Cable Costs Relative to System

inpepinnovations@aol.com, I’m not an engineer, just a music lover. Don at DCCA Audio is a cable designer just like RidgeStreetAudio and such. I don’t ask about how he designs his cables. That is why I hire him to make me my cables. I tell him what I want and he sends them to me. Why don’t you e-mail him and ask him a few questions and maybe demo some of his fine cables and find out for yourself.

Metro04, I tell Don at DCCA Audio what audio qualities I enjoy and what type of sound I am looking for. I also provide custom specs of how long the cable should be and the connector positions so the cables fit perfectly in my rack. DCCA sends them to me and I take a listen on my system. I made requests of any changes in sound quaities and I send them back for adjustment. The cables come back tailored to my specific likings for my specific system. These are my experiences and this is what worked for me. I'm just passing on my findings. I'm happy and that is all that is important.

Enough said let's move on...

I use to think that cables were an afterthought, but as my system developed over time, wires became the weakest link by far. I have since adjusted my outlook towards cables, I would consider cables to be a primary component, like an amp or preamp.

Hi RidgeStreetAudio, I guess my definition of a tweak is altering the existing equipment in some way to make an incremental improvement. Replacing the supplied PC with an aftermarket upgrade is in my view a "tweak", just as upgrading speaker cables and interconnects from what you already have to something that performs better is a tweak.
I realise a power cable is equipment in the sense that the component wont work without it, but upgrading to something better (and usually more expensive) is a tweak.

There are only a few people who hit on the common sense behind this question and thread. If you are looking at spending several thousand or whatever on a new component and you try the component in mind and can find a new wire you heard about that is the same or less your only choice is to decide which makes the best or biggest difference. Cable makes a huge difference up to the point where you are close to optimal. Some of the best cables are not the most expensive. Some of the most expensive are far from neutral which confuses the issue when you throw coloration into the equation. Use your common sense in terms of letting your ability to hear changes or differences determine how much you spend. A budget component system with superb but pricey wire can outperform a system costing tens of thousands of dollars more that had medium priced mediocre wire.

Just thought I'd chime in and say my current rig has north of $25K in wires...and I wouldn't have it any other way..really, I've tried the radio shack route and everything in-between, but the damn stuff is sooofreakin great!!! FYI- I use MIT Oracle V2.1 spkr and IC's with Transparent MM Reference power cords.