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Cable Costs Relative to System

Since making a spread sheet with my audio system prices, I have been thinking(shocked) about my total investment in cables. My total system retails at $67,000 (Digital and analog front ends included). I purchased all of it here on Audiogon so my investment is about 50%. Of that I have about 10% invested in interconnects and cables and another 10% in Power Cables (Shunyata Hydra included). That's $13,000 worth of wire. I'm starting to question whether it might be more effective to put some of this budget into acitve components. It would take forever to listen to all possible combinations, but would like to hear others experiences with relatively high end systems and cable selection. It would seem to me that the point of diminishing returns would be reached sooner with cables than with speakers and amps. Do most of you follow the 10% "rule" for cabling? How do PCs fit into this rule? Are there any super bargain cables capable of keeping up with highly resolving electronics?
metaphysics
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
i think a lot of the comments complicate the situation.

the question could be : how to get the most improvement in sound for a given sum of money ?

improvement is subjective and there is no definitive answer because it is not possible to audition every component in one's price range. if you can afford the cable and you like what it does, that should be suffiecient.

the cost of the cable relative to the cost of the rest of the system is irrelevant.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
"the question could be : how to get the most improvement in sound for a given sum of money ?"

That's easy - DIY

(but use one of the proven recipe's)

Enjoy,
Bob
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
If your contemplating using non-networked wire, then DIY is a cost cutting alternative. I have owned many of the high end non-networked cables and have had mixed results Even the best non-networked cables failed to present the music in it;s full measure with unrestricted dynamic range, 3D imaging land ack of distortion..when I went to something other than MIT I was unimpressed! Transparent is more tweaky and can be a great fit or a horrible debacle. The latest MIT stuff is remarkable....one must have the desire to hear the magic and utilize the cables properly. In other words, the rest of the system must be sufficiently well put together to take agvantage of what they offer!!
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
I have to disagree with you Dave b. My experience has taught me the better your system is, the less you'll want mystery box speaker cables. I know of several fabulously honed systems, including some of the finest SET systems, and the most power hungry, like my own. Some use highly engineered wires, such as VD, Cerious, and Shunyata, others have DIY silver, or copper ribbon.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
It may come down to how you listen. When I put on David Ott's Symphony #4 or Shostakovich's string quartets by the Emerson Quartet I need to be a part of the music, enveloped by the passion and power of the performance. Polite, nice pretty listening sessions are ok but when one needs to enter another world...the space where the musicians created the magic, nothing I've used comes close to my experience with MIT Oracle interfaces.
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