Reflections on cable pricing insanity
- Thread starter edorr
- Start date
Did you try the TA with a full set of ICs and the matching speaker cables or just an IC?
That is a good point. IC's differences are more subtle in their effect compared to speaker cable. To me, that is the most important wire...amp to speaker interface and where the most money And impact is. I have found speaker wire changes with my current system to be far from subtle.
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Very good point. I used them with TA Super speaker cables. I am not bashing TA, but in reality they fall into that, "Holy shite Batman! Did you see the price of those things?"
Yeah,
one aspect I notice can stand out more is that of sibilance and reverb-echo-decay seeming wrong, especially if one also listens to average quality recordings and not just the select excellent ones.
Both of those are my pet hates.
Cheers
Orb
I've come to the same conclusion, and wrt MIT, I think it's related to what I said earlier re: V/I phase relationships: in speaker cables, there is much more current, in interconnects very small amounts.
i've only owned 3 sets of cables...i still have my original AQ Emerald ICs which i use for Cable TV plus a spare. The 2nd set (13-yr old TA Refs) were mainly traded in for other 2nd hand equipment or upgraded 'cashlessly' with other 2nd hand equipment. One remaining TA Ref XL is 25 feet long for the sub which i do not wish to change. The 3rd set is all recent 2nd hand purchases/cashless upgrades.
Similar type of reason for me and I decided never to sell them, which could be said is a waste of cash keeping them around but I am happy to know I have a selection to try from when needed.
I like the idea of buying 2nd hand, but I am incredibly wary due to what I feel is possibly abused by fake products although I am not sure if this has ever been truly investigated; just that sometimes you read on other forums those who purchase a high end brand name very cheap so as to take it apart, which then does not look like the brand name build quality underneath that one would usually expect.
Some cables would be very difficult to manufacturer as cheaper fakes, but others well to my mind it is a potential headache.
So I am pretty restricted in what I buy 2nd hand from dealers I know or those that have a reputation to trust, and know the history of the cable involved.
Coming back to TA, any of you using TA also use their digital cable or another manufacturer?
I must admit I have had mixed results with their reference digital cable; one system excellent and another system not as good as using Crystal Cable.
Cheers
Orb
Agree Orb...only time i have bought 2nd hand 'blind' were from people who referred me to major dealers who personally vouched for them (and the cable) and/or serial number. One of them i'd met before and bought from before as well...and the first time, i asked an engineer to come with me to inspect the equipment.
I took a 2nd hand TA digicable home from the dealer with 99% expectation of just keeping it. Took me twenty minutes of surprise to realize i was falling asleep listening to it...i could not understand. TA are my favorite cables. i did not understand it. I was really expecting to like it, and i preferred my Cardas Neutral. Went back and the dealer gave me a 2nd hand Valhalla...i called him from home after putting it in and gave him my credit card over the phone.
So surprising...just my own personal experience. I have heard great things about the TA Ref digital cable...and i am sure it is great in other systems. In any event, i use an i2s cable now between my Transport and DAC...but still have the Valhalla between my Oppo and my DAC for movies.
Well, here is the definition of insanity to me. MIT raised prices on their MA-X SHD bi wire speaker cable by almost $12,000 today to $53,499.00! That's about a 30% increase in one day! I love the cable but my lord, that is INSANE! The rest of their product offering went up substantially as well but since I recently purchased the SHDs it particularly got my attention.
Since the cost of producing these cables has gone up zero %, all this says is they have figured out that the new game in town is having the highest priced cable, catering to the audio snob. Good luck to them. The positive is ordering a $4,000 piece of shunyata speaker cable feels like you just scored an audio bargain. It is indeed insane.
And MIT is not wrong raising its prices. The audiophile market will go for that... Right now there is some kind of sticker shock .. It will abate ... And we will soon be chanting the praise of those cables more "organic", relaxed sound with more slam and the usual audiophile-approved superlative... while Shunyatta will be perceived as "good for its price" implying that the more expensive cables are better ...And audiophiles will buy more of the dearer ones.
I don't think we have reached the limits. I am waiting patiently for the $100,000 speaker cable. It won't be 5 years...
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It's Obama care surtax that kicks in this year for employer's...ie MIT .
Wait until he hits this stuff with a tax on gimmicks for 1 percenters.
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