Esoteric K-03/Plinius CD-101

How can one person decide ahead of time what another will hear or likes/dislikes what is heard based on price alone?

It is simply ludicrous to assume that listener "A" won't be thrilled with a $200 pair of wires as opposed to a $2000 pair of cables. You might but he may not.

Expensive is not necessarily better with wires; this is the flaw in your rationale. I've been doing this far too long to believe otherwise. Cable selection is system and listener dependent. There is only a tiny positive correlation between price and performance.

Put the kool aid down and listen to a couple thousand systems and then come back and talk.

Thank you

Audiofail, you are right in a way.... Cheap interconnects (or generally cables) might be better and usually are better in certain systems,mediocre systems. Excellent cables (they usually cost more) are to transparent , to revealing , will show all imperfections of such systems and they would be "unforgiving" in inferior systems. Cheap cables will mask defects, they can be used as tone controllers in such systems.
Very good cables, neutral, transparent, detailed etc usually go with equipment of high calibre. In mediocre systems they will show how bad the system is.
Conclusion: cable application depends on the system.
And excellent cables will always be excellent but of course can't be used in any system.
Btw, you smell the same as Badwisdom, haha...

Audio_madness, why exactly are you considering a source change? I know the K-03 can process streamed material from a PC, and thus has an added flexibility. If your desire to change is driven by utilitarian elements, great. If this move is motivated by subtle shortcomings of the CD-101, then fiddling with cabling is a logical thing to do (philosophical rants aside).

Jkuc, your typo above made me laugh...

Good Agear. This is why I did it haha....

On the flip side, Audiofeil is absolutely correct regarding the influence of hardware. Two years ago, I briefly dabbled with the Emerald Physics speaker, and that system was not terribly cable sensitive. I know Roger Sanders and his stats do not respond to hi priced exotica. My current rig is uber sensitive. Bringing a cheap red into the room has consequences.....