Another fascinating thread about money, and for some, the apparently critical issue of how other people choose to spend their money.

For me, these power cables are of no interest, and I can’t imagine they would ever represent value to me. But by the same token, I have no interest in buying crystals to put on my amplifiers, regardless of the price because that would not represent value either,  For me. But some see that differently, and if it represents value to you, all the power to you. It’s great that you found something that you think works for you. Just because we differ, I would not refer to you as an idiot. 

Certainly, these cables are an unnecessary  extravagance. A $500 amplifier is an unnecessary extravagance for that matter. It’s not something that any of us “need.“ I don’t see a fraud or a scam. They are offered for sale. Anyone with that kind of money would surely have the opportunity to audition before they bought if they wished. They can buy it. Or not. 

it’s a shame that the way people choose to spend their money in this hobby is so divisive. What I think is completely overlooked, is that all of it is relative. Yes, it’s easy to say that these power cables are ridiculous, just meant for people who are showing off or, as  some have so eloquently put it, made for “idiots.”

But we, as a community, are severely, lacking in self- awareness. The great majority of people, millions of people, I suspect, who listen to music every day and would say that they really enjoy music just as we do, are most likely using cheap earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker that cost 100 bucks or less. Lots of these people likely would say those of us who have a $5000 system, hell, maybe less, are “idiots” foolishly spending our money on an unnecessary extravagance because they really groove on listening to their music on the Bluetooth speaker and don’t need to spend any more to enjoy their music. These things come down to individual preferences, and the relative nature of what represents values to each of us.

Unquestionably, people have a right to characterize others as idiots, etc., because they choose to spend their money differently than someone else. At least until the Audiogon moderators exercise their plenary authority, in some arbitrary fashion and remove the thread.There is something that would be helpful. if you denigrate someone for the price they choose to pay for a product or a vendor for the price they ask, tell us, for each component, at what price does the consumer become an idiot. For speakers, is it $5000? $10,000? $30,000? $1000 more than you chose to spend?That would make the comments much more meaningful and would help the readers put your point of view, which you are certainly entitled to, into proper context. 

like a lot of folks, I find some of the prices of these products startling. But not insulting. Certainly not insulting enough to in turn insult people that might choose to buy them or who might offer them for sale. Because I’m free to make my own choices. 

I think discussions of the relative merits of products are interesting and helpful. The focus on how other people choose to spend their money, not so much. That’s just me, and it’s great that we are free to express differences of opinion. At least until the omnipotent moderators decree otherwise.

I don’t care if some or even most audiophile products are snake oil. I trust my ears.

I don’t care if a lot of audiophile products are overpriced. I have a budget.

I don’t care if a lot of audiophile products are marketed as status symbols or eye candy. I am interested in sound quality and, when I find it, a high bang for the buck.

I don’t care if there is a market for stratospherically priced audio equipment in which bang for the buck, or even sound quality, is irrelevant. I had a friend who asked me 40 years or so ago to help her buy a stereo. She was awash in dough and could afford all but the most highly priced components. As we were driving to the first audio store we visited, she told me she wanted a really good stereo, “you know, one that looks really sexy.” She spent a lot of money, and got just what she wanted, a sexy looking system that I thought sounded mediocre. Her criteria were different from mine, but totally valid. I don’t see any reason why I should suffer the fact that her criteria are different from mine. And, I don’t see any reason why any of us on this forum should suffer that that market exists.

It you can afford it and you value for whatever reason its contribution to your quality of of life, knock yourself out: buy the $90k PC. It’s presence in the market and the presence of consumers who will buy it bears no implications for me. I’m neither embarrassed nor humiliated by it.

I know some of you think this point ridiculous, but what offends me about Mr Too Much Dough spending $90K on a power cord is that it seems obscene when so many of our neighbors and compatriots can’t feed their families today.  I am disturbed by the unbridled capitalist impulses that drive our culture today and advocate every day for a more equitable distribution of resources. But, as long as we live under the current rules and incentives, let the ultra rich spend their money as they will, as long as they don’t hurt anyone in the process.

I recognize that the OP is making the case that the marketing and purchase of a $90,000 power cord does hurt us, the audiophile community, by perpetuating an image of the audiophile as an audiofool. I simply do not agree.

The US Justice Dept. should investigate Ansuz Cable Co. for wire fraud. :-)

@hce1 

@kerrybh 

Good posts, but you guys leave out the most important point, which is not so much the cost of the object as the claims to sound quality. 

In other words, anyone should be free to spend, say, $8,000 on a couple of Ethernet cables if they wish. It’s still a free country, after all, for the most part.

Maybe their kids will put them under conservatorship if they find out, but that’s ok.

The problem starts when some of these people come on here and start making grandiose, absurd claims of HUGE sonic improvements due to the Audiophile CAT-6 cables.

Worse, when highly educated folks with careers in computer science-related fields make polite attempts to gently educate them as to why that’s just not possible, these people get all hissy and start assailing the so-called "naysayers" with charges of subpar hearing; mediocre, non-resolving systems; and more generally blinkered ignorance of "science" that conveniently has yet to be discovered.

Calling these people "idiots" is both hyperbolic and medically incorrect. Most of them seem to possess average intelligence; and, in reality, the reasons why they propagate false claims and sow division are far more complex than just idiocy, but that’s another conversation.

Suffice it to say that we should probably refrain from just calling them idiots. We can, and should, be more inclusive than that.