. The Makua replaced a Weiss DAC202 and Tortuga passive balanced preamp. The Tortuga had blown off a couple of $20k active preamps and I found the Makua was even more transparent and involving than the Tortuga.

The interconnects unfortunately make a big difference and I have found a $5k pair of Acrolinks that are better than my existing $2k ones. I prefer to spend less, and let my ears do the deciding. 

I have not tried different power cords on the Makua but had in the past found a bigger impact on the power amp than the Weiss DAC. I use Acrolink power cords which replaced Oyaide Tunami power cords. 

And it’s here at that ‘fully balanced’ point that things become really interesting. To many audio companies, ‘fully balanced’ is more to do with a balanced circuit ending in XLR connectors. This notionally gives zero noise across long cable runs, but the difference between ‘domestic’ balanced and ‘pro’ is the use of balancing transformers in the signal path. These effectively nail the no-noise connection, and if you peel apart any recording studio, broadcast studio, or professional transportable studio or TV ‘OB’ (outside broadcast) unit, you’ll find balancing transformers throughout. This is probably a bit ‘belt and braces’ for home audio (you are unlikely to have to run 100m of XLR cable through a noisy environment) but it guarantees the optimum operating conditions for balanced connections

. Interesting description of the XLR on the Lumin X1 DAC/Streamer.

http://www.luminmusic.com/downloads/LUMIN-X1-HIFI+169.pdf