Percentage of cable cost

Best to start out with cables purchased from monoprice dot com. That way you can forget about percentages. Monoprice cables will sound wise beat anything you pay mega bucks for. Try them, you can ship them back if not satisfied. Don't fall into the trap of more expensive is better.

Buconero, I too was naysayer, an open minded skeptic if you will regarding expensive cables...until I tried them. Actually it pisses me off that they DO make a difference...even power cords! I really, really... wanted to draw the line, cut some corners somewhere...but if you have decent separates, they can and will benefit from better cables. As for the % in question, list price of course, if I had paid list, 19%. If I had not got short speaker cables for monoblocks and kept my gear low and in the center it could of easily gone up another 5% of total MSRP. I don't think there is a formula that works for all but it seems like anyone with an optimized system ends up being at 15% on the low side and 25% or more on the high side. Tmsorosk...Don't feel bad I would easily be close to your % had I not used as short as possible runs wherever possible and I'm toying with "interviewing" some $$$ power cords.

I've been studying this for over two decades now, and I've found that the sweet spot for percentage cable cost in relation to system cost comes in between 16.7432% and 18.6559%.
For the sake of everyone's safety, I implore you, DO NOT stray outside of those boundries!!

I've had Kimber 4TC 8TC, Morrow SP3 SP4, now have Nordost Blue Heaven. Like them all, but their no better than Best Buy or Radio Shack. The sound is the SAME! Get over it. If you want to spend money for nothing, go ahead.

To ensure that you have a very high probablity of attaining mediocre sound you'll want to abide by the 10% rule.

To attain superior sound you'll have to think differently.

Ten percent works in my HT but in my analog 2-channel it's closer to twenty five percent.

The cables do matter. Assigning an appropriate price is another matter. I am guessing that I have invested about 10-20% depending on the system they are in.
I can't imagine spending the kind of money I see spent. I think a more interesting question is how much is the most you have spent on an individual cable. In my case it's the speaker cables on my main system about $650 for entry level used Jena cable copper braid. To people outside the hobby I am sure that sounds insane. When I see speaker cable for ten times that -- well that's clearly over the top!

Out of curiosity, how many of you have ever done double-blind tests on cables? I suspect the results would be interesting.

Check the Stereophile website for a report on a blind cable test done in Minnesota. Good reading

I just read the test. Interesting, indeed. Not totally scientific, but the $8000 cable didn't beat the $3 cable by that much.

A few years ago, a noted economist did some double-blind wine tasting tests and found that even the so-called "experts" could often not distinguish between very expensive and very cheap wine.

Makes me wonder.

If I was still on the upgrade path 10% cost on cables is a safe bet. Before going higher optimize the room, a lot of what cables will add can be negated by reflections and standing waves. If unsure about major system changes in the near future stay on the conservative side as your needs may change. That being said once ALL system bottlenecks are removed or addressed that % can be higher and yield benefits as fruitful as any other big upgrade IMO. In my case of around 19% is also including power conditioning. My speakers, amps, and preamp will likely be the same for the next 10 years so this will be it for this system.

I do not see any valuein chosing cables based on a %. All that assures is you spend a certain amount of money, nothing else. Very good wires do not have to cost a fortune. Makes no sense really.

the proportion spent on cable should be related to affect cables have on the sound of your stereo system.

I have never gone by the "percentage" rule with cables. I think that an expensive cable is worth it when it's the cheapest way to improve your system. IMO, a box or speaker upgrade should sonically exceed the sonic contribution of a cable upgrade. But when your system becomes expensive to the point where better cables offer a significant sonic upgrade for much less then a black box upgrade, cables are the way to go. Cables are the icing on the cake, but you need to have the cake first.

I feel cables can make a significant difference, and yes, this has included double blind tests in my system. Current cabling cost varies from 10% - 15%. I do find that used cables hold their value extremely well, so ultimately have spent very little on cables.

I spend or spent 10% of the cost of a component. $2,000.00 = $200.00 for cables.

In looking into this I've found that some people even break down the components into a percentage, i.e. 60% for speakers, 30% for sources, ect. ect.

I bought the "best" turntable at the time I could afford, SOTA STAR Sapphire  $2000.00 and pretty much stuck with that as a general rule of thumb. Cartridge, pre- amp, phono amp, headphones, Headphone amp, amps. speakers. DAC.  After making my mind up for the final choices based on my preferences for sound. I'm happy with the final choices.

About 10%, maybe less- 

.12% should suffice on a 20k system

.05% on a 10k system

1% on a 5k system

 

The biggest mistake you can make is buying no-name or low brand recognition cables. You'll find it very difficult to resell them.

Best to buy used or ex-demo and trade them up every few years. They don't lose much money after the first purchase. Nothing to wear out either.

Try to buy cables suitable for your gear which don't come on the used market often.

These are the winners.

I'm very lucky because my dealer let's me bring home cables to try out.

My investment in cables is way more than 100% of the cost of my system but if you want a highly revealing system that's what's needed.

@tmsorosk - to me - 28% is not unreasonable - since my streaming device has cables that cost more than the streamer

I did NOT tie myself down to a percentage of system cost - I figured I can calculate that once I get the right cables for my system

The cost will vary based on what the individual is prepared to spend for overall system performance.

I have found the following companies produce excellent cables to fit many budgets

• Zavfino - use the latest developments in Geometry, Wire and Insulations
• In-Akustik - adopt a more advance cable geometry for very low noise floor
• Hijiri - One of the very best cable companies that produce fine cables for high resolution systems - but a little on the expensive side

There are of course many other companies, but one of the things you may want to look for when choosing a cable, are cables that employ

• UP-OCC copper wire or UP-OCC Silver wire
• insulations that have a low value of Dielectric Constant like
  • Teflon or Foamed Teflon (aka Airlok)
  • Cotton or Coltton/Oil
• Adopt a more unusual cable geometry - like that employed by In-Akustik

I figure my "overall" cable cost is around 30% and that’s for DIY cables - it would probably be closer to 40% for commercial products

Regards - Steve

I don't think 20% of the MSRP of the piece of equipment is unreasonable to spend on cabling.