Everyone is free to be ripped off. It's a free country. That's not my issue. Like I said, my issue is with bogus claims justifying stupid pricing. By all means, spend $10k on an interconnect and tell us all about the blacker backgrounds, better focus, soundstage depth, etc. But you won't be able to rank cables by how they sound in order of price beyond anything made with quality materials and build. You won't be able to tell the difference BY PRICE between a $200, $1500, and $5000 cable and rank them in order of cost because the $200 cable is not better or worse than the $5000 cable.
Cable curmudgeon
I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman. Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc. After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel. He complemented me on my "good ear." Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference. However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft. Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido). Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz. But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.
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@wesheadley Really? I won’t? Where’s your evidence of this, or perhaps you can tell us what $200, $1500, and $5000 cables you used to make your assertions? I’ve got several cables ranging from $500 to $2000, and the difference between the $500 and $2000 cables (as well as the others) is not hard to hear at all. Again, what’s your evidence to back your claim cause I’d love to see why I’m not hearing what I clearly hear. Also, what equipment is in the system you’re using to make these judgements? |
@wesheadley should move on down to Venezuela. See how a state run economy is working. Oh I know you are here to save us from our selves because we cannot make an educated decision on how to spend our disposable income. Who is making anyone buy the marketing hype or these (your words) over priced cables? Think there is an open table at the Hookah Bar.
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I once auditioned some AQ cables in a full Mac system that I would judge as pretty damn good. ToL B&W LS w 2x big REL subs. Well-proportioned and well-damped room. Excellent presentation with correct perspective, height, width and depth. One of the best store demos I’d ever heard. So, moving from the $6k pre->amp IC to the $12k, the system became UNLISTENABLE. Now, you may say it comes down to personal preference. If you’ve paying attention, I always audition with the same three tracks and only if the system passes the sniff test, do I continue. No point otherwise if it can’t cut the mustard. I start w "Ruby Baby"*, original Tommy "Underture" and finally Jarreau’s "Mornin’". The system in original configuration was really, really good. One of the best store demos ever! On an audition change, the tune order is reversed. On the new cable, about a minute into "Mornin’", I said "STOP. That cable is totally wrong for this system**." Asked "Why?", I answered "The perspective is all screwed up. The hat has gone from delicate to gritty. The vocal has lost all its air. The bottom is nebulous. It’s really bad." Asked "How do you know it’s not the recording and the new cable isn’t revealing flaws in the recording?" "Well, I recorded and mixed it and in 35 years I’ve never heard anything quite as bad. The other cable played it as I recorded it, so for my money, if I had the original system, I’d stick with it." BTW, most of the time I just walk out part way through a demo because the systems are hopeless. -------------------------------------- * Nichols is one of my idols. ** It’s always the system in a room and that’s why bloviator FanBoy recommendations are worthless. |
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