Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezer  After reading through a whole bunch of cable threads, I was wondering how much the average head-fi'er spends on aftermarket cables in total.
|
just the stuff i use now. roughly 250 for recabling for 3 headphones (zu, black dragon, akzip) is 750 + 2 ICs (1 XLR, 1 RCA) at about $150 each + 2 PC at roughly $100 each = $1250. very reasonable amount considering the total cost of my system. and if you just include one headphone and one IC - because you really can't use more than one at a time - the amount is only 600. 600 is not that much for an amp/player combo of 5K (retail 8K) and everything has been an improvement over what i had before, which for the most part was stock. if you have decent gear, you should try to get the most out of it and one way to do this is by connecting everything together with good cables.
if i had more of a budget, i would spend much more on cables and i plan to at some point. in reality, you only need three good cables for a headphone setup - 1 IC, 1 PC for your amp, and another PC for your source. i think for my setup spending $500 on each would not be unreasonable. while i am in no rush to change my PCs (i am pretty happy with them for now - at least until i hear something else or just get bored/curious) i am definitely in the market for a new balanced IC. i like my Silver Resolutions, but would like to experiment with something else - maybe something from Nordost. you have to experiment with new cables for two reasons - to see what (if any) differences can be heard among them and to find the ones that best suit your system and the sound you are looking for.
another reason to spend money on cables is that it just makes sense. to me it doesn't make sense to spend x on amp, y on source, z on headphones, where each represent a not inconsiderable amount and to spend some paltry, pauper sum on cables. cables are components too and part of the overall equation. even if cables do not make night and day or easily noticeable differences (although sometimes they do), it just makes sense to buy decent cables and to be open to the possibility that they have positive effects on the overall sound - even if you cannot easily point them out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezer Oh, please refrain from turning this into a flame war like all the other cable threads recently. I do welcome discussion on how much the aftermarket cables have improved the enjoyment of your setup, or if you felt the products provided a minimal gain, go ahead and talk about that as well.
|
surely, you jest. this thread won't make it past a few pages of staying on topic.
