Cheap/expensive or expensive/cheap?

A good system with a bad power cable will sound better than a bad system with a good power cable. Same applies to all other cables. Yes, cables make a difference but they aren’t going to move the needle as much as fantastic primary components...not even close.

I actually completely disagree with this. Cables can make or break a good system.

I would rather do a $3000 system with excellent cables instead of a $10k system with mediocre cables.

The primary example I have is when I tested and compared two DACS. One was a $300 DAC and the other was a $2,000 DAC. With cheap cables, these DACs actually sounded pretty much the same. However, when I put in very high end and transparent cables, it become very apparent how inferior the $300 DAC was.

In your example, the sound quality difference between a $3k system and a $10k system is not enough to justify the $10k choice. The $3k system is already close enough. We are rapidly approaching the point of diminishing returns here.

Now if you were comparing a $500 system to a $3k system, then I would choose the $3k system with cheap cables every time.

three_easy_payments A good system with a bad power cable will sound better than a bad system with a good power cable. Same applies to all other cables. Yes, cables make a difference but they aren’t going to move the needle as much as fantastic primary components...not even close.

auxinput2 I actually completely disagree with this.

Cables makes a difference...

But i am flabbergasted by these many cables thread....

The really fundamental audio basic problem is:

How do i embed mechanically( controlling resonance and isolating/coupling/decoupling vibrations),
How do i embed electrically (controlling the general noise floor of the house,
How do i embed acoustically ( with passive materials room treatment but also active methods of controls),
my audio system first....


After that we will think about not too much costly good cables if necessary...

Before that putting so called good cables on speakers in a bad acoustical room, in a high level noise floor in the house, and with no attention to resonance or vibrations controls, knowing that all non treated room are bad, is like putting first a plaster in a cutted finger for a man laying in the concrete and hurted on the head by a hammer few minutes ago...

Can we speak about other thing than cables in Audio?

I am kiding, for sure we are free to speak about cables, and it can be interesting, but there is so much more important matters to give attention first....


P.S. The price of a cable has no relation in general with his S. Q. in a particular system and will sound less good or less bad in some  system and not so in another audio system.... Forget price....

Excellent points on the comments here---I used standard stock cables on most of my equipment years ago and started using higher quality cables/cords over the past few years. I (as well as my non-audiophile friends) heard a noticeable difference on better ICs followed by speaker cables----not as much on the conditioner and power cords. But I still wonder about the other accessories: sound isolators under equipment, butcher blocks, those little stands that keep speaker cables off the floor. Is it that much of a difference with those items??

Good discussion - but you can't squeeze blood from a turnip. Cheap systems have their limitations, that's why they're cheap.

RK