[TreAdidas]

Here is a question. Near all of us have some type of budget our stuff, you have to with this hobby. Do you have, that is already own, a single run/pair of cables (headphone, interconnects, speaker cables, and/or power cable) that was more expensive than either of the two components the cables are connecting?

For example, you have this following:

$700 CD Player => $500 pair of interconnects => $1000 amplifier

You would answer no.

If you have

$700 CD Player => $750 interconnects => $1000 amplifier

You would answer yes.

If you answer yes tell us what and why.

Well I own a pair of $200 speakers (Acoustic Energy Aegis One), and I have $350 speaker cables (Transparent MusicWave 10ft') so my answer is yes. I did this because I figured it would ward off upgradeitis, which it did. I'm struggling with this though because of that Zu Mobis 2. $300 headphone cable on a $300 headphones (www.jandr.com). It was not a really good idea on my speakers and I'm not sure it will be a good idea on my headphones.

Ready... go!

 

[milkpowder]

$200 source, $200 interconnects, $1000 amp, $1800+ transducers

Not really balanced

I'll probably get a pair of $400+ Nordost Red Dawn when I get a better source

There's no way my cables are ever going to be more expensive than my equipment. Cables should be around 10% of system price.

 

[hYdrociTy]

Yea i was pretty random in my purchases. My pretty interconnect cost more than one of my dacs, my line out cable cost more than one of my portable amps, and some of my headphone cables be it aftermarket or diy in parts cost more than the headphone lol.

mmm red dawn... the red shrink looks too depressing tho.. get blue heaven ^^;

 

[TreAdidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hYdrociTy /img/forum/go_quote.gif mmm red dawn... the red shrink looks too depressing tho.. get blue heaven ^^;

Ok now that's funny because I looked at those cables once and went... I don't like the red and moved on. My equipment selection is very scientific.

 

[Kees]

I didn't vote.
The price of components are unrelated.

 

[tnmike1]

"multiple choice cables?" ALO cryodock & ALO cotton dock & Moon Auido Silver Dragon so total cable costs about $400--SR-71 amp about same money and Portaphile maxxed about $265. Connected to Ipod 5g, whatever that cost, encased in Vaja case retailed for $100 but got on ebay for under $50.

Go figure. Time to stop spending money and enjoy the music

O forgot to add: Moon Audio's Blue Dragon 1 meter recabling on Beyer 880s--about another $100.

 

[mlhm5]

If someone ever does DBT of cables and power cords and Blue Jeans loses out, then and only then might I consider spending more than $20.

 

[TreAdidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't vote. The price of components are unrelated.

How do you figure?

I'll preface this with stating that I am assuming that I am trying to get the most performance/enjoyment out of a given amount of money, which I think most all of us are trying to do. Given that, I'd say they cost of components are definitely related.

Sure there is very capable inexpensive products and incapable expensive products. Let's say you have $1000 to spend... and you spend $700 on a CD player then you only have $300 to spend on an amplifier. Conversely if under the same budget restrictions you spend $500 on a CD player, then you have $500 to spend on an amplifier. Likewise with cables. How much you spend on one product determines how much you have for another. In my world at least.

The question is trying to determine how much value people place on cables relative to other components. The only way I could see them being unrelated is if you have an endless bankroll.

 

[ShaolinRasta]

It's unrelated because there are too many factors that go into making a system really swing. Absolute values of cost are irrelevant. System synergy is what is really important -- adding a cable may be an important tweak that pulls everything together. In that case, the worth of that cable in that system is higher than it would otherwise be.

Besides, audio is clearly an area where price often has no correlation whatsoever to performance. There are a great many giant-killer components out there that tremendously outperform their cost.

 

[TreAdidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaolinRasta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Besides, audio is clearly an area where price often has no correlation whatsoever to performance. There are a great many giant-killer components out there that tremendously outperform their cost.

OK so in your experience are cables one of these things that are worth it in terms of performance/synergy per dollar?

 

[Roam]

Yes. The cables for my RS-1 and K1000 might as well be made of unobtainium.

 

[ShaolinRasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreAdidas /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK so in your experience are cables one of these things that are worth it in terms of performance/synergy per dollar?

I think the answer depends on the system. Some people have systems they've been putting together for years, that need that final element to make it great instead of good. The question then is what price is that worth to you? You can take that same cable and put it into another system that it does absolutely nothing for. That owner will value the exact same cable at a totally different price.

This issue of proper pricing is something that seems to come up a lot on Stax threads. I find it odd, since it's very clear to me that the value of any given element is never absolute, as it's very much dependent on the surrounding pieces. To use another analogy, I played fantasy baseball the last three seasons and won all three times. At draft time, the other owners would make fun of some of my picks, saying I was reaching and was selecting some players too high. That didn't matter to me at all -- I needed certain roles filled and paid the price that was needed to build the strongest team. It was a keeper league so I already had the core of my team assembled.

To continue that analogy, consider the cable to be a closer. You won't build a competitive team if you focus on the closer too early on in the draft. The source, the amp and the cans are what you need to focus on. Once that's done, then you play around with cables.

 

[krmathis]

Not so far, but I am getting there.
Looking for a new TOSLINK cable, that will most probably end up more expensive than one of the components it will be connecting (the AirPort Express).

 

[markl]

There's only one person on here I know of who's cables cost as much or more than his components and that's our pal Patrick. I don't think this poll is very useful.

 

[TreAdidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't think this poll is very useful.

Sorry to disappoint. I was just curious how much the populous values their cables. That's all.

I think the point that is being conveyed thus far is that usefulness is in the eye of the beholder.