Reflections on cable pricing insanity

[LL21]

The funny thing is that you can suggest less expensive cable alternatives in comparison to the so called top end, back it up with valuable personal experience and many folks will shoot the messenger. Some folks are open minded and will listen and some won't. I used to be in the second camp. After my experience with MGAUDIO cables and ICs compared to MIT SHD 120 bi wire and oracle ma-x rev2 proline, I'm now firmly in the first camp.

what was the outcome of the comparison?

 

[andromedaaudio]

I think he means : A person should be open minded to price versus performance ratios in expensive audio , i think a lot are not , and therefore the conclusions/opinions are heavily biased

 

[LL21]

I think he means : A person should be open minded to price versus performance ratios in expensive audio , i think a lot are not , and therefore the conclusions/opinions are heavily biased

Totally agree...i have kept my $60 DVD player for years and years before moving up (to Zanden), and surprised my local dealer when we compared it with a $500 Copland CD player. I am not going to stand on a soapbox and say it was the same or better...it was just suprising for the money, that's all and the dealer conceded immediately he would not try to persuade me to go with the Copland player. He still remembers that comparison to this day. That said, i have found that when right, if you are prepared to spend time, and money...and a lot of careful system building thought...a bigger budget can blow you away with how beautiful music can be through a system.

 

[andromedaaudio]

I dont agree with the last part , i might go with the new speakersystem to a show somewhere .
And i am shure that the B 62 A 80 with good tapes o a zanden 7000 with no more than 200 euros on cables , blows away anything at any price or is at least equal to the best

 

[LL21]

I dont agree with the last part , i might go with the new speakersystem to a show somewhere .
And i am shure that the B 62 A 80 with good tapes o a zanden 7000 with no more than 200 euros on cables , blows away anything at any price or is at least equal to the best

I suppose the question is if you had the same exact system...and had a bigger budget than $200 for cables...unlimited...do you think any other cables out there which cost more would enhance the system?

 

[andromedaaudio]

NO, not in my personal opinion , but i think its very good possible that people who are essentialy interested in the product will dissmiss the product because of the cheap cables used in the system .
So that would then be the reason to go expensive

 

[LL21]

I suppose the question is if you had the same exact system...and had a bigger budget than $200 for cables...unlimited...do you think any other cables out there which cost more would enhance the system?

NO, not in my personal opinion , but i think its very good possible that people who are essentialy interested in the product will dissmiss the product because of the cheap cables used in the system .
So that would then be the reason to go expensive

Interesting to hear opinions from those who actually build systems/products. Thanks.

For me, i'll keep my cables, and i have had good fortune with them. I once went for an upgrade from my 20-yr old AQ Crystal cables and was disappointed...i sent back the more expensive pair (much more expensive) but having moved to TA Ref 10 yrs ago...i only recently upgraded to RefXL and RefMM (MM2) all second hand fortunately...and i have been surprised by the improvement which was greater than i was expecting and i have no desire to search further. I dont think its expectation bias, as i have been fully expectant of certain products and been brutally disappointed and sent them back. In any event, i am enjoying music and that's what its all about for me.

Do let us know about your latest speakers and look forward to reading about them!

 

[andromedaaudio]

Sure i ll do , its just all my personal opinion upto now anyway , no big deal !

 

[Orb]

NO, not in my personal opinion , but i think its very good possible that people who are essentialy interested in the product will dissmiss the product because of the cheap cables used in the system .
So that would then be the reason to go expensive

Although price is relative to the structure and composition of said cables, combined with manufacturing line setup and operating costs.
I find it interesting both Paul Miller and Keith Howards support cables do make a difference and some of the more expensive compositions do have a greater positive effect; both have classical science backgrounds with research positions (admit not in audio) before moving into audio journalism and also involved in creating measurement tools/papers.
That said Paul Miller has also pointed out how a certain cheap mainstream USB cable outperformed (in actual measurements performed by him) many of the more costlier ones, although the cable ironically is no longer available.

Cheers
Orb

 

[dallasjustice]

what was the outcome of the comparison?

The MGAUDIO cables were better in every way. Its just icing on the cake they are a small fraction of the price.

 

[LL21]

The MGAUDIO cables were better in every way. Its just icing on the cake they are a small fraction of the price.

great!

 

[asiufy]

I like Valhalla IC's...for SS amps (speaker cable) however, they do in fact lean out the midbass and make the treble more forward...at least with my combo. I hear they are a much better match with tube amps to speakers. I suspect Odin would be no different.

Yes, that's exactly the case. When I had a tube amp+preamp, the Nordost fit like a glove. When I moved to the darTZeel, it was clearly inadequate.


alexandre

 

[Rocco I.]

I own all system cabled with Valhalla's (pc, ic and speaker cable) and they match perfectly. Before choiced them, I demoed in my system a lot of top cables from Shunyata, Acrolink, Purist, Mit, Transparent and Kubala Sosna (Emotion and Elation). In my system the Nordost are the clearly better at all and most neutral cable ever heard.

 

[Orb]

Yes, that's exactly the case. When I had a tube amp+preamp, the Nordost fit like a glove. When I moved to the darTZeel, it was clearly inadequate.


alexandre

I do like using Yter (interconnect and speaker cable) with my Dartzeel 8550 and Metronome DAC.
Just loses out fractionally on the fast high energy transients of snare/cymbals/hi-hat say compared to something like Crystal Cable, but the Yter do work well with the Dartzeel from my own experience.
Problem is there are so many cables to try and am sure other cables are probably just as good or better for this setup.

Cheers
Orb

 

[rrr]

In general, what's the dealer markup on cables?

 

[Bruce B]

In general, what's the dealer markup on cables?

With the few brands that I've had in here, it's about 75-80%

 

[steve williams]

I thought it was higher

 

[Andre Marc]

I thought it was higher

Steve if you remember, this was discussed a while ago in another thread and it caused
much back and forth, shock, and general discontent.

 

[steve williams]

Steve if you remember, this was discussed a while ago in another thread and it caused
much back and forth, shock, and general discontent.

I do and that's why I said that I thought it was higher

 

[Andre Marc]

I do and that's why I said that I thought it was higher

It can be. It depends if the dealer is ok with an exclusive. They get "rewarded" for excluding the competition.

Even at 70% its a raw deal for the consumer. Hence, the rise of direct to customer cable companies.