[Uncle Erik]

Originally Posted by wfranklin

One thing to keep in mind is that all phones are produced to a certain price point using compromises in design that allow a certain profit margin for the manufacturer. Obviously, you can't build a $500 phone with $250 worth of cabling/connector and still make a profit. A recable is a simple way of upgrading the most accessible component of the 'phones, provided it is done properly (by someone who has experience doing that sort of thing). Recabling phones with existing disconnects is less risky (and should be relatively cheap), unless you are replacing the disconnects with a hard-wired recable.

Bear in mind that retail costs for cabling vary wildly from manufacturing costs. Even the most expensive designs rarely have more than a few dollars of parts per foot, save for precious metals. Even in that case, you can look up daily commodity values. Extras like cryo cost about as much as a Big Mac combo if you call the industrial shops that treat tools.

Sure, you can go back and forth on electrical phenomena, dielectric effects, validity of various means of testing, and so on. However, even the five figure cables rarely have more than two or three figures of materials, manufacturing and overhead in them.

If a manufacturer wanted to use a "premium" cable on a $500 headphone, actual costs would likely be well under $10.