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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
vmhf
52 posts
 
I feel the same as you kijanki. My cabling costs half the price of my whole system and I feel embarrassed to admit it in fear of being ridiculed. But in my system I would have it no other way as the cables are just like another component to my ears.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Vmhf - Even if your cables cost too much it is non-perishable stuff. Electronics or speakers might go bad or you'll decide to upgrade it but cables, if neutral sounding, might stay forever. Also, I feel that it is easier when we take one element out of the equation.
vmhf
52 posts
 
You are absolutely right there Kijanky. The cables I have tick all the right boxes and shall remain with my next system upgrades. I believe they are very neutral sounding and simply get out of the way of all my gear. It's one hifi cost I dont have to ever worry about again in my life!
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
IMO cables are the biggest racket in audio. It all depends on what cables work in a given system. You don't need to spend a lot of money to get great sound. In fact, there are many low priced stuff that outperform the expensive ones. Years ago my system retailed for $36,000, $7,000 of that was in cables. I sold those and replaced them with $1,500 worth of cables and got better sound. Today, my system isn't a third of what it used to be and I'm still using the same "cheap" cables.
inna
7,296 posts
 
Sometimes when you find the right cable it unfortunately costs a lot. Assuming that you can afford it, what do you do? Buy this cable or a cheaper one that doesn't sound quite right? Of course, you have to try many if not all cables before spending $5k on a pair of 1.0 M interconnects.
In my modest system the speaker cables retailed for as much as the speakers, and interconnects for half the price of either integrated amp or cd player. I bought everything used so the real figures not percentage were tolerable. I can understand that in some situations cables can cost half the entire system though usually when it gets that expensive it is better to replace the components. But usually doesn't mean always. In my system it is about 30% including power cords.
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