Cables that cost more than the speakers?

I don't think you can use any formulas because the retail cost of cable has little to do with what it costs to make and almost nothing to do with how "good" it is or how it sounds. They charge simply what the market will bear or what they can get away with. In addition, cable is so highly system dependent that, in any particular system, it is easy to see how a $400 cable can clearly outperform a $2000 cable. Given the above, I don't see how super expensive cables are almost ever worth it. Even when one finds one which performs well, there is probably another which is significantly cheaper that will perform just as well.

Mikelavigne:

Wow. Even with the credit you got due to the cable you traded in, that is an awful lot of money. I don't know how much of a discount you got on top of the generous trade-in allowance, but isn't it interesting that the dealer could afford to do it for you? This indicates his mark-up is huge as is everyone's along the chain towards selling one of these high-end cables. He probably still made a ton of money on the deal even though he was able to give you these huge concessions. I haven't heard the Transparent cables which you speak of, but I have heard or owned a fair number of expensive interconnects up to the retail price of about $3000. None are totally neutral. None are even nearly perfect. They all have flaws. None works in every system. And any change in any component might make any of these cables unusable in the system in which it was installed. I respect the right of everyone to make their own decisions regarding how and where to allocate their money, but given all of the flaws, weaknesses and risks of obsolescence using these cables, I think it makes it hard to justify purchasing a cable which is priced like an automobile unless you are sure to recoup your money when and if the cable no longer works for you. I find it especially difficult to justify those kind of outlays when I know the cost to make these cables doesn't relate at all to what they cost, even with the "generous" discounts.