7500 for USED cables? Are they joking?

Whoa! This-here thread got away from me in a hurry. I don't know whether to apologize or thank you, so I'll do both.

Being an "outsider" again with old but somewhat fresh eyes for the jargon, I've got two observations to make that some of you may not see because you've kept up with the literature since I dropped out.

First, the WONDERFUL spoof on fishing line actually hooked me. That's really scary. It means somewhere in the dark recesses of my slowly withering pea-brain, cable claims from a decade ago are still lodged and producing a Pavlovian response in my subconscious. Driving to work, I found myself actually wondering if $3,000 fishing line might work -- I'm not kidding! -- even while my conscious, semi-professional self was screaming "If you think that ridiculous thought one more time, I'm driving this car off the next bridge!"

Second, why hasn't the industry put its efforts into figuring out "why" one piece of wire works better than another? I mean, designing a really great amp, tuner, speaker or CD player takes a bit of effort and some genuine smarts. Hasn't anyone wanted to design an active component or an ability within existing components that would give you exactly the same great sound as the most expensive cable using any conductor of electricity? It's got to be easier (and cheaper!) than buying and testing high-end cables until you find something that sort of works better than something else. This isn't rocket science folks (and even if it were, you can hire rocket scientists in Russia full-time these days for about $1200 a month each).

I would think that speaker and component manufacturers would be interested in being the first to claim their units didn't need fussy, expensive cables to sound great.

By the way, yes, yes, I do have about $600 (used) in speaker cables in my system. I'm not a complete Luddite, OK?

You all are the most intelligent, funny and sensible audiophiles (by and large) that I've ever encountered. Thank you for the great entertainment and information!

Respectfully,

Mark Hubbard

Mark, there are manufacturers that already make the claim of their components NOT being cable sensitive i.e. all cables sound and measure the same within the confines of their system. The first that come to mind are Krell ( with their CAST system )and Van Alstine. Sean
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By default components shouldn't be a cable-sencitive at all but there again plays the marketing side.
Some of the manufacturers will advice you to use only audiophile grade cables and some are fine with pro-grade or even RadioShack.

Mark: I'd add Dunlavy to Sean's list. (He even admits his own cables don't sound any better than anybody else's!) But I suspect most component manufacturers would see no value in trying to unconvince audiophiles of something they're convinced of. Besides, the proof is there that most (note that I said most) gear doesn't require specialized cables--if you want to accept that proof. But as we know, many audiophiles do not (as is their right). I don't see what else science could do to convince them.

Well, science doesn't understand everything, or claim to know everything. Those who say if I can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist are walking on thin ice. You do the best you can with the tools you have. There have been many, many instances in history where science has been proven wrong in its assessments (and those who follow and agree). My point earlier in this thread, which was then lambasted, is that I think science has yet devise a measurement to answer the question of what is the difference. So the Pros shake their heads in disbelief because there is no measurable proof of the claim. Attributes such as 6dB of more signal gain (lower noise floor), and high common mode rejection ratios for differential inputs (near elimination of common noise) have a solid mathematical base.

A number of manufacturers use Cardas, Kimber, and various other brands in their designs. I think the best question is, during the design process what cables (and equipment) were used to complete the design. To answer the $7500 question is different for every audiophile. Hence the previous comment on trusting your ears. There are some extremely good cables for a tenth to a hundredth of $7500, but if we could and we heard a difference, would we?

Now back to your pander…