Cost break down of hifi system

My two cents, based upon my finally paying attention, recently, to cabling on my 3 systems: 

1) Though my experience tells me cables can make a significant difference, just the thought of having to experiment with multiple different cables sucks the life out of me.  I am therefore willing to rely on reviews, reputation and word-of-mouth (Audiogon?) to make my decisions.

2) The amount I am willing to spend on cables should be correlated with the amount I spend on cables.

3) I hate the idea of buying cables from a company whose “flagship” products are multiples of what I’m willing to spend.  I’d like to feel like whatever product I choose is at or near the top of that company’s product line, no matter how little I spend.

With those principles, I’ve made the following decisions over the last several months:

1) Budget System (Triode Corp integrated amp, Acoustic Zen Adagio Jr. speakers, Okto DAC/streamer, Pro-ject turntable) - QED interconnects and speaker cables, with Anticables power cords.

2) Vintage(y) System (Leben integrated amp and phono pre, restored/modified Altec Santiagos, restored/modified Thorens TD-124) - Triode Wire Labs interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords.

3) Big Rig (Synthesis integrated amp and phono pre, Audio Note AN-Es, Gold Note DAC/streamer, restored/modified Garrard 401) - Audio Note Lexus speaker cable, Straightwire power cords, interconnects TBD (will be experimenting with Triode Wire Labs)

Btw, for my vintage system, I too was considering the Cardas Clear Cygnus line, but I experienced profound sticker shock at what the entire loom would cost.  Hence my decision to go with Triode Wire Labs, for a savings of close to $2000!!

Oops, principle #2 was supposed to amount i’m willing to spend on cables should be correlated with amt i spend on system..

@hilde45 I was leaning at the Cardas cyngus. I have talked to a few people that say they would do Cardas clear but that it’s a lot to just start with in my opinion. To top it off I have not had a chance to here the system yet. I was also looking at the dragon cables from moon audio as a place to start, that and they are cheaper then the Cardas cyngus too. I don’t wanna go crazy out the gate but I also don’t want to feel like the cables don’t bring my system to its potential. 

@mdalton I do agree with you on experimenting and wanting to read/ask options on audiogon. You can get a real sense of what works just by asking like minded people. I was looking at moon audio which have good feedback and are cheaper then Cardas Cygnus. I did find a dealer that will do 20% off on the Cygnus so that’s the route I will likely take for now. A 2m pair of speaker cable is $1200 and 1m pair of interconnects xlr is 680. I am going to stick with the power cords that came with my pass labs for now. 

It is interesting how lop-sided some of the posts are. it is true that each part of a system has its own 'weight' in the final outcome, but none are the end game either. 

 In one post though it was the truth as to what your mood might be for music one day and not as much the next. That might mean that where a certain cable or speaker set up decision leans towards one side of the musical spectrum more than another. I come across this in my system too, and most often the difference may depend on whether I listen to vinyl or CD. For me, they are not the same so there is one way to determine what source I will choose. Aside from that, using acoustic panels are another thing that I decide to use or not. This has way more to do with the trouble of putting the panels in place and then taking them down before the wife gets home.