The Cost of Cables

John, I certainly don't disagree with what you are saying; as I stated in the original post, I think cable costs are staggering. I only recall one person in this thread making a case for the possibility of cables costing a lot.

the issue is not the cost of the cable but rather what is a cable worth to a consumer ? if a cable is expensive some will think it is overpriced, while others may consider the cable worth the price.

there is no rational reason for a subjective evaluation of what something is worth.

what is the relevance of the cost of the product to its price ? if it has value to someone it will be purchased. if there is an sufficient demand to ensure the viability of the product, it will be removed from the market, reduced in price or perhaps, recast in a different "package" at a lower price.

How common is reverse - price psychology I wonder? Some of the motivations that drive some to the reach for huge prices seem to drive others to the reach for the exceptional values. If you split folks into three groups, high price seekers, price indifferent, high value seekers, I wonder how the percentages would come out.

The issue, in general, may not be the cost of the cable, but the issue (question) Brian is raising IS the price (cost) of the cables. He isn't disputing that "better" cables cost more and/or work better. I have to assume that at this point in the thread, he is also convinced that some of the high price of cables is "because somebody will pay that price".

Theoretically, the forces of capitalism should drive down the price of anything where the profit margin greatly exceeds other manufactured items. Since that doesn't appear to be happening in audio cables, they either genuinely cost more to make, and therefore to sell, or there is some other mystical thing going on. Just glancing at the situation, it seems like it has to be the latter, not the former. The market for high priced cables is so small that even though the margins are fantastic, it's not a logical place for capital to divert itself towards to refine the process and the cost structure.

My own opinion is that the cost structure remains in place somewhat to support the R&D costs of bringing these products to market, coupled with the cottage industry nature of the field. In the lower ends, where people are buying HT receivers and surround systems, you see many more people buying Monster cabling which, while it doesn't necessarily hold its own against high-end cable, is a definite upgrade over the cheap interconnects that come with a standard A/V component. There is a level of cabling that is above what you need to get any sound at all that has been successfully marketed to at least some of the masses. It could happen at a higher level if there was some lever that caused more people to demand what they get out of a high-end cable, and then prices would plummet just based on volume and manufacturing efficiencies.