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speaker cable prices

I read plenty of articles on the demise of high end audio and have been an enthusiast for 40 years and worked at a high end retail chain for ten years back in the 90's. I still own several systems and buy and sell gear to keep tweaking my systems. Nonetheless I'm pretty shocked at the prices of cables in particular- I look for a decent pair of speaker cables to run from a Pass amp to a good pair of speakers and can hardly find a pair of 8 ft cables for less than $1000- most are commonly 2-3k for a pair of cables. 

Is it me or is this ludicrous? 

What are people buying for an average pair of cables ? Can a pair be had for $300?
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Showing 4 responses by azbrd

azbrd
102 posts
 
geoffkait, you endorse Goertz cables because they understand wire directionality.  Can you explain how wire directionality exists with AC current since it travels in both directions?
azbrd
102 posts
 
So was not talking about the wall, I was talking about a speaker cable between an amp and a speaker which is AC, ie Alternating Current.  AC must travel in both directions for the circuit to function properly, if it doesn't the circuit does not work.  Alternating Current reverses direction many times per second depending upon the frequency, so which direction would be the "poor sounding direction"?  

My same questions about would also apply to anything you plug into the wall however in this case the frequency is 60hz in the US, which would be the be the correct direction?  No matter which way you point the arrows on your wires 50% of the time they are going the wrong way.

What you are suggesting implies that the wiring in a home or building is directional and therefore the wires should be installed in a specific direction.  Same would be true for the wires coming from the power transformer and on up the chain.  Have you ever heard of a wiring job that had to be done because the wires were installed in the wrong direction??
azbrd
102 posts
 
Hmm, i’m not following you because you are mixing AC & DC & the rules of physics. If what you suggest was true all AC circuits would be wrong 50% of the time because the current goes both ways, if it didn’t the circuit would not work, period.

What you are suggesting is that ALL wire, including the wire in your home, inside your speakers, your amp, your pre-amp, etc for example has little arrows on it so the electricians know which way to wire your home, god forbid they have a "oh crap" we put the wires in backwards! The little arrows don’t exist because there is NO directionality in wire, electrons don’t know the difference!

azbrd
102 posts
 


Ok, so you have an speaker wire (2 wires to be simple), 50% of the time current is going one direction and then the other on both wires, not just 1 wire.  So i ask you which way would you point the arrows when 1/2 the time the direction is wrong?  

Please share with us what physical characteristic of a wire makes it directional?  What is the secret to determining which way electrons prefer to go on a wire?  


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