[elwappo99]

  many thanks for your response.  I have the HD650, still burning them in but liking them so far.  But I have just the Sony PHA-1 headphone amp, so at the moment the Sennheiser Cable doesn't work for me.  What is a good source for the adapter you mentioned?
again,
thanks!
paul

 
Hey Paul! 
 
Your question gets a little off the scope of this thread. I'd recommend asking in the HD650 dedicated thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/197776/sennheiser-hd650-appreciation-thread/17400

 

[lannik]

... for a STOCK cable $300 is too expensive, and people got lots of substitute on this price range.

 

[TMRaven]

  ... for a STOCK cable $300 is too expensive, and people got lots of substitute on this price range.

 
Are you insinuating that a stock cable has to be relegated to a cheaply made cable?  Regardless if it's stock OR aftermarket, a cable shouldn't cost 300 dollars.

 

[Incompetency]

If cables just change the sound signature, why not buy a better amp or get your headphones layered with craft gold?

 

[Golden mark]

why are you so reach!!!

 

[RadioWonder737]

1. Termination is 4-pin XLR... Wish I could use Balanced Cables for my HD 600...

 

[alejandro7]

Seriously loving my after market Charleston Cable for my HD650s...Sennheiser is just trying to suck the life out of us HeadFiers!!! Why does this happen? Greedy b'tards.  alejandro

 

[Listen123]

I skimmed this thread and see a lot of complaining about the price. Has anybody compared these to the unbalanced stock HD800 cable in a blind listening test?

 

[prot]

I find it mighty amusing that so many people complain about the prices.

Yes they are outrageous but isn't this the forum that supports and promotes aftermarket cables in the $300+ category? And where hundreds of people criticize Sennheiser and others for the supposed "low quality" of their reasonably priced and perfectly good stock cables?

Well, you just got what you asked for. Enjoy!

 

[prot]

That's the thing: People here who are going to buy an aftermarket balanced cable are going to get one from one of the small guys that doesn't have to double the price to allow for dealer margins, which is what I think is going on here.

Why is everyone so happy with those "small guys"? (the Q is mostly rethorical).

According to my calculations they don't double the price, they go 5x and more. Here's a recipe for a 1m silver cable:

1. $80 for the wire. You need 4 wires and if you braid it they have to be longer than 1m. Let's be generous with 4x1.5m=6m of silver wire. A 22-24awg wire costs about $15 per metre.

2. $10 for the teflon isolation. It costs less than $1/m from ebay but let's be generous again.

3. $10 for the cable splitter. That would be a very nice wood splitter, otherwise you can have perfectly good ones for $1-2.

4. $50 for connectors. Again very generous .. a very nice Viablue 3.5mm connector costs about $20 and the Sennheiser headphone connectors are $10 or less per pair.

5. 5$ for solder. Again generous ..a bottle of super silver solder costs about $30 and it's enough for hundreds of cables.

So, the silver cable BOM adds up to $155. That is for a super cable with already *very* generous prices for each part ... and prices that any normal dude can find online, no bulk-discounts included.

Try to buy one of those from those super nice small guys. It costs over $400, most of them are actually in the $500-2000 territory.

Redo that BOM for an OFC cable with $5/m (again very generous) and you get less than $100.. prolly less than $50 for a standard OFC cable. Sold by the "nice" guys for $200+.

Very nice & friendly guys indeed.

 

[Currawong]

Sennheiser will make and sell their cables for a certain price to the dealers, who then will sell it for double.
 
The small guys will make and sell their cables direct.

 

[prot]

Sennheiser will make and sell their cables for a certain price to the dealers, who then will sell it for double.

The small guys will make and sell their cables direct.

Sennheiser's BOM for those cables is surely way less than $50. They makke more than double and the dealers too. That's pretty much stealing. But it doesn't mean we should praise the little guys who do exactly the same. Plus, they started this ridiculous "trend" of cables that cost more than the headphones.
The only chance we have as consumers is to show all those companies the proverbial and well deserved stick for shamelessly exploiting people's hobby. Judging by those cable prices those people must think that anyone who buys a nice headphone is a dumb schmuck who deserves to be robbed.

 

[cooperpwc]

This is a silly thread. Endless prattling by teenagers who have never run a business and have zero concept of the relationship between cost of materials and profitability, the different business models to potentially get there, the risks involved, the opportunity cost for time and money (especially for the small entrepreneur) etc. And this doesn't even touch on marketing.
 
Just silly.

 

[prot]

This is a silly thread. Endless prattling by teenagers who have never run a business and have zero concept of the relationship between cost of materials and profitability, the different business models to potentially get there, the risks involved, the opportunity cost for time and money (especially for the small entrepreneur) etc. And this doesn't even touch on marketing.

Just silly.

1. Who are those teenagers?
2. How about entlightening us on all that business-related stuff you seem to know so well? E.g. please explain how it is fair to ask $300+ for a cable with a $30 BOM

Cheers.

 

[LFC_SL]

It is a capitalist world and profit is not the ugly word it may be to some. Even charities pay their executives handsomely.

You appear reluctant to address cooper's post, which is odd as you raised the subject. Outline to the forum the business plan. The pitch to the bank manager how to make a viable business out of charging 31 bucks for raw materials costing 30 bucks.

Referring to commodity prices is irrelevant to the end user. In the same way no-one now goes to harvest the wheat.

No-one disputes there is profit to be had in audio electronics but only considering material cost is a superficial analysis that frankly would not even get you far in a school essay.