Prog Rock Man
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
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Assuming there is a difference between cables of any or all types from ICs to USB. Is there good evidence to show that more expensive = better?
Magazine reviews would tend to suggest that more expensive does mean better, but that is not guaranteed.
There are instances of a cheaper product becoming flavour of the month, but then crashing and burning as attention turns elsewhere.
My experinces with cables are;
Speaker, QED (cheaper) to Kimber (more expensive) = better, as you would hope for when spending your money and buying extra quality.
ICs, unbranded (cheapest) to QED to Kimber = better, as you would hope with one system, but with another Choseal (cheaper) to SHB (even cheaper) = better. So the reverse happened.
USB, Oehlbach (more expensive) to unbranded (free) = no difference.
Headphone extension cable, Sony (cheap) to ThatCable (cheap) = better, so same price but one better than another.
Now I have entered the world of DIY cables and pulled a few apart (very cheap) it is clear to me that build quality = better and not price. Whilst a high price gives more guarantees of build quality, it is possible to do the same at a much smaller price.
So my answer to my question is no, more expensive does not equal better and there is evidence to show that.
Magazine reviews would tend to suggest that more expensive does mean better, but that is not guaranteed.
There are instances of a cheaper product becoming flavour of the month, but then crashing and burning as attention turns elsewhere.
My experinces with cables are;
Speaker, QED (cheaper) to Kimber (more expensive) = better, as you would hope for when spending your money and buying extra quality.
ICs, unbranded (cheapest) to QED to Kimber = better, as you would hope with one system, but with another Choseal (cheaper) to SHB (even cheaper) = better. So the reverse happened.
USB, Oehlbach (more expensive) to unbranded (free) = no difference.
Headphone extension cable, Sony (cheap) to ThatCable (cheap) = better, so same price but one better than another.
Now I have entered the world of DIY cables and pulled a few apart (very cheap) it is clear to me that build quality = better and not price. Whilst a high price gives more guarantees of build quality, it is possible to do the same at a much smaller price.
So my answer to my question is no, more expensive does not equal better and there is evidence to show that.