"geoffkaitAll this ruckus over high priced audiophile cables is starting to sound a lot like sour grapes"
If by sour grapes you mean envy/jealousy then of course you are correct that has been quite obvious from the numerous postings here about cable prices for quite some time and I have pointed this out previously. It is an understandable matter because of course if among you're primary concerns is meeting the needs of basic life such as housing and food then the value offered by improved performance in your Music Reproduction System is of lesser overall value to you because of these other needs. On the other hand if these basic needs are securely met and not of primary concern then even marginal improvements in your Music Reproduction System will be worthwhile because the actual cost of obtaining the improvement does not come at the price of limiting your ability to meet your other basic needs. This is why those who oppose such things as superior cables almost always lack first hand experience with them because they can't afford them and no dealer will loan them a set because the dealer knows they are not a customer and cannot afford them. It is also why those who oppose superior cables find it so frequently necessary to insult those who choose them by saying they are deluded or snake oil suckers or suffering confirmation bias or are scientifically illiterate because they need to do this to feel comfortable with their lot in life. It is very much a matter of their simple inability to even imagine living a life where for example a $10,000 speaker cable could be in the overall budget of an audiophile a fairly trivial expense and whenever I point this out I am subject to complaints here but that is the cost sometimes of telling the truth in a public forum.
If by sour grapes you mean envy/jealousy then of course you are correct that has been quite obvious from the numerous postings here about cable prices for quite some time and I have pointed this out previously. It is an understandable matter because of course if among you're primary concerns is meeting the needs of basic life such as housing and food then the value offered by improved performance in your Music Reproduction System is of lesser overall value to you because of these other needs. On the other hand if these basic needs are securely met and not of primary concern then even marginal improvements in your Music Reproduction System will be worthwhile because the actual cost of obtaining the improvement does not come at the price of limiting your ability to meet your other basic needs. This is why those who oppose such things as superior cables almost always lack first hand experience with them because they can't afford them and no dealer will loan them a set because the dealer knows they are not a customer and cannot afford them. It is also why those who oppose superior cables find it so frequently necessary to insult those who choose them by saying they are deluded or snake oil suckers or suffering confirmation bias or are scientifically illiterate because they need to do this to feel comfortable with their lot in life. It is very much a matter of their simple inability to even imagine living a life where for example a $10,000 speaker cable could be in the overall budget of an audiophile a fairly trivial expense and whenever I point this out I am subject to complaints here but that is the cost sometimes of telling the truth in a public forum.