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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?
metaphysics

Showing 1 response by s23chang

s23chang
620 posts
 
I believe the cable cost shouldn't be more than 15% of your total system cost. I've done many comparisons over the past 3 years ( over 2 dozen cables.) and only found less than 5 cable makers that made my "acceptable" list regardless of the price. Even from these companies, only certain model and above made the list. I even tried DIY interconnects but just doesn't sound as good as the ones made by professionals.
It is really up to the listener to figure out if it is worth the extra 100% to 300% to get that extra 5 to 15% improvement. Most importantly is system matching.

Here is my favorite cable manufature list:

Audio Note AN-Vx and AN-Vz
Stealth Audio Cable M-21 special
NBS King Serpent and higher
Nordost SPM and higher

I tried to get cable for $500 as my cap. I would pay a little bit more if there is enough improvement to my system.
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