The Cost of Cables

Some cables cost a bit because they are hand made to order. Others may have an exotic construction with strands individually coated in ceramic, etc. Yes, copper has gone up in price lately, but it fluctuates like all commodities. Sometimes it's low in price. Amortization of R & D is also a consideration. However, for the mass market cables from the usual suspects, cables are simply a high margin product that are significantly marked up at the retail level. The big box store that sells you the TV on a small margin will try to make up some profit by pushing an expensive cable. The marketing pitch is that you should get a premium cable in order to get all the benefit and performance you paid for in the expensive TV (or stereo).

RD plays a big role, materials, along with low volume sales cant be dismissed. Cables get a huge mark-up and are many times a cash cow for dealers. And never forget the price of Prestige.

There are more subtle and manipulative forces at work which might better explain the high margin greed seen in cable peddlars.

Although cables can cost thousands, of course you can spend thousands more on speakers and all the other associated components.

Having suffered through the pain of that invoice - and with high expectations for joy and happiness to arise from a new system - the customer is in a psychologically vulnerable state, where he would be unusually sensitive to disappointment.

At that point, with those high expectations, and having already blown a considerable sum of money, the last thing you want to worry about is that a) you are not really getting your money's worth, b) not really going to get gloriously high end sound etc etc.

Regardless of the price of the cables, it is neither financially or psychologically the main purchase, so this still big but most likely lesser sum - despite the ridiculous mark up - seems like sensible insurance and often tempts the buyer into a oh what the heck I might as well really go for it - type of a purchase.

Similar psychology is employed when a car salesman will say how attractively priced the car is, before piling on a load of high margin options.

If my theory is correct, the "best" tires, oil, gasoline etc could all be sold at inflated margins to Porsche and Ferrari drivers.

I pay extra for high test gasoline, which some people say makes a lot less sense than expensive cables, but I have no intent to change.

Beware the accessories and extended warrantee salesmen!

I pay extra for high test gasoline, which some people say makes a lot less sense than expensive cables, but I have no intent to change.

Using a "high test" gasoline, higher octane, can actually be bad for a car if it doesn't call for an octane that high. The octane ratings correlates to when the gas detonates, so an octane too high can cause wrong detonation. The mistake is made when one uses this gasoline because they think they are using better gasoline. (If anyone wants to correct my crude response, feel free, I am no automotive expert.)

Man, I just took the thread off topic.

Is it determed by most then that cables simply are marked up much more than other audio componants or is there actually something to the cost?

Brian