There is a main reason why people react so differently to this thread. It is not about who is right. Why do we see it so differently?
Instead of defending our personal thoughts we have to focus more on what the reason is for our reactions.
I have said it often here on Audiogon. In all the 16 years I do this work my biggest irritation is the overwhelming part of average and poor quality on the market.
When I worked for over 6 years in a shop we had so much different brands and stuff. I did compare as many as I could. I found out that the differences are too big in endresults. So my question was: why as a consumer I would want these products? And why we sell these products?
It was not my shop. I already had my thoughts and doubts. At shows the differences are big as well. Here it is a combination of low quality stuff and the wrong combination caused by the wrong properties togheter.
From 2005 till 2007 I did visit many sets from about 12000 dollar till 180.000 dollar. I saw how easy it is to get a average or even low endresult by even spending a lot of money on audio. These situations and thoughts from the past did change my way of thinking about audio a lot.
I did run a speciality shop from 2007 till 2009. I had a lot of freedom and I could choose what I want. Here the difference between 2 and 3 dimensional sound was to big for me. The question I asked myself: why you want a 2 dimensional stage if you can get a 3 dimensional stage for the same money. I started to focus on less brands.
I Always want people to have the freedom to choose. Because I want this freedom myself. So I started to explain what 3 dimensional sound is. After letting people hear a 3 dimensional stage, I saw how exited people became. When people have the money they all choose for a 3 dimensional sound.
These days it is a lot easier to create a 3 dimensional stage for a lot less money than in the past. This is a good thing in audio. But.....most of the shops still sell 2 dimensional sound. But not only 2 dimensional sound. Their products often are not that special. Now that I am my own boss I could not sell these products to my personal clients anymore. Because I want them to get a better endresult.
Prices in cables are based for a part on the material but also because a brand wants a cable in a certain price level.
Silver is more expensive to buy for a cable brand compared to copper. The extreme prices some brands ask for copper cables I don't understand.
Don't forget that cabels above 10.000 dollar are not ones which will be sold a lot. This makes it more expensive to produce them in smaller quantities.
In all the years I test I have seen that in the world of cables there are not a lot of what I think give a stunning endresult. This can be said also about; amps, sources, speakers, conditioners etc.
Many audiomagazines are paid by advertisments. So I understand that they can't be negative about the brands who advertise in their magazines. But the question is: is it honest and objective? No.....I don't think so. I don't like this either.
And now the question: what can 'stunning' expensive cables bring extra to a set? First of all it depends about the quality of the stuff you own. When the properties fit the tools ( equipment) you own it can do things a more expensive amp can't give to you with less expensive cables.
I give a few examples: Some cable brands give a stunning black level. Blacks are the space between voices and instruments with their acoustic information when they were recorded. Better blacks give you a more physical touchable image of the instruments and voices. Even when I used more expensive amps I could not achive it. Cables are very important in this part.
I love the best silver cables on the market over the more expensive copper cables. Why? Very simple to explain; they give me more resolution, more decay, a wider and deeper stage, more air around instruments and voices, a better individual focus, often a smaller and more intimate image. The best ones also let you hear the differences in Heights of instruments and voices during a recording. These things can't be achieved so easily with more expnsive amps or sources.
Are they worth it? When they can give you a better endresult than an upgrade with a more expensive amp or source they are. Because the endresults counts and matters most.
Even when prices are high, the endresults counts most. Comparing gives consumers freedom to choose.
* there is still a long way to go to make audio more open and honest. But this is the most important part to survive in the long term!
