Friends. I know guy who can get it for $34,000.00. Operaters are standing by.
Case in point: a $90,000 power cord by ASUNZ
Open Letter to the Audiophile Community: When High-End Becomes High Farce
There is a line between excellence and exploitation. In high-end audio, we celebrate passion, precision, and engineering that bring us closer to the music. We accept that real performance costs real money. But every so often, a product comes along that crosses the line into absurdity — and, frankly, insults the intelligence of the global audiophile community.
Case in point: a $90,000 power cord. (https://eqaudio.ca/power-cables/ansuz-mainz-d-tc3-gold-signature-power-cable/) A blatant insult to the intelligence of the global audiophile community!!!!!
Yes, you read that correctly. A piece of wire dressed up as “innovation,” sold for the price of a luxury car. It is not just excessive, it is contemptuous of the very customers who sustain this hobby.
The danger here isn’t only to one brand’s credibility. When companies market cables at such outrageous prices, they make the entire industry look foolish to the outside world. They reinforce every stereotype: that audiophiles are gullible, that high-end gear is snake oil, that this pursuit is less about music and more about status symbols.
We, as music lovers, are not idiots. We know the difference between engineering and opportunism. We know when craftsmanship justifies a premium — and when pricing is simply a provocation.
If high-end audio is to survive, manufacturers must show respect for both the craft and the community. Otherwise, the “legacy” they leave will not be of sonic breakthroughs, but of arrogance, excess, and ridicule.
This letter is not just directed at one company. It’s a call for honesty, sanity, and responsibility across the industry. If the goal is truly to celebrate music, then let’s price gear like it’s made for music lovers — not billionaires with no sense of value.
Steve Pappas
A concerned audiophile
73 responses Add your response
For those who are losing sleep over this expensive audio cable, please try to relax on this Grand Vividus bed. MSRP: $390,000. There’s a waitlist. - - - After a refreshing nap, take a ride out to the country in your Lykan Hypersport. MSRP: $3.4 million. Fortunately, no waitlist. |
On one of his car videos, Jay Leno did a short discussion about one of his cars, one of the uber expensive European brands, and the insistence of the builder that their branded synthetic oil at $90 per quart had to be used exclusively in their engine. Jay made the obvious statement that, considering his collection, he could certainly afford the oil, but he knew with 100% certainty that the only difference between a $90 auto builder branded can of synthetic oil and a known petroleum producer brand $7 can of synthetic oil was the branding. He also noted he was 100% sure the car builder didn't also own a refinery, so they were getting their 'special' oil from someone else, probably one of the $7 a can producers. He concluded by saying that, while there were plenty of uninformed owners, and probably just as many wealth flaunters who would pay that price, he wasn't one of them. It's safe to say that those two categories of buyers are probably well represented in our hobby, and the desired target for things like $90k power cords. |
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Price drop to $64000. Please relax...maybe listen to some music? |
@viridian 94k CAD is $67788.30 USD. So it’s $3788 savings to buy in US. Yes I’m being silly like this whole “conversion.” 64K is the medium down payment on a house in the US. So theres that. 5.4 of these gold cords equals the mean house price in the US. 5.85 cords equals the average cost of raising a child from 0-18 years, in the US. I am 1.07812 cords old but often act 1/5000th of a cord. |
The high price is the bait, when they tell you, "We also have a cable at one third of that price" And you can cleary see that it's a bargain, in comparison you are actually saving $60.000! Then make the deal. Going home to tell the wife, "look, today we saved $60,000" PT Barnam, could not tell the differance between right and wrong. IAN. |
I am not sure with what all is going on on the world scene that a 90,000 bucks cable could be "an insult to a community" of any sort or name compared to ... (I will not name anything because i do not want to provoke anybody...) Any audio product at any price could be accused to be "snake oil", placebo, or junk anyway... We must not focus on gear pieces first and last but on acoustics conceptual understanding... I know a reviewer who "tasted" hundred of amplifiers before paying any attention to room acoustics.. Now room acoustics is not even acoustics concepts understanding yet...
Price is a red herring Nevermind if it is low cost or high cost... Acoustics is the big fish of audio... All gear pieces are only the tools necessary to go fishing it... We must understand how we hear, why we hear this or that, what we are hearing and not before correcting it ...
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I agree. Distribute all the wealth equally and then we can all buy $90K cables (well not everyone, just Agon members with resolving enough systems), a yacht (albeit just a regular yacht and not an ultra super yacht like Octopus...not trying to be greedy), and a few other toys. But seriously, who cares about a $90K wire. If you can afford it buy it. Connect your $1M system to it. You can probably afford the $2M car, $20M home etc etc. as well. What I’d really like to make fun of though, is the idiot that buys one to power his $10K system. But I doubt the opportunity will present itself. |
Very pretty and very expensive, but pales in comparison to the new Corvette ZR1x in terms of $/bhp. So I'd be embarrassed to admit I paid 3.4M for only 780bhp. And while ugly IMO, the Tesla Model X Plaid is nuts.1050bhp. Used they are less than an entry level Beamer. I've been for a couple of launches in Cheetah mode. Surreal. |
You mean like LA? I’m pretty sure no one else would argue that $90K power cords are obscene and relate that to homelessness. It would be a lot closer to reality to call out the billionaire members of the state and city stewards for wasting billions of tax payer money and barely making a dent in the situations. For clearing out encampments on the motorcade route when "their president" or the Olympic Games Committees visits. Then letting them all come back. For closing mental institutions, allowing the unfettered flow of drugs and making buying a house and living here far too expensive. Not to mention making it REDICULOUSLY convoluted and expensive to run a business here, which ultimately contributes to declining economic opportunities for everyday people. So please, be bit more serious if you want to discuss REAL social issues. |