How much money do you want to waste?

End the geekfest? Might as well shut down Audiogon right now:

Cables are lots of fun because they are very mysterious, a cognitive black box...

Since the first day I hooked up some $100 cables to my system oh so many years ago, I was simply amazed by how much it improved the sound quality and how different cable designs and materials can alter the sonic characteristics of a system.

Even 'til this day, my amazement with cables hasn't died. As Neitzche says, "There is no original text," I believe there is no perfect cable. And like every novel, each cable has something different to offer, so, as long as people are enjoying their audio hobby, it is intrinsic for us to audition all types of cables with an open "ear," mega-buck or not.

Yah, cables are heavily over-priced, but so are everything else that isn't mass produced and are high quality.

Another thought, should we boycott all mega-bucks cables until they charge less? = D

Cable companies have a right to charge whatever they want, and consumers who can afford such extravagances are free to indulge. Some who can afford it but understand why it is that cables sound different will choose to spend their money in other ways. Those who can't afford it may choose to console themselves in the same way. Unfortunately, some people who want to spend big bucks on cable feel the need to rationalize this by denying the fact that most of these products are produced for pennies on the dollar.

Bomarc you are correct and the main point is you dont need to spend big money to get big sound.
People spending big bucks on cables are free to.Just dont propogate the lie that they are worth the money and someone who does not cant possibly have a good system.

What something is worth is set by market value and what people are willing to pay. In other words, even though someone might think that a mint condition 1967 Shelby Daytona Coupe with full documentation is worth $5,000, there are collectors that would easily pay 100 times that amount for such a vehicle. Obviously, the person selling it would not deny the buyer that was willing to pay such a fee, so the value would remain at $500,000. Is the vehicle worth that amount ? Obviously it was to the buyer and his insurance company. Sean
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To further Sean above: IMO we're soul-searching to justify the prices we pay for our equips. In doing so, many of us (myself included) invariably relate the market price of a product with the cost of producing said product. Under this premise, many cables can be termed outrageously expensive: the *apparent* production cost is only remotely related to the asking price. So, how can we justify it? Now if it were a beefy amp, heavy and packed with capacitors...

Nevertheless, some people do purchase expensive cables and, in doing so, do set a market price -- as with Sean's Daytona example.
For that matter, how does the price of an expensive amp compare to the price of an automobile -- construction cost-wise? As far as I, for one, can judge-- no comparison! My amp costs more than a small car and a car seems far more complicated (and expensive) to produce than my amp. Yet, the amp is sitting in my room and playing right now (stupid me, I know).

Happy, safe, and musical holidays to all, regardless of the brand of our wires!