Hearing is believing?........power cables.......

"...once some very basic and inexpensive length/guage requirements are met, nothing is to be gained by spending sometimes insane amounts on aftermarket cabling"

What you call insane may I must say very respectfully maybe considered by someone else to be a very modest amount to spend on their Music Reproduction System it is a matter of assigning value to an expense and that is a very personal computation to undertake.

"...wasting money on them is ludicrous."

But those who are spending the money may not consider it ludicrous if even only because they can afford to spend such money on their  Music Reproduction System.


"A great example of this recently was when I A/B'd two CD Players from the same manufacturer, the Vincent CD-S8 & Vincent CD-S7DAC, both very fine sounding CD Players. I placed some Silver XLR's (which sounded nice on the CD-S8 but sounded "too bright" on the CD-S7DAC).If Vincent included these with all their CD Players, there would be some disappointed CD-S7DAC owners who've paid for a cable that doesn't match well." 

But if there was a difference in the audible performance of the cables when used with in the context of a  Music Reproduction System then that is all that really matters here. What you call too bright might be just right for someone else when used in they're  Music Reproduction System and worth every penny of the cost of acquiring the cables.

"And it doesn't need to cost a king's ransom. "

What you call a king's ransom may be a trivial expense to me and increasingly based upon what you write here that is very likely the case. I have one cable in my system that cost many thousands of US dollars and to me it is worth every single cent of the cost. For you it's insane probably because it would be a year's worth of rent to you but just a minor expense to someone such as myself and many others that I know of for they're  Music Reproduction System.

"...Max. I've spent is $350 on one cable, all are a step-up over stock Power Cables. So my point was you don't have to spend mega dollars to get an improvement. "

You seem to be a bit confused on the fundamental nature of consumer economics so I hope you will see my further detailed explanation here as it is quite apparent you either did not read or did not understand my earlier response to you on this matter.

For some users of Music Reproduction Systems spending $350 on a cable is what you previously referred to as a "kings ransom." It is a months rent for them perhaps or a few weeks worth of food. It is a price that they cannot even remotely consider when they could by an other functionally similar cable for $10 that would work satisfactorily in their  Music Reproduction System. I understand that for you this $350 is a relatively modest or at least justifiable expense that your consumer budget can presumably support without sacrificing any of lifes essential costs such as rent or food.

Yet for others the same $350 is a trivial expense and one not even necessary to account for in the financial planning because it is the equivalent of "pocket change" to them. In fact there are some users of Music Reproduction Systems for who even many thousands of US dollars spent on a cable is a minor expense that has no bearing on their monthly budget because it represents just a tiny small insignifcant portion of their monthly income.  

What you are doing is applying your value system to others decisions and then making a value judgement about the other person. Of course this type of judgement is used erroneously all of the time but it is in error never the less because you don't know what their budget/financial status is. You're statement "you don't have to spend mega dollars" doesn't make sense because in the one example you have already spent what some consider megadollars  and in another example you have purchased the equivalent of a "budget" item that would not satisfy a consumer with perhaps substantially greater financial resources than yourself and frankly I am a little surprised that you seem to struggle to accept this very simple economic concept but you seem intelligent so if you consider it carefully I am quite confident you will understand the error in judgement you are repeatedley making in this thread. 

  "I mean, really, a power cord for $6000? Really? Really? 

That power cable only exists because someone entepenuer knew if he built it fancy, packaged it well and marketed it to the easily swayed, he could sell enough to make a killing"

Perhaps you should consider that who you refer to as the "easily swayed" is more accurately yourself who is "easily swayed" by the notion that for some arbitrary reason of yours $6,000 is apparently too much to spend on a power cable. Perhaps those who buy the $6,000 power cables are not especially "easily swayed" at all, but are making a consumer choice with which they are comfortable whereas in your case it would be a purchase that would make you uncomfortable perhaps if only because such a consumer purchase would be beyond your budget.

The concept that there is something defective about those who might spend $6,000 on a power cable is actually a form of prejudice about someone you have obviously not met and whose budgetary and financial realities differ from yours to such an extent that you are unable to comprehend how they could possibly execute such a purchase and remain rational and yet at the same time you call them "easily swayed" so obviously you have a flaw in your "logic" here.

Moreover if we examine this "easily swayed" person who's behavior you conjure from your fertile imagination  you might ask yourself that if indeed this person is so "easily swayed" how is it that they have $6,000 to spend on a power cable rather than having already spent it on some other tomfoolery such as pricey cars or truckloads of Girl Scout cookies? After all they are so "easily swayed" how is it that the $6,000 power cable has so "easily swayed" their decision whereas other beckoning consumer products have failed to absorb their expendable $6,000?

" That there are those with hefty "budgets" that don’t know what they are doing. They believe that everything (or many things) that have extreme price tags MUST be a better product. They are wrong. "

But how do you know that they don’t know what they are doing? You are guessing, based on your own narrow view of what is expensive without any insight at all into the thinking of those people you obviously do not understand and do not know. You have simply decided that these cables are a poror value and so you have based conclusions on your solitary supposition that is not based on any facts but rather your prejudiced view of people you don’t understand. So silly!

"Since Value is the result of the mathematical equation of Quality divided by Price, such a power cord is a serious poor value regardless of whatever incremental SQ boost..."

Of course here you reveal your rather profoundly ignorant view of economics by this definition the purchase of an original Picasso painting is a poor value when it fact it could bring conceivably tremendous joy in to the life of someone for whom the expense if not trivial is very easily absorbed into their lifestyle without ever effecting their budget in any way. I do understand that this concept is difficult for you to grasp but if you imagine for a moment perhaps what you’re life might be like if you won the lottery perhaps you might be able to imagine that there exists a world outside of your own where the concept of value is markedly different than your own.

So as a little exercise I’ll respectfully ask you to consider that if a $6,000 power cable is a poor value where do you define a good value power cable to be priced at and after you decide that number consider that you arrived at that price point by evaluating your own economic condition and not the economic condition of someone else and therein lies the fallacy in your argument that $6,000 for a power cable is a poor value.

As a way of offering another example I consider a meal at McDonald’s to be a very poor value and in fact in matter respects a much worse value than that of a quality $6,000 power cable. How can this be you ask? That would only be a conversation we could have once you grasp the fundamental concepts revolving around you’re subjective definition of what constitutes a good value in a power cord and you’re insistence that the equation you apply to arrive at that definition is the exact same equation to the penny that every other person should apply to the same calculation.

What size waist do you use when you buy a pair of pants? I hope it is one that is suited to your actual waist size and when it comes to power cords and budgets and values the same principal applies.

I should add to this to be fair to you that I am not arguing as to whether or not a $6,000 power cable is a good value or poor value for you! it is obvious that it would be a very poor value for you and you have made your position and opinion on this very obvious. You're error is applying the same formula for arriving at that conclusion to all others who would be considering the same value proposition. You're $6,000 is better spent elsewhere probably on rent and food and things that are much more essential to your daily life than a high-end audio power cord for use in a Music Reproduction System.