The Cable Company advice?

I used their lending library for years when trying to determine contribution of cables to systems in general, all sorts of cables at many price points. You can let them choose the cables for demo's or you choose amongst their offerings. I considered the price for this wide range of demos to be worth it. Where else can you go for such a wide range of demos? And you can also purchase from their used inventory. Now, they do expect eventual purchases and you will likely feel the pressure from salesmen to purchase.

Cable Company reps seem very hit or miss (sounds like maybe you got the latter), and some here have latched on to one person they trust and are knowledgeable.  That said there are several direct sellers who offer low-risk trial periods, and in your price range I’d recommend checking out Snake River Audio as they’re in your price range, get very positive reviews from users, and they offer a 30-day trial period less return shipping and credit card fees.  At least worth a call I think, and best of luck.

https://snakeriveraudio.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4

Given your requirements, I recommend looking at Transparent cables. They are exactly that. Over fifty years I have done lots of investigations with different cable brands and found Transparent to be the most neutral and well, transparent. One critical thing is that you want to like the native sound of the components you are connecting. If they are not great... then you are going to hear it. 

With that kind of budget and system, my recommendation would be to work with a dealers that carry 2-3 lines of cables and offer risk free trial. Folks at CABLE Co. reminds me of my experience of dealing with a car salesman. You’re far more likely to receive personalized service and expert advice from a specialty dealer than from the ‘Joe Schmoes’ at Cable Company. 

And please stay away from cables with voodoo accessories touted as fine tuning devices. It would be helpful for readers to know rest of your cables, like PC and IC’s. 

Think synergy when it comes to brands and materials—copper vs. silver, for example. Cables are no different than any other component in your system; they need to work in harmony

Example: Ask the average speaker salesperson who sells a variety of high-end speakers what his specific favorite speaker/brand is.  He will more than likely not  let you pin him down to selecting one speaker brand over another, as not to show any bias towards one brand over another.  Happy listening.

lalitk

And please stay away from cables with voodoo accessories touted as fine tuning devices.

- - -

Unless it’s Synergistic Research.  Starting with the Atmosphere UEF Series - or more recent offerings.  The tuning modules are the result of years of R&D.   Yes, they work - quite well.  My system’s SQ is the best ever now that I’ve implemented a full SR loom.    And I've auditioned a lot of different cables over the years.

“My system’s SQ is the best ever now that I’ve implemented a full SR loom”
@steakster 

I am not going to discount your or anyone’s experience, but after trying many cable brands, my takeaway: a straight forward high-purity copper cable often outperforms cables with fancy ‘tuning’ gadgets and exotic metallurgy. We all have our preferences, I prefer cables that don’t color the sound or add anything extra—just a pure, honest signal allowing me to appreciate music at much deeper level.  

@tcbrinkley 

I’ve had good luck with The Cable Co. I’d try them again and see if you get a different rep. My experience has been very positive. I explain what I’m after and what my budget is and the result is 3-5 products in the range I’ve asked for and then I just listen & listen…

Here’s another idea, maybe in parallel, as an experiment. Ask ChatGPT. Write a good prompt including as much detail about your system as you can. See what comes back. 

TCC will push Synergistic and Shunyata in that price range. But they will eventually include other brands into the conversation. The SR cables I tried I never liked despite their tuning devices really making a difference (gold bullet, silver bullet). Never got these to sound natural in my system. Your results may vary. 
I’ve had both good and bad experience with TCC. Their system of assigning a salesperson to a customer or customer to the sales person, whichever way you want to approach it, doesn’t really work too well. If and when you get in touch with your sales rep you can either borrow or purchase. If borrowing whatever the fee you paid excluding shipping will be credited to your purchase. You will also get frequent flyer discount. I’ve had to call TCC multiple times to place an order with no one calling me back. I would’ve bought the crap elsewhere except they had my credit from lending library that I wanted to use up. 

Overall would I recommend them? No. Not anymore. And I’ve neen using them for close to 20 years. As @lalitk pointed out, find a dealer that carries multiple brands who can let you try cables at home and steer you in a right direction. Or buy used, try and flip if not good. 

@audphile1 Why do you say that?

Because Bingo! those are the brands they suggested, lol.

Pushing SR and Shunyata implies they are either overall best performers in that price range or (cynically) have the highest profit margins. 

Shunyata makes very nice cables and power conditioners. Synergistic is excellent as well I’m sure for some systems but it’s just not my cup of tea. I am sure the profit margin on both brands makes it a top recommendation for them. 
My suggestion would be to do your research and compile a list of cables you’d want to try. Then just borrow the cables from their landing library. As a resource to get the benefits of being able to test drive the cables in your system TCC is hard to beat. Their customer service is another story. And quiet frankly with the lending library policy where you pay to try cables, there should be no obligations. You can use your credit any time to buy anything from them. In example I used my credit to buy Solid Steel amp stands there. 


 

I bought one $350 interconnect that they recommended and didn't like it.  I tried to get a recommendation from them on another cable and the guy was an arrogant jerk.  Maybe he had a bad day.

You might try Fidelium speaker cables from Silversmith Audio.  He does 30 day free trials. You just pay shipping.  An 8 foot pair is $1395. I really like mine. 

Word of caution with TCC. If you call in for a 1 meter cable such interconnect, you may get some hocus-pocus reason why you need longer cable. Go for it and it’s gotcha. You cannot return longer than 1 meter. They consider it custom.

“Big print giveth and small print taketh”

There was another thread around here discussing Cable Company, maybe it got deleted? It ran for years though. Many people documented their bad experiences, along with many who loved the place. 

For me, I say go with a smaller brand that offers some form of demo period or easy returns. Silversmith, Audio Art, Veritas Cables, Triode Wire Lab, Snake River Audio, Audio Sensibility, and many others all make quality cables with low risk to try. The only way you really can judge is in your own system. 

A lot of the high end rigs at AXPONA were using Cardas cables. Maybe give them a try? TCC has them available.

In general I have had very good interactions with TCC.  I have used the library, mixing their thoughts with my own on choices.

The only negative occurred recently, asking about my 11.5% frequent flyer discount, I got an N/A response (this was on a $2K+ Cardas purchase), so I emailed a prior contact and he sorted it out.

On some product lines (e.g. Cardas) the cables are drop shipped from the manufacturer so there can be a 2 week lead time.

In addition to interconnects I have also purchased (Kimber) wire for the internals of my home brew projects.

I bought a few items from TCC a few years back. Nothing extravagant, but 500 - 1000 a pop. As a customer, I'm easy as: "here's what I want, please take my money". Nontheless, my assigned salesperson seemed to lose interest and fell off at some point, and I gave up. 

Similar happened to me on ElusiveDisc - a couple years back I couldn't get a callback on a tonearm I wanted to purchase, to save my life. MusicDirect has done OK by me but other people have had issues, and again - what am I getting for paying full MSRP?

Anyways, I hate our online audio retailers. You pay MSRP (or very near it) and get no value add. With my local dealder, I built a relationship over years and got true benefits: real discounts, access to loaners, real service & support, etc. 

Hello TCBrinkley,  The Cable Co: Nobody is perfect, but I have had mostly good to great experiences with TCC. You seem to be concerned because after learning your budget, the rep suggested something near the bottom of your price range? 

One time The Cable Co. rep spent 45 min. helping me talk through my concerns. He also emailed me info. about products under consideration. Another time he made multiple calls to WireWorld about their power cables to fine-tune product and suggestions within my budget. What I really appreciated was when he had the integrity to say (paraphrasing) "I don’t know the answer to that question, but I’ll find out." He called me back with the answer and add’l. helpful info. the next day.

Of course they want you to be a customer, but when I tell them I need a few days to think it through and may have more questions, they are very cordial. I also found their prices to be fair. Only once did TCC strongly urge me to exceed my budget. After discussion (I was a bit suspicious), I went with his advice and remain delighted that I listened to him. 

I stay away from Synergistic.  I have no love for the owner of the company

I found they seem to gravitate to "their" favorite which I believe was Synergistic Research.  I demoed them and found them meh.  After an exhaustive search I ended up with Audio Art Cables.  Rob was great to work with an ultimately customized the cables with better spades.  Overall very beautiful speaker cables.  Even my wife noticed the difference.

My only experience with the cable company was not good.  Who ever I talked to acted like he was on commission and was really pushy! I haven’t been back since.

@soix 

FWIW I bought a Snake River Boomslang digital cable and I absolutely love it.  I'm eager to try some of his interconnects and speaker cables--when I have some extra money. ;-)

@ghdprentice 

I've been helping a musician friend rebuild his system post-Covid and years of travel.  He bought mid-level Transparent interconnects and speaker cables and likes them very much.

I have experience with the cable company, all bad. Total waste of time.

I have had nothing but positive experiences with TCC. Never tried to talk me out of a product I was interested in and always sent me product to demo from their lending Library. 

Tried to deal with a couple of local dealers for Purist Audio Designs cables and they were zero help and would not come off MSRP. Their loss I ended up with a complete loom of PAD Poseidon Diamond Revision cables. 

I have used The Cable Company numerous times over the past 20 years  for recommendations, borrowing cables and making purchases.  They have never pushed me over my budget and steered me to some cable brands that were under the radar, but made excellent products. 

OP- TCC doesn't always recommend the most expensive option. Can depend on your system or specific need. For instance,  I wanted a turntable mat and was looking at some relatively expensive stuff, but they suggested a Herbies at much lower cost and I couldn't be happier. 

I've had great experiences buying from them over the years. They fill the gap very nicely too if it's som6 something I can't hear at a local dealer. 

Where else can you just try and send back repeatedly? I could never have done cable to cable comparisons without the CC lending library. My rep seemed to like Cardas. I did end up buying a pair but I bought used; after knowing what I liked. 
 

they did send me one pair that was 1.5m because it was what they had in stock and of course billed me based on that price; but all in all it was a reasonable experience and I am sure I’ll be trying more from them.

Great experiences with the CC. Bought all my cables there after extensive in home evaluation. Compared the Shunyata Denali and Gemini 8 Power conditioners along with Gamma and Theta power cables. Preferred the Gemini with the Gamma. Compared the Alpha, Sigma and Omega Clock cables. CC is a great asset allowing you the ability to try everything and all combinations in your system. If you’re going to upgrade or buy new cables or a PC and you’ve identified the brands under consideration in their extensive library the CC is a great resource. As you buy you get increased discounts. I get 11.5% now. Ask for Ethan Wood. Very knowledgeable and responsive. I believe he’s been there a while. They also make returns easy by supplying a UPS shipping label. 

I have used TCC on and off over a 20 year period. I have had only positive experiences. I hadn't borrowed from the lending library and returned. Used the credits on products that I did want. There's always something. Their model of assigned salespersons can be hit or miss, like any relationship. I've had hits only. 

I had a very positive experience with them.

I use Inakustik interconnects and after explaining the rest of my stereo they suggested Inakustik speaker cables based on compatibility and synergy. They do not carry the brand and therefore provided a free consultation and no cable fees.

Seemed quite honest.

I've worked with Steven Aug for close to 20-years and he has always been prompt, informative, patient and professional.  

N

Tried once

Very pushy service

Ignored my reasons for contacting them. Tried to sell me a bunch of other stuff.

Thought they were more $$$ than other places 

So no go for me

The Cable Company has  been great with recommendations from my experience. My bad experience with them came when I returned a pair of speaker cables that were not properly manf. The Sales rep would not return my calls/emails (the return would ding his commission) and I had to ask another rep for help. I hope the guy who was a poor sales rep. was let go but I have no way to find out.  

I would take it as a positive that he didn't recommend cables costing your upper $ limit. I would NOT be confused by this.

Yes they are good and I have used their inputs and lending on several occasions. But they don’t know all equipment and anyone who is into high end and listens carefully knows that on some occasions components & cables don’t play well together. That has been my experience and a few times I have selected an alternate to their top recommendation. 
 

They recommend and lend anything they have so you can try and compare at home in your audio setup and then buy or not buy at all….  So what’s the issue? 

my experience has been frustrating. never have made a purchase.

Seriously folks, a free lending library is pretty remarkable. Everyone on this board has a completely different combination of components, stop being so lazy and critical , do your own research and use their services for what they are.

I've gotten good advice for the Cable Company and their lending library makes a lot of sense to me. The fact that they're advising you purchase a cable less than your budget is a good thing, no? Usually it's the other way around.