2. cables
  3. 192296-1635

What % Of Your System Are Your Cables?

IMO, the “10% rule” for cable expenditure really should be stated as “when you’re building a new system and you have a limited budget, allocate 10% to cables” and I think this is a good idea. But again IMO, this is not necessarily the stopping point. I recently purchased some new cables and I was wondering, hopefully without getting into the cable debate, what percentage of your system do you have invested in cables?  No need to go into brands or actual cost, unless you want to. With my new purchase, I would say I’m around 25% depending on whether you count my analog rig as part of the system price, as I did not buy any new cables for the TT, because my TT has captive cables. Probably up to about 30% without the analog.  I understand the percentage numbers can be highly deceiving if you bought used. 25% used is probably about 50% of your system price if you bought new. Anyway, just curious to see what you’re doing with cables. Be well. 

chayro
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,804 posts
 

4%.

I’ve tried some relatively expensive cables but wasn’t impressed.

I made my own speaker cables from solid core OCC wire. I was lucky enough to buy 10 pairs of NOS Belkin interconnects that are sublime. I tested them against a number of ICs in the $250-$500 range, but they simply sounded better.

sls883
370 posts
 

I'm around 12% based on what I paid.  At normal retail for new, it would be higher. 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,095 posts
 

Are we counting cost of stands/racks, dedicated lines and acoustic treatment, as well as other tweeks some may have into the total system cost?

If that’s the case, my cables are about 13% of the total. 

mitch2
3,997 posts
 

No more than about 5 percent. My experience is that money is typically better spent on the actual components and speakers than on cables and tweaks. YMMV.

BTW, @noromance - What are "NOS Belkin interconnects"? Are they made with a certain type of commonly available cable such as Mogami or Belden? Also, I agree with you about "solid core...wire" sounding best for speaker cable. My three favorites here (Cardas, Harmonic Tech, and DIY Jupiter wire) are all solid core.

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