Are audiophiles still out of their minds?


I've been in this hobby for 30 years and owned many gears throughout the years, but never that many cables.  I know cables can make a difference in sound quality of your system, but never dramatic like changing speakers, amplifiers, or even more importantly room treatment. Yes, I've evaluated many vaunted cables at dealers and at home over the years, but never heard dramatic effect that I would plunk $5000 for a cable. The most I've ever spent was $2700 for pair of speaker cables, and I kinda regret it to this day.  So when I see cable manufacturers charging 5 figures for their latest and "greatest" speaker cables, PC, and ICs, I have to ask myself who buys this stuff. Why would you buy a $10k+ cable, when there are so many great speakers, amplifiers, DACs for that kind of money, or room treatment that would have greater effect on your systems sound?  May be I'm getting ornery with age, like the water boy says in Adam Sandler's movie.
dracule1

Showing 1 response by mac48025

Damn, Ive been going about this all wrong......you mean my wife should be asking to handle my cords? If only! :)

Im sure if I had a six figure system I wouldn't think twice about spending big bucks on cables. I will say I've been very happy with NOS Western Electric 14 ga wire for speaker cables and Belden 8402 microphone cable for interconnects. I replaced Kimber 12tc and Kimber silver interconnects and prefer the WE/Belden cables......crazy as it sounds. Jim Smith (author of "Getting Better Sound") replaced megabuck cables with the WE/Belden combo and preferred them also ( as did Jeff Day).....so I'm not the only crazy one! It's a sound preference that I, and they, prefer but I'm sure it's not for everyone. I say go with whatever makes you happy. I'm glad I was happy with something cheap for once!

Oh, and to answer your question.......of course us audiophiles are out of our minds, and I wouldn't have it any other way :)