[size=small]Zu Pivot[/size] cables are great and are worth the money, but as you seen in this thread, with a little e-bay patience you won't have to pay MSRP.
I've got 4 Zu Pivots and a pair of Zu Oxyfuels. The Zu Pivots (.5m mini-mini, 1m mini-mini, 2x1m mini-RCA) are my most frequently used cables.
The 0.5m mini-mini is thin, very flexible, and (at least mine) have beautifully contoured, cast, black-banded aluminum plugs which are hermetically sealed and very comfortable in hand. I'm very happy with the sound. I guess for serious compact portability I might get a a shorter length cable: 8" or 12".
[size=small]RnB's cables[/size] are always beautiful to look at and I'm told they sound very good. His Sky Blue mini-IC is 12" overall, and his gold-alloy premium IC looks shorter (haven't seen one close up...). I don't have any of his cables -- yet -- but they're so pretty I'll probably give in to temptation, even though I have enough cables already.... well, maybe I need a shorter one anyway.
See the link at the bottom.
I also have a .5m
[size=small]Moon-Audio Silver Dragon[/size] cable, which is also an excellent cable, with beautiful garnet-colored techflex covering and a possibly a little more transmissive of upper frequencies and detail. Each can have its benefits with certain phones. The Silver Dragon -- with its more open, upward extension is great for phones like Sennheisers, etc. The Zu being possibly a bit softer are better with SA5000 and the like, which can be fatiguing at the top without proper all-round synergy.
For cheez80 to get several Zu Pivots for between $20 and $30 ... he's either incredibly lucky, has days-on-end to keep attacking many auctions, or a sniper program! I've gotten a couple for a little over 30, but $20-$25 is most fortuitous, indeed.
Moon-Audio does not offer ebay promos, though I got mine a while back when they actually did offer a few on ebay for a very short time. They went fast and furious and I only got away with a small discount, but it induced me buy a very fine cable.
I used my Zu Pivots and also the Silver Dragon at our local Minis-Mini-Meet last weekend. The Zus seemed pretty neutral all around. The Silver Dragon got a big thumbs up from a couple of attendees. As always, it depends on system synergy. RnB's work was represented, thanks to Oski, at our NYC Minis-meet. (See our NYC Minis-Mini-Meet thread.)
I haven't yet compared Zu and Moon-Audio cables with "local produce" such as RnB's cables. He's made a wide range of beautiful cables. I was close to one last weekend but didn't get my ears on it! Darn.
If budget is your main concern, then it's up to you. My feeling is that "most cost-effective" can be tricky and very subjective. If it means the cheapest decent cable, then it may not be cost-effective if it's not sonically satisfying. If you're a member of the contingent who believes cables are a neglible tweak at best, then it doesn't matter. I hear differences in cables (depending on the quality of the system, of course), and some make me really tense, either by crudding up the sound or preventing the music from getting through in one way or another.
Choose your criteria.
[size=small]ADDENDUM:[/size] Here's the link to RnB's cable offerings at Mall-Fi:
[size=medium]
RnB's SkyBlue and other cables at Mall-Fi:[/size]
