[cjl]

   
That's because there is no overwhelming advantage of a $1K cable at audio frequencies.

There's also no underwhelming advantage of a $1k cable at audio frequencies, for that matter.

 

[elmoe]

 
There's also no underwhelming advantage of a $1k cable at audio frequencies, for that matter.

 
Except for your wallet that is.

 

[OddE]

 
There's also no underwhelming advantage of a $1k cable at audio frequencies, for that matter.

 
-That depends, I guess. Seeing as I have never spent serious $$$ on cables, and seeing as I do not mingle with people who do (They would likely tire of my constant bickering about how cables were, for the most part, snake oil), I have only listened to a couple of so-called high-end cables - and, unsurprisingly, my reaction was a resounding 'meh'.
 
(To give the cable believers some benefit of doubt, I will add that expectation bias goes both ways - as I didn't expect there to be any difference, I may not have noticed any difference, even if there was one - though that would surprise me quite a lot and send me scurrying back for my physics textbooks!)
 
But, the point I set out to make is the following: As properly designed cables are transparent at audio frequencies, if you are marketing an esoteric cable of some sort, you may find it desirable for the cable to sport some characteristics which makes it possible to hear that it is 'different' - say, by utilizing excessive capacitance to cause a high-frequency roll-off - you may create a sound which is pleasant to some, and thus justify the cost of the cable.
 
Just a guess...

 

[elmoe]

Even doing that it would hardly justify a thousand dollar price tag though...

 

[OddE]

Even doing that it would hardly justify a thousand dollar price tag though...

-That depends. It could be argued - probably should, in my opinion - that price, and hence, by implication, the luxury/exclusivity aspect is part of the package you pay for when shelling out kilobucks on cables.

To put it bluntly: I suspect that if cables retailing in the multi-kilobuck range ever found their way to the bargain bin at Circuit City or equivalent, their properties would change, magically, over night.

 

[elmoe]

-That depends. It could be argued - probably should, in my opinion - that price, and hence, by implication, the luxury/exclusivity aspect is part of the package you pay for when shelling out kilobucks on cables.

To put it bluntly: I suspect that if cables retailing in the multi-kilobuck range ever found their way to the bargain bin at Circuit City or equivalent, their properties would change, magically, over night.

 
Then let me tell you good sir that by paying me a thousand dollars you can be the proud, the one and only exclusive owner of a beautifully hand-crafted copper RCA cable made by yours truly.
 
And did I mention I am French? All the class and craftsmanship renown of the French in your very own audio cable.
 
I accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
 

 

 

[OddE]

   
Then let me tell you good sir that by paying me a thousand dollars you can be the proud, the one and only exclusive owner of a beautifully hand-crafted copper RCA cable made by yours truly.
 
I accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
 

 

 
-Sorry; you would be competition, not a supplier in that market...

 

[Astropin]

Monoprice is your friend

 
Spending anymore than that and you're wasting your money (if and only if sound improvement is your goal).

 

[esldude]

   
Then let me tell you good sir that by paying me a thousand dollars you can be the proud, the one and only exclusive owner of a beautifully hand-crafted copper RCA cable made by yours truly.
 
And did I mention I am French? All the class and craftsmanship renown of the French in your very own audio cable.
 
I accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
 

 

I have a French bicycle from my university days.  It has cables.  I wonder if they could be adapted for audio use?

 

[elmoe]

 
I have a French bicycle from my university days.  It has cables.  I wonder if they could be adapted for audio use?

 
If you plate it with gold and add a silk sleeve to it 

 Don't forget to leave it an hour in the freezer for some professional cryogenic treatment.

 

[RazorJack]

I'm not an Electrical Engineer, but I have a degree in Applied Physics so here's my two cents anyway: el cheapo is my brand of choice when it comes to audio cables!
 
Somehow I think the rest of Head-Fi would not take kindly to most of the comments in this thread 

 

[dvw]

I recently visited a headphone factory. They built everything from low end to high end. They mostly do custom jobs. Meaning customers gave them the specification and they designed and built it. I saw some major brands which I will not be able to disclose. The factory is fully integrated. They built everything from connectors to driver including the cushion.
 
I came away with the impression that everything is market driven. If you want to pay $1000, they will make you a $1000 cable. If you can only afford only $2, they will charge you $2. They do have three golden ear people to do listening test as quality control. These ears are calibrated against instrument to make sure these are truely golden ears. 99% of the people do not qualify. My friend is concerned about quality but he is more concerned about branding. In his experience, quality product sometimes do not sell well against inferior product.

 

[mikeaj]

   
Which is why we have double blind testing. Nobody has ever yet been able to have any kind of significant results in telling cables apart in a DBT. I'm gonna quote bigshot for once 

, if you can't hear it then it doesn't matter.

 
Yep, that goes to psychoacoustics, what is known about hearing, the fact that other parts of the system (even when not considering the listener) have much larger orders of effects, and so on... which one wouldn't expect engineers of any kind to know offhand unless they directly deal with audio.
 
And so we have the bulk of head-fi forums chasing after tweaks and comparisons of things that make much less difference than left/right driver matching, for example, never mind EQ and corrective balancing.

 

[wuwhere]

I have a software background, Wi-Fi is the future.

 

[ab initio]

I have a software background, Wi-Fi is the future.

But the air through which the wifi passes is not oxygen free!!! :eek:

Cheers