Regarding a review in the Aug '02 Stereophile...

I know nothing about Audience cables however I do know that certain cables jive with certain systems particularly well. This does not mean they are better for everyone or everyone would have the same "luck" in finding an inexpensive speaker wire that bests a more expensive brand.

System synergy is what its all about.

It never suprises me when people compare lower priced cables to higher priced cables and find them to be suprisingly similar or better. Most cables are unbelievably overpriced (even the cheaper ones), and the prices are certainly based more on brand name and demand than they are quality. I'm sure the Audience cables are good (though still far from cheap) and I'm sure the Nordost cables are good and ridiculously overpriced. No big surprise, really.

Reviewers are always making those comparisons and finding X-brand $1500 CD player 90% or 95% as good as y-brand $7000 CD player. They always mention that as if X-brand CD for $1500 is such a great player and a true hi-fi bargain, but being a bit cynical...it makes me think that y-brand for $7000 is way too expensive and really not all that much better. I feel the same way about the cable comparisons.

From my vantage point where most reviewers fail is in the awareness that all cables and components are in many ways system specific. They don't seem to consider system synergy. They all list the system they use in their review, but they associate all that they hear to the cable or the component under review.

For example, if a revealing cable uncovers some harshness in the reviewer's CD player; the reviewer will still comment that the cable sounded a little harsh, even though it could be his CD player that is harsh, not the cable; etc, etc.

Phild - like all components in electronics, if you want to get the last 5% of performance out of cables, you have to resort to exotic materials and constructions. This is expensive no matter how you spin it. Low volume, high-cost = expensive. The challenge is finding the product that achieves the point of diminishing returns for a reasonable price. An most of all, ignore the price and listen to the performance.