Transparent Cables - Worth the money?

Do they come with a free Amp on one end and speakers on the other?

no they don't; but they do make your amps and speakers perform at a level or 2 higher. so in one sense they do come with new amps and speakers. they also make every recording you own better; if it is recorded decently.

What do you think it costs to build an eight foot run of Opus?

For discussion purposes only, let us assume the following:

Cost of Material, probably at most $500

Labour(assume assembly, testing at most 20 man-hours
@ $25 per man -hour = $500

loading factor 1.5 (includes R&D, etc)

Thus estimated manufacturing cost = $1250 (at most)

Retail multiplier =6

Sugggested retail 6x1250 = $7500

From this example you can see that the cost of the labor and parts would have to be significantly higher to justify the price of this cable at $23k /8ft.

today i posted a description of the materials and construction of the opus on the "audio asylum" cable board if you are interested. it is under a thread started early yesterday. i would think construction costs and labor are a few factors higher than your estimate. but i think this is about performance and market value, not cost. i paid about $8k more than the next best speaker cable would cost. for my money it was worth it.