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What if cables were cheap?

post #1 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:28am
Thread Starter 

Hi all - I have an idea floating around in my head.. and to be clear its nothing more than idea at this point.

I would like to hear ya'lls feedback.  Would this be something that would generate interest?  is it already being done?  any tips?

what if someone started making cables and LOD's and did the following:

 

  • made NO claims of sound improvement or any other claims other than quality construction and great looking cables.
  • was completely upfront with what it cost to make the cable, vs. how much is being charged:
  • for example - the 2 neutrik connectors cost xx each, the cable cost xx, the solder cost, the sleeve cost, the shipping cost,  etc...   the total cost of making this cable was xx and i have added xx to that to give you the final price of xx
  • basically set a flat rate for charging.. in other words once the actual cost to make the cable was shared, the final cost would always be 30 dollars more
  • the types of parts used would be a balance of high quality and low price to keep the cable price down..for example

               neutrik,switchcraft, viablue, oyaide connectors

               stranded or solid copper or silver wire bought in bulk and sleeved by hand in what would most likely be medical grade silicone for optimal

               flexibility, great looks, and durability

               solder would be plain vanilla from the hardware store - flux, rosin, lead based

  • Cables could be customized to the content of the person placing the order based on what the maker has available, their willingness to wait for the maker to get the parts they want, or what the total price would end up being.

 

this would be based in the U.S.

it would be one person making the cables, and no promise of super fast turnaround would be made.

 

the idea behind this would be to give people who want great looking cables, quality connectors and parts, but maybe they dont believe in changes in sound quality and dont feel the need to pay for special wire treatments, or things like that.  

 

Thanks Ya'll

 


Edited by Br777 - 5/22/11 at 12:54pm
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post #2 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:36am

Well, you basically described Blue Jeans Cables right there.

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post #3 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:37am

There are sellers like that on eBay, search for 'neutrik van damme' and you will see various cables, good prices and the option to get specific lengths. Since neutrik and van damme products are cheaply bought on eBay, they cannot then be turned into esoteric cables commanding silly prices.

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post #4 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:49am

I ve just made this for another head-fier. He said me a price and I made a cable that he likes even with the specifics he wnated concerning colour, length, plug and entry side of the headphone :)

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post #5 of 15
5/22/11 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 

i always saw blue jeans as a very "standard" type of cable maker.. you cant really get braided cables, or the connectors i mentioned and get that more DIY look can you?

i have seen the ebay cable makers, but i havent seen any US based.. ill have to check again.

I searched neutrik van damme on both ebay and google and didnt come up with much.

 

well basically it sounds like so far you all dont feel this would generate much interest... good to know.. looking forward to more comments

 

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post #6 of 15
5/22/11 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Br777 View Post

i always saw blue jeans as a very "standard" type of cable maker.. you cant really get braided cables, or the connectors i mentioned and get that more DIY look can you?


 



Was it meant for me?

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post #7 of 15
5/22/11 at 1:16pm
Thread Starter 

^ no , i was responding to limpidglitch who said i just described blue jeans cables


Edited by Br777 - 5/22/11 at 1:20pm
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post #8 of 15
5/22/11 at 1:26pm

Ahh ..okee..

 

Personally I like BJC because they keep it as essential as possible to get a good value for the money and further I think that you have really a good choice between the cables regarding the technical specs and not so much the "appearance". Only thing I miss to get bulk wire from BJC but there are other sources. I also compared the prices sometimes when making a cable by myself and at the end I was cheaper but contrary no problem because it is their business to sell cables and to live of that..

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post #9 of 15
5/22/11 at 10:53pm
Cables are status symbols. Their "worth" is directly tied to how much they cost.

Anything inexpensive is considered "bad" no matter the materials used.

If you want to see how this works psychologically, pull up any number of wine studies. People rank a wine listed at $100 as "better" than a $10 version even when the same wine is presented as $10 and $100. Cables are exactly the same.

You might want to pull up the infamous garden hose thread. In it, Home Depot wire was put into a garden hose filled with sandblasting medium and marketed as a $100 power cord. The actual materials were something like $12. Even when the cable was dissected, some people insisted that it sounded better, though it was the same cheap wire found in the walls of an ordinary house.
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post #10 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:47pm

Oyaid/Fiio LODs here are $10 each. Can't argue with that really.

 

Uncle Erik: The guy who made the power cables also posted a video on how to make your own, though the company is now defunct.  Some other companies I've noticed sell the raw materials or completed cables too.  A $20 soldering iron is a handy cost-saving tool, as you know.

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post #11 of 15
5/22/11 at 11:55pm

A HeadFier pm'd me, completely out of the blue, offering to do pretty much what the OP is suggesting. I didnt reply because my mum told me never to talk to strangers  atsmile.gif

 

On a slightly more OT note, I have just ordered iBasso's line-out dock ($15) and one of their 3.5mm to 3.5mm cables ($32), easily the most I have ever spent on anything like this with the possible exception of a HDMI cable. To the hardcore, I may as well have just thrown $65 (incl expedited shipping) out the window of my car, but there is no way I'm sending ALO $150+ for a LOD cable. I do agree with Uncle Erik, though - they are a status symbol. I spent months wondering what a 'TWAG' was, and why someone would feel the need to list it in their sig.

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post #12 of 15
5/23/11 at 12:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

Cables are status symbols. Their "worth" is directly tied to how much they cost.

Anything inexpensive is considered "bad" no matter the materials used.

If you want to see how this works psychologically, pull up any number of wine studies. People rank a wine listed at $100 as "better" than a $10 version even when the same wine is presented as $10 and $100. Cables are exactly the same.

You might want to pull up the infamous garden hose thread. In it, Home Depot wire was put into a garden hose filled with sandblasting medium and marketed as a $100 power cord. The actual materials were something like $12. Even when the cable was dissected, some people insisted that it sounded better, though it was the same cheap wire found in the walls of an ordinary house.

Wine regularly suffers from bias, yet, contrary to audiophile, oenophiles regularly organize blind tasting sessions, with wines decanted in numbered carafes and then poured into black wine glasses.

Regarding cables, like a lot of audiophile items, they are luxury, meaning that the price is part of the attractiveness an the prestige of the item.
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post #13 of 15
5/23/11 at 12:25am
I don't entirely disagree, Currawong. But I think a soldering iron is one of those tools everyone should have, along with a shovel, hammer and a set of screwdrivers. Electronics are everywhere today, and it's a good thing to have around as you might need to fix a lamp or refrigerator. Or even a car, since there are so many electronic systems.
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post #14 of 15
5/23/11 at 5:40am

I've done exactly that, in the past. Can't really do it now, as everything here is electronic, so once that goes, so does the entire device much of the time.

 

I'd not considered cables being a status symbol (I just don't think that way) but can understand others doing so. Onto topic though, I've always considered the cost of hand-made cables to almost entirely be that of the labour of making them. For the OP's suggestion to work, there would be no customisation, just fixed options and everything ready-made.  I think BlueJeans only gets around that by using crimp-on plugs and the associated equipment, so they can produce cables fast.

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post #15 of 15
5/27/11 at 5:44pm

Very happy with the CB07+LOD, at least for now - the true test will be if its still with me in 6 months time. Portable kit must be a cable builders nightmare.

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