There are only a few people who hit on the common sense behind this question and thread. If you are looking at spending several thousand or whatever on a new component and you try the component in mind and can find a new wire you heard about that is the same or less your only choice is to decide which makes the best or biggest difference. Cable makes a huge difference up to the point where you are close to optimal. Some of the best cables are not the most expensive. Some of the most expensive are far from neutral which confuses the issue when you throw coloration into the equation. Use your common sense in terms of letting your ability to hear changes or differences determine how much you spend. A budget component system with superb but pricey wire can outperform a system costing tens of thousands of dollars more that had medium priced mediocre wire.
Cable Costs Relative to System
Since making a spread sheet with my audio system prices, I have been thinking(shocked) about my total investment in cables. My total system retails at $67,000 (Digital and analog front ends included). I purchased all of it here on Audiogon so my investment is about 50%. Of that I have about 10% invested in interconnects and cables and another 10% in Power Cables (Shunyata Hydra included). That's $13,000 worth of wire. I'm starting to question whether it might be more effective to put some of this budget into acitve components. It would take forever to listen to all possible combinations, but would like to hear others experiences with relatively high end systems and cable selection. It would seem to me that the point of diminishing returns would be reached sooner with cables than with speakers and amps. Do most of you follow the 10% "rule" for cabling? How do PCs fit into this rule? Are there any super bargain cables capable of keeping up with highly resolving electronics?
- ...
- 329 posts total
- 329 posts total