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Who thinks $5K speaker cable really better than generic 14AWG cable?

I recently ordered high end speaker, power amp, and preamp to be installed in couple more weeks. So the next search are interconnect and speaker cable. After challenging the dealer and 3 of my so called audiophile friends, I think the only reason I would buy expensive cable is for its appearance to match with the high end gears but not for sound performance. I personally found out that $5K cable vs $10 cable are no difference, at least not to our ears. Prior to this, I was totally believe that cable makes a difference but not after this and reading few articles online.

Here is how I found out.

After the purchase of my system, I went to another dealer to ask for cable opinion (because the original dealer doesn't carry the brand I want) and once I told him my gears, he suggested me the high end expensive cable ranging from $5 - 10K pair, depending on length. He also suggested the minimum length must be 8-12ft. If longer than 12ft, I should upgrade to even more expensive series. So I challenged him that if he can show me the difference, I would purchase all 7 AQ Redwood cables from him.

It's a blind test and I would connect 3 different cables - 1 is the Audioquest Redwood, 1 is Cardas Audio Clear, and 1 my own generic 14AWG about 7ft. Same gears, same source, same song..... he started saying the first cable sound much better, wide, deep, bla...bla...bla......and second is decently good...bla...bla...bla.. and the last one sounded crappy and bla...bla...bla... BUT THE REALITY, I NEVER CHANGED THE CABLE, its the same 14AWG cable. I didn't disclosed and move on to second test. I told him I connected audioquest redwood but actually 14AWG and he started to praise the sound quality and next one I am connected the 14awg but actually is Redwood and he started to give negative comment. WOW!!!! Just blew me right off.

I did the same test with 3 of my audiophile friends and they all have difference inputs but no one really got it right. Especially the part where I use same generic 14awg cable and they all start to give different feedback!!!

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?
sautan904

Showing 13 responses by unreceivedogma

unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
I've got news for all of you cable addicts. 

The founder of Monster Cable said he realized that audio nuts would pay a fortune for "high end audio cable" so he founded a company based on that premise, creating products to meet this demand. He says that in reality the expensive cable makes little to no difference in the overall sound. You might as well use lamp chord. 

Audio dealers and manufacturers these days are just a hustle, thanks no doubt in part to extreme income inequality. 

For example, I saw a pair of speakers in an audio showroom whose cabinet size was suspiciously similar to mine. I walked over to get a closer look. They were claimed to be a one-off by Shindo. The asking price was $33K. I asked the dealer if the driver - plainly visible, no grill cloth - was the old Altec Lansing 604C. He hemmed and hawed for a bit but I put my foot down and said that I have a pair of 604Cs at home and I am 200% certain these drivers are the very same. My speakers, with cabs and the Mastering Lab crossovers cost $3.3K, not $33K!

He relented and by that time I had attracted a crowd. 

Some poor sucker bought these speakers a week later. 

Btw, the wires that connect the crossovers to the speaker terminals in the otherwise still fantastic sounding 694Cs - hey, good enough for Shindo - is definitely not $1K per foot. Cheap, very thin copper wire. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
Geoff Jair, I hate to burst your bubble, but if I had the time I could hunt down the exact quote. That is exactly what he said. 

When Monster cable came out, it was decidedly not cheap. I know: I'm old enough to remember when it came out, I bought it and compared to the lamp cord I was using, it was way more expensive. 

At the time, I did not hear significant improvement in the sound and decided that it might be because I have to continue to upgrade other parts of the system. 

I made a mistake earlier: the wires that go from the terminals to the diaphragm on the Altecs are thin, inexpensive wires. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
That was supposed to be addressed to geoffkait. Spellcheck strik s again.  
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
Geoffkait: you are waaaaay too emotionally involved in defending expensive cable.  Either you are a cable rep, or you need some therapeutic assistance. 

JPerry: the system is as follows:

CARTRIDGES: Koetsu Onyx; Koetsu Redwood Sugnature; Benz Micro; Grado (for my 78s)

ARM: Sumiko MMT

TURNTABLE: VPI HW MK IV with SAM

PREAMP: Beard P505, rebuilt by Jon Specter (formerly of NY Audio Labs, a blues guitarist and cousin of Al Cooper of BS&T and Highway 61 fame) with Jensen foil caps and phono stage adjusted for MC cartridges. 

AMPS: NY Audiolab version of the Julius Futterman output-transformer-less Monoblocks, the OTL3. Jon Specter converted them from pentode to triode, replaced all the caps with Jensen foils. 

CROSSOVERS: Mastering Lab, caps replaced with Jensens. 

SPEAKERS: Altec Lansing 694Cs, with accordion surround, cone, spider, voice coil and dome (in other words, all moving parts) all very recently replaced by Gabriel Sound with manufacturer specified parts provided by Great Plains Audio. 

Also:

CD PLAYER: Rega Planet

TUNER: Kenwood KT8300

RUGS: Moroccan, on the wood floor, to keep sound from splashing. The rugs are way more important than...

CABLES: standard, no name cables between table/preamp/amps, Monster to the speakers but Geoffkait is inspiring me to get off my butt, run down to the local hardware store, buy some lamp wire and stick it in there for Ss&Ks, just to annoy him. 

DOG: a Spitz named Mitsy. She's an audiophile too. A) She better be if she wants her food. B) she knows where the sweet spot is. Good Mitsy! Here's your treat! C) she howls when I play the overture to The Who's Tommy, and some other records too, but that one especially. Adds to the mood somehow.  John Specter says that's because she hears things captured by the recording that the recording engineers couldn't hear - and that you or I can't hear - and that my system is able to reveal. 

unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
Geoffkait Your defensiveness is also up there with His TriumPhness. That's rarified company. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
Coda to DOG: C) ever wonder what the 12K over the 8K (4K at my age) that you can't hear is for? Not to make the system sound better, but to drive your dog nuts. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
Geoffkait, You have the need to insult everyone here who doesn't agree with you. I'm serious: you are emotionally damaged and should get help. It's no way to live. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
I rest my case. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
geoffkait, you have 4,719 posts here. I have 16. Seems to me that's the pot calling the kettle black.

I work for a living and spend almost no time here for a reason. I saw this thread and made a contribution base on 40 years of audio experience. Maybe some people here value that experience. you obviously don't.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
jperry,

No problem.

I left out

RECORD CLEANER: VPI HW 16
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
"... $5K cables not $25 cables..."

Makes absolutely no difference in my view, $25 is nuts also. I recall paying much more than that, but it was 3 decades ago.

"...I had dinner with the Monster Cable dude...."

So what? I got my Koetsu Onyx from one of Neil Young’s engineers, but it’s not relevant to the discussion so I did not mention it. What’s relevant is what the Monster founder said about his own product, not that you had dinner with him.

Looks like someone has had some of his posts removed.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
jperry:

I started out with Lafayette and Garard when in high school in...you guessed it...my parent's basement.

I graduated to Dynaco and Warfdale in college. I then made other upgrades up to what I have today, which has been fairly stable for 20 years, the only new addition being the Onyx that I got as sort of a gift. No, I did not and would not pay $10K for it: I come from the David Hafler school of audio: you shouldn't have to mortgage your home for good sound.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,082 posts
 
I’ve been saying for decades that people who claim to hear a difference between $5 and $5K cable are simply suffering from the placebo effect. 
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