Cable vs. Electronics: biggest bang for the buck

The system is worth more then the sum of its parts.

I used to cringe at the sign of 'over priced' cables but now I realize they are a vital part of the system, I try not to think of them as mearly pricey wires but as an additional component that adds its own sonic charachter to the sound, i.e. they are the filling of the pie and the components are the crust- and it is so sad.

The question at hand is the components vs. cables, I would rather pay for expensive cables then expensive components! not saying I would use transparent opus with Rotel, but I wouldn't use the Halcro with Monster cable either! There must be a dynamic equilibrium in the cable:component ratio, perhaps we should turn to Pythagoras and use the golden ration when doing cables, I dunno???? I just use what seems right in my sytem regardless of the cost, after all its only dirty paper :)

The chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

You have to balance both cables and electronics. A great cable will reveal the shortcomings of lesser electronics; and cheaper cables will choke off a signal from great electronics.

Hi all,
Jdubusc, to some extent this analogy is useful, but mostly it is misleading.
In a real chain, if you improve the second weakest link (assuming you can identify it), then the chain is no stronger. In a hi fi system, if you improve the second weakest link, the sound CAN be better. Every relatively weak link, once improved, improves the sound.
Besides, weak is a relative concept, since no one is exactly sure WHAT constitutes a weak link. If everybody knew exactly what a weak link looks like in an absolute sense in an audio system, then there would be no disagreement in high end audio. The disagreements are about compromise and priorities, not absolute concepts such as "weak" or "strong"
As for $7k cables, if component makers were as uncompromising as the mega cable makers, our gear would take up half the room and sound much better, but would also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars retail.
So it's all about compromises. Even the simple 50 watt solid state amp represents so many compromises to absolute sound quality, that it has many weak links in terms of sound alone. That doesn't mean that a well designed interconnect can't change its sound for the better. Unfortunately, we live in the real world where choices must be made, i.e, we have to feed ourselves.
Cheers
Tom