Cable Cost

[audio bill]

Originally Posted by The Trace

When stereo publications were nothing more than letter-sized material, stapled in the corner, NO ads at all. Reviews and opinion only. One of the published a review of the Fournier speaker and it was better than the 2nd Coming. It was later found that the speaker co. was owned by the publication. I believe that publication is still around. But then so am I.

Just a correction for accuracy, the speaker brand was Fourier.

[ylee]

Originally Posted by The Trace

After watching M. Fremers video of his visit to Audioquest it only confirms (to me) that cables are perhaps the most overpriced component in audio. The personnel, buildings, providing abundant advertising, trade shows, and whatever else leads to this observation. The actual components seem to be in the low end of the food chain from what information I have managed to gather. There are no moving parts, intricate parts, just mostly wire, dialectic, connections in most cases. Am I missing something here? This looks to be a category where "price is the product" It must be great and magical because it costs so much.

I agree that cable prices are frighteningly expensive at the high end of the market given the apparent levels of effort and material involved in production. From a business perspective however it comes down to a company needing to meet cost of staying afloat (which includes R&D) and hopefully turning a profit as well. If they're moving smaller numbers of products then prices will be high since expenses have to be accounted for with smaller quantities. The price of exotic cabling of course ensures the numbers sold will remain low. Companies need to do the basic cost accounting to make sure they can stay in business and then charge a profit margin that brings the reward. Apparently there are enough of us that they can charge exorbitant prices and thereby survive. This should make us think about where we spend our stereo budget. I'm not arguing for companies needing to go out of business. It's just that cable prices sometimes reflect business realities more than tangible benefit for the cost. The challenging part for cable companies is to focus R&D where new products will continue to bring tangible value to the customer and enough so for them to buy theirs instead of a competitor's. As always in this industry/hobby your ears are the best judge.

[2fastdriving]

I just got done doing a demo of TA gen 5 reference in my system (IC's and SC). I sure wish they didn't make a difference but they do. I can't afford right now, so I'll put on my roadmap for future upgrades. It's between 5-10% improvement for me...I have TA "super" interconnects and depending on the track and recording quality, it's easy to perceive a good improvement, but varies a bit.

But like the OP, I have no idea how they can charge such outrageous prices. It's just a wire, for God's sake. Yes there is R&D, and I get it....but 17k for their 3rd from the top speaker cable? And 12k interconnects? It's just so over the top. I didn't even try those things (XL level). I am not paying that.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

I just got done doing a demo of TA gen 5 reference in my system (IC's and SC). I sure wish they didn't make a difference but they do. I can't afford right now, so I'll put on my roadmap for future upgrades. It's between 5-10% improvement for me...I have TA "super" interconnects and depending on the track and recording quality, it's easy to perceive a good improvement, but varies a bit.

But like the OP, I have no idea how they can charge such outrageous prices. It's just a wire, for God's sake. Yes there is R&D, and I get it....but 17k for their 3rd from the top speaker cable? And 12k interconnects? It's just so over the top. I didn't even try those things (XL level). I am not paying that.

I went from MM2 Super SC & IC to Gen 5 Ref. The improvement was undeniable. Improvement...not just a difference which can sound pleasing at first. Just a data point but the SC & IC had a bigger impact than a $23K clock.

[Still-One]

Yes, most everything cable related is priced stupidly high, but then again so is just about everything in this hobby. If you want to play you have to decide where you draw the line in the sand for each component. Pricing only has some semblance of logic when compared against other audio products, Never when compared against other luxury times.