Tbg,
You may be right. But I believe there is a mystique around cables and cable makers that needs to be dispelled. Ozzy put it very well when he said there is just so much BS in the cable business. If you believe everything you read on the Forum and in reviews, there are more geniuses in the high-end audio business than there are in Mensa. Sorry, I don't buy it. That mentality simply fills a need for myth-making and cultism.
What I am talking about is the price/performance ratio. I have known for years that neodymium magnets can elevate the performance of cables. But I also know from my own experience that any audiophile can make his own stunning cables for a pittance -- meaning no more than $200 or $300 -- including the magical neodymium magnets that usually run no more than 50 cents apiece. This makes the astronomical prices demanded for "high end" cables with lesser SQ, and in many cases inferior SQ, nothing short of laughable.
Of course, those with enough money to throw at the matter do not care a whit about price/performance. They want to come home at night, put their feet up, and enjoy the music. For them performance is all that matters -- not price or value. They have no interest in making their own cables. They simply let someone else address the problem and pay them for their work. On the other hand, there are others who try to get the best value for their hard-earned dollars but are drawn into the high-end hoopla and spend way more than they need to spend for stunning sound. They have no idea they can make their own high-performance cables for a song.
By the way, my comments are equally directed at a long list of cable makers including Synergistic Research, Cardas, Gabriel Gold, High Fidelity, ASI Liveline, Tara and Nordost, among many others.
You may be right. But I believe there is a mystique around cables and cable makers that needs to be dispelled. Ozzy put it very well when he said there is just so much BS in the cable business. If you believe everything you read on the Forum and in reviews, there are more geniuses in the high-end audio business than there are in Mensa. Sorry, I don't buy it. That mentality simply fills a need for myth-making and cultism.
What I am talking about is the price/performance ratio. I have known for years that neodymium magnets can elevate the performance of cables. But I also know from my own experience that any audiophile can make his own stunning cables for a pittance -- meaning no more than $200 or $300 -- including the magical neodymium magnets that usually run no more than 50 cents apiece. This makes the astronomical prices demanded for "high end" cables with lesser SQ, and in many cases inferior SQ, nothing short of laughable.
Of course, those with enough money to throw at the matter do not care a whit about price/performance. They want to come home at night, put their feet up, and enjoy the music. For them performance is all that matters -- not price or value. They have no interest in making their own cables. They simply let someone else address the problem and pay them for their work. On the other hand, there are others who try to get the best value for their hard-earned dollars but are drawn into the high-end hoopla and spend way more than they need to spend for stunning sound. They have no idea they can make their own high-performance cables for a song.
By the way, my comments are equally directed at a long list of cable makers including Synergistic Research, Cardas, Gabriel Gold, High Fidelity, ASI Liveline, Tara and Nordost, among many others.