Cable Costs Relative to System

A good cord is a good cord. They may or may not do what your looking for but that just makes it a good cord which doesn't meet your tastes. There are allot of good cords that sound different but are good. In some cases a cord that is not of the same quality will work better in certain applications. There are allot of good cords , average cords, exceptional cords and down right bad cords. The trick is finding the right cords to match your tastes. Unfortunately most of the good cords are pricy but that's because the manufacturers can get away with charging what people are willing to pay. There are very good cords at reasonable prices which are good value for the dollar. Some cords sound great in one application and horrible in another. Some good cords are inexpensive and some bad cords are pricy. The difference between good and bad is a matter of opinion but I believe at a certain point good cords are good but just sound different from each other giving a variety of tuning options. Power cords do make a difference and are useful to tune your system to ones particular tastes. Those who claim cords don't make a difference have probably never truly have given cords a chance or even tried them. Regardless of the theories and scientific facts subjectively cords sound different from one another giving audiophiles another variable to be confused or enlightened about. Cords are like any other tweak. They change the sound be it for better or worse. That's my rant of the day.

It is so easy to hear what a great cable or power cord can do for fine equipment. True, they are not always super expensive, but some of the higher priced stuff does deliver the goods on great gear..night and day differences!! Some people are tone deaf..that's a fact as well! I have owned just about all the major cable brands, including Radio Shack...all wires are not created equall sorry to say! MIT is my favorite of the higher price stuff...it allows the full dynamic range thru with both macro and micro dynamic shadings..tone color is vivid and soundstaging is deep and layered with oodles of air!! Horns are one of the toughest instruments to re-create on a stereo...try the RS cable against a MIT Magnum cable and ya don't have to scratch your head...your jaw will drop!! This all means nothing of course unless you own great gear like Krell ect....! One must also have a deep love of live music in order to understand what makes one cable sound better than another...if no appreciation exists then any cable will do, which is fine if that makes you happy! It's a personal thing..you don't have to make it a public scourge!!

that component which makes the greatest (positive) difference to the sound of a stereo system is worth the most dollar investment.

aside from the speaker, there is no formula for allocating funds to the other components which makes sense. if one's budget is sufficiently large the task of configuring components is easier than when funds are limited.

unfortunately it is not possible to assemble all combinations of components, so there is an element of luck and the opportunity to listen.

i see no advantage in developing a formula to allocate expenditures on individual components.

In blind test I would bet anything you could not pic Radio shack spoole wire form the The crazy 1K plus cables. Any money. Snake oil is snake oil. I dont need to brag on spending 5k on wire. To many on this site do.

Now, that's quite a generalization! It would do you good to find out which cheap products deliver and which ones do not. In my system I use 65 cents/foot military surplus signal transmission cable as speaker wire yet handcrafted, naturally insulated silver interconnects.

My system is resolving enough that anyone can tell apart same models of a power cable treated at different cryogenic facilities. My system is gentle enough that it can successfully play any recording of any musical genre regardless of recording quality.

With psychic power and primal intensity,

I'll throw-in my 2 cents worth (maybe it's already been said, I didn't read all 135 responses up to this point!). Power cords can make or break a system IMHO. Some cords that come with your components are fine as is (i.e.: Audio Note Japan pre-amps, their KSL-SPz AC cord is fine, no need to upgrade). Most gear a great AC cord will have a very positive effect and you don't need to spend huge amounts of $$$ to get a great power cord. Example: Z-Cables made (I say made because as of several weeks ago Z-Cables closed shop do to personal health issues... and YES, Mark is doing well now) a $600 Black & Red Lighting AC cord that actually beat out most mega buck cords or at least performed as well. I've listened to dozens of power cords, they all make differences (again as a qualifier, your system has to be capable to hear all these, sometimes subtle changes, but in the end it's trial and error. You have to experiment or trust your dealer.