Hi,,, wow its amazing cause i'm just about exactly at the same price point for the system cost and cable cost as you are. I was quickly adding it all up and stopped at 60k system cost and over 10k on cable cost. Actual cost are about exactly as yours give or take a mere bag of shells. I did the cable thang myself and ended up using Kimbers Select line of cables cause although it was much more expensive than most other common cables it became very obvious to me that my system REQUIRED cable like the top model Kimber Select. I found that I did get what I paid for and the cable turned out to be an absolute must. It made me realize just how much of a weak link the cable becomes in a well matched high quality system that is fully capable of passing a very strong clean extended accurate signal. I found the expensive Kimber Select to pass a very clean efficient signal from component to component with far less signal degradation than all other cable tried. It was shocking just how much of an improvement the cable made. yes i do believe that cable cost is relative to system cost. I would not use the best cable with a mid level system. I also believe in the REAL Industry Leaders who produce cable like Kimber, Siltech, AN Kondo San, Nirvana etc who produce their own wire in house with real technology over most small cable makers who buy spools of commerially made wire from large wire manufacturing plants and repackage the wire and make wild claims. The cables job is to pass an un altered signal, do nothing, and the higher quality and more capable the components are the cleaner and cleaner the cable must be to un alter the best signal the component is capable of sending. I also believe in NOT USING 1 WEAK LINK. No matter how good the components and cables are using just 1 weak link in the chain will only get you the best that the weak link is capable of. NO cable will perform any magical tricks. A good cable does nothing but pass the most efficient un altered signal. From there your using a form of tone control which could yield a positive or negitive result. Start with the best room and use the best well matched components and best matched cables that your budget can afford. NO weak links. The results can be sonic bliss. I also find that all being equal the TUBE yields a more natural musical sound and the old tubes sound better than new tubes in most cases. Its not really as complicated as we make it out to be if done right and you follow the rules. Knowledge is the key.
Cable Costs Relative to System
Since making a spread sheet with my audio system prices, I have been thinking(shocked) about my total investment in cables. My total system retails at $67,000 (Digital and analog front ends included). I purchased all of it here on Audiogon so my investment is about 50%. Of that I have about 10% invested in interconnects and cables and another 10% in Power Cables (Shunyata Hydra included). That's $13,000 worth of wire. I'm starting to question whether it might be more effective to put some of this budget into acitve components. It would take forever to listen to all possible combinations, but would like to hear others experiences with relatively high end systems and cable selection. It would seem to me that the point of diminishing returns would be reached sooner with cables than with speakers and amps. Do most of you follow the 10% "rule" for cabling? How do PCs fit into this rule? Are there any super bargain cables capable of keeping up with highly resolving electronics?