[islandmanagers]

I manage a private, 45 acre island in the Exumas, Bahamas, for a very high-profile individual. A neighboring island is owned by an exceedingly wealthy investment banker from Austria. I am dear friends with my contemporary on that Cay. The owner of this island is a HUGE audiophile. Suffice it to say, his island is worth +/- 40 MILLION dollars, and that's just his "Playpen". His accumulated hi-fi/video equipment island-wide is worth more than a $750,000 U.S. dollars. It is truly State of the Art, and he loves to show off his system. I've heard it in full action several times.

Well, about six months ago, he renovated the Main Salon. He was overseas somewhere, and I was visiting my buddie, the Caretaker ("Owners Representative). He showed me something astonishing. Behind the wall plates, about 18" in, the amazingly expensive cable (like what has been posted here--I forget the brand--it's not important), was BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED TO TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD for the remaining runs of +/-45', then BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED BACK FROM TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD to this Vunderbar horseschite cable!!!

needless to say, this cemented MY opinion of not only the installer, but the bulls**t claims of the cable manufacturer, and any putz that claims this crap is worth ANYthing. I come to this judgement because, whilst I acknowledge to have only a slighty "above average" ability to discerne really fine hi-fi (and, mind you, in my profession, I've had the pleasure of hearing stuff most of you only quim over), the Owner, his immediate family, many of his friends, etc., alllll claim to be "afficinados" of the extreme end of hi-fi (as well as autos, aircraft, boats, and wine--his wine collection on the Cay is worth in the neighborhood of a million bucks), and THEY WERE NEVER THE WISER!

Harrumph!

--JCC

 

[robm321]

All you have to do is compare lamp cord to a mediocre cable in a mediocre system to hear a difference. It is obvious. Those that won't believe either have unrefined hearing or a closed mind IMHO

BTW, my friend had the Von Schweikert VR11s in his audio shop which I and many others believe to be the best speakers in the world, but the difference can be noticed on a simple $500 set up, so the megabuck system has no relevance - sorry this argument has been made over and over - and it never gets resolved. Those that don't believe, don't believe (and that's fine).

That's not to say that they don't over price the cables in most cases. DIY cables can duplicate the super expensive ones for a fraction of the price and sound way better than lamp cord.

 

[monolith]

Nice to hear about an audiophile who uses his ears rather than his eyes and wallet to judge sound.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif DIY cables can duplicate the super expensive ones for a fraction of the price and sound way better than lamp cord.

Indeed! And that is why I only buy cables from numerous members of Head-Fi, rather than from a cable manufacturer well-known around here. My wallet and my senses have both learned their lesson.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Reminds me of the garden hose episode last year.

How do you tell the legitimate manufacturers apart from the frauds? You never really know what's under the Techflex unless you cut it open or build it yourself.

 

[csroc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Reminds me of the garden hose episode last year. How do you tell the legitimate manufacturers apart from the frauds? You never really know what's under the Techflex unless you cut it open or build it yourself.

Price, perhaps?

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by islandmanagers /img/forum/go_quote.gif I manage a private, 45 acre island in the Exumas, Bahamas, for a very high-profile individual. A neighboring island is owned by an exceedingly wealthy investment banker from Austria. I am dear friends with my contemporary on that Cay. The owner of this island is a HUGE audiophile. Suffice it to say, his island is worth +/- 40 MILLION dollars, and that's just his "Playpen". His accumulated hi-fi/video equipment island-wide is worth more than a $750,000 U.S. dollars. It is truly State of the Art, and he loves to show off his system. I've heard it in full action several times. Well, about six months ago, he renovated the Main Salon. He was overseas somewhere, and I was visiting my buddie, the Caretaker ("Owners Representative). He showed me something astonishing. Behind the wall plates, about 18" in, the amazingly expensive cable (like what has been posted here--I forget the brand--it's not important), was BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED TO TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD for the remaining runs of +/-45', then BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED BACK FROM TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD to this Vunderbar horseschite cable!!! needless to say, this cemented MY opinion of not only the installer, but the bulls**t claims of the cable manufacturer, and any putz that claims this crap is worth ANYthing. I come to this judgement because, whilst I acknowledge to have only a slighty "above average" ability to discerne really fine hi-fi (and, mind you, in my profession, I've had the pleasure of hearing stuff most of you only quim over), the Owner, his immediate family, many of his friends, etc., alllll claim to be "afficinados" of the extreme end of hi-fi (as well as autos, aircraft, boats, and wine--his wine collection on the Cay is worth in the neighborhood of a million bucks), and THEY WERE NEVER THE WISER! Harrumph! --JCC

bollocks mate!!! the difference between piece of crap lamp wire and high end cable is easily discernible. sure theres some overpriced crapola getting around, but even the most expensive materials handled by a DIYer can be had for a reasonable sum. there will always be doubters (those that will never hear a difference, even if its plain as day because they refuse to believe there could be a difference) and there will always be suckers too who will buy something based on price tag alone. Quality materials + quality workmanship = quality results. there is no need for 'magic' only thing needed is an open mind.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Qusp, you're falling into a false dichotomy. Lamp cord isn't crap because its price is less than expensive cables. There is no correlation between price and performance with cables. To check this, consider the raw material cost of lamp cord versus boutique cables. In terms of raw materials (and I invite you to run the numbers yourself) the difference is marginal. Even pure silver is reasonable compared to cable prices. There is a huge markup on cables, often 5,000% or greater.

Does profit in someone's pocket make your stereo sound better?

As for the open-minded thing, if that's true, then why has every DBT comparison failed? This has been going on for three decades. Not one person has been able to tell the difference. Why is that?

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Here we go again....

 

[csroc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Qusp, you're falling into a false dichotomy. Lamp cord isn't crap because its price is less than expensive cables. There is no correlation between price and performance with cables. To check this, consider the raw material cost of lamp cord versus boutique cables. In terms of raw materials (and I invite you to run the numbers yourself) the difference is marginal. Even pure silver is reasonable compared to cable prices. There is a huge markup on cables, often 5,000% or greater. Does profit in someone's pocket make your stereo sound better? As for the open-minded thing, if that's true, then why has every DBT comparison failed? This has been going on for three decades. Not one person has been able to tell the difference. Why is that?

I'm with you on this one, you're not alone.

Aside from that I'll get my

ready

 

[Golden Monkey]

It's possible that the $750K system sounds good regardless of the cabling though...don't you think?

 

[883dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by islandmanagers /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, about six months ago, he renovated the Main Salon. He was overseas somewhere, and I was visiting my buddie, the Caretaker ("Owners Representative). He showed me something astonishing. Behind the wall plates, about 18" in, the amazingly expensive cable (like what has been posted here--I forget the brand--it's not important), was BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED TO TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD for the remaining runs of +/-45', then BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPED BACK FROM TWIN LEAD LAMP CORD to this Vunderbar horseschite cable!!!

I wonder if he realizes the fire potential of using Twin lead lamp cord for wiring in his house. I would imagine every time a toaster or hair dryer is used the heat generated in the wiring could start a fire

Great first post...real imagination and a flame war to boot

 

[islandmanagers]

the wire fiasco (so far as I was aware) was limited to the hi-fi equipment, not household electrical.

 

[islandmanagers]

as for the "first post" comment,

thankyew... thankyewverrymuch


i aim to please

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Qusp, you're falling into a false dichotomy. Lamp cord isn't crap because its price is less than expensive cables. There is no correlation between price and performance with cables. To check this, consider the raw material cost of lamp cord versus boutique cables. In terms of raw materials (and I invite you to run the numbers yourself) the difference is marginal. Even pure silver is reasonable compared to cable prices. There is a huge markup on cables, often 5,000% or greater. Does profit in someone's pocket make your stereo sound better? As for the open-minded thing, if that's true, then why has every DBT comparison failed? This has been going on for three decades. Not one person has been able to tell the difference. Why is that?

erik; I wonder if you actually read posts before replying in your usual doubtist tone??? lamp cord isnt crap because it is cheap lamp cord is crap because of the materials and the fact that it isnt at all built for audio. the capacitance/resistance and all the other specs would be totally wrong for high end audio. you are on the flip-side of this whole thing, your need to reject any tweak or upgrade thats in your thinking, 'unscientific' is really very tiresome. you feel the need to spout the same old crap every time I or anyone mention that performance could be increased by using better materials. in this case it wouldnt even have to be high end, just a cable thats better designed for the job at hand. if you actually read my post (instead of just spewing your party line like normal) you would see that I actually agree that some cable companies take advantage of people and overcharge like no-ones business. but a very high quality cable can be made for what to me is a totally reasonable price (more-so for me because I can make it myself) and I really dont give a crap if your A/B testing buddies cant tell the difference. I dont actually believe that a group of people who knew what to listen for couldnt tell the difference between lamp cord/coat-hanger/rip-cord and a well designed cable (of whatever materials) that was specifically designed for audio be it a signal level cable, a power cable, a speaker cable, or a headphone cable. ;you just have to look at the koss KSC75 recables; even a pair that has been recabled with mogami is easily differentiated from the stock cable. and your point about price just simply isnt true. lamp cord probably goes for about .50c -$1 a foot at the most, whereas high purity silver wire (not brand name) of the same gauge would run to at least $15 a foot; this is just un-insulated 12AWG silver, not cardas, not XLO just no-name high purity silver wire. sure the mark-up can be ridiculous sometimes I agree. I dont buy any brand name cables, I make my own cables, so brand/price has very little to do with it and they dont profit anyone bay the materials manufacturers.

DBT LOL of course you would love that. so boring