why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

Why do people feel the need to start posts asking why people do the things they do? Are we all in this for ourselves or for everyone else?

"audio as a hobby is dying, largely by its own hand. As far as the real world is concerned, high-end audio lost its credibility during the 1980s, when it flatly refused to submit to the kind of basic honesty controls (double-blind testing, for example) that had legitimized every other serious scientific endeavor since Pascal. [This refusal] is a source of endless derisive amusement among rational people and of perpetual embarrassment for me..”

-Gordon Holt
 Stereophile

I dont have a dog in this fight and I could care less what others use for cables but these empty arguments are ofetn hard to ignore and laughable to say the least. jmcgrogan are you really trying to say that the performance between the two wires you mentioned are as dramatic as those between a kia and a porche? Surely you do not mean to infer this.

 The differences between those two automobiles as well as the boats you cited can easily be distinguished through a series of basic performance tests. Unlike cables this is pretty cut and dry.

However iif we were to measure these cars from a purely subjective standpoint such as asthetics or pride of ownership....well now we are wading into murky water...you know like cables.

 

 

knghifi are you also saying the performance differences between a kia and a porche are on the same parallel as the mogami and the siltech? 

Is there a way you can prove this? 





 





 

knghifi no need to state the obvious here and remember I did not start this thread. I only chimmed in after reading all of the irrational arguments. I will ask you one more time....if you are convinced the performance difference between cables can be proven as easily as the difference between a kia and a porche....well I am all ears as i'm sure are many others. What is your method for proving such a claim?

Many of us can agree that cables do indeed make a difference but the point of the thread was about expensive cables. I took this as a shot on manufacturers that hyper inflate the cost/performance ratio. 

I will however take your advice and step away from the computer a bit and leave you gentlemen to your thread. I’m off to go make some cables :)

r_f_ sayles Where in my post did I present an argument? Did you even read what I wrote? I directed my comments to a poster who tried to use a sports car vs econo car analogy and how it relates to the differences between mogami and siltech.

I was only pointing out that the comparison cannot be made as the differences between the cars can easily be measured from a performance standpoint and therefore a logical conclusion can be drawn as to which one is a better car. That is a fact that cannot be debated. The same cannot be said for cables. One can only express an opinion as to which cable sounds better but again this would only be a matter of opinion. How is that baseless?

I think you said it best in this quote "we have stated our experience and our opinions about that experience".

Making absolute statements that cable a is better than cable b based on an experience or an opinion is completley illogical and I think most people on here would agree.

Also you presume that I have not listened to cables....well sir you would be dead wrong about that. I have have auditioned numerous cables in my system and have settled on what I think sounds good to me. Some may feel I paid too much for them while others may feel like I could have spent more and got better. Either way I would not make a statement that they are better for everybody than anything else below their price point. It is that kind of thinking that confuses people on here who are just getting into audio thinking all they have to do to get better sound is throw more and more money into their system.

Cleeds where did I use the word preference? I am talking strictly performance. Things that can be measured hello!!!!! Handling, braking, acceleration. This is not a subjective difterence. You don't get behind a wheel of a Kia and watch the porche pass you and say to your self.....hmm this Kia is kicking the crap out of that porche.

Using that criteria you can say which is a better car without question. The other things you site like trunk space, sticker price, asthetics blah blah blah .....yes those are preferences....but in no way can you say which is better. Which is the exact same realm audio cables exist in. How do you guys not understand this? If that were not true everyone would be happy to subject them to blind tests. 

Let's say we do use the car analogy for a moment..... If we take the Kia and porche the porche will win on every track in any condition....that's how superior the porche is performance wise. However if we take the porche and something else that is much closer in performance and compare them then it comes down to driver, track type, conditions and so on. Same with cables....it comes down to room, system, listener etc. Much harder to say which is better. How does nobody understand this basic idea.

If two products have like quality, durability, appearance and performance but one is more expensive than the other why is the cheaper one not the better value? This does not seem difficult to understand. 

What other parameters would one use to assess a products value compared to others? Again if as dynaquest4 stated they are of like quality, durability, appearance and performance.

@jmcmgrogan...thanks for the laughs!

If I audition two components in my system and like the sound of both equally, I like how they look, both have a reputation for being of high quality and durability. But component A is $300 more than Component B. Which one represents the better value? For what reason(other than potential re-sale value further down the road if I decide to sell) would I choose to spend the extra $300?

Thats basic money management 101. We all do it in our normal lives whether it’s shopping for automobiles, groceries, audio, whatever. 

Since dynaquest4 mentioned in his post “pre-owned” let’s just suppose one of the components was being offered from a local dealer and it comes with a 90 day return or a one year warranty or some other service. Within that scenario the components would no longer be considered of “like” quality and reliability that dynaquest4 mentioned in his basic formula.

I do agree with your statement that “they have decided that it is a good value to them” in which case the basic formula of appearance/performance/quality/reliability still applies regardless of cost to that individual. What does it matter what someone else thinks? 

In other words I have found a cable that costs 10x my current cable and feel it exceeds it in every regard based on the formula. I buy it because for me it is a good value whereas my fellow audiophile friend uses the exact same formula and declares that I am crazy for buying it because he cannot hear the difference. Now do I care about his subjective opinion? Of course not I am building my system not his. But he will still utilize the same formula I used to base his purchasing decision on regardless of what I think a good value is or should be to him.

Sorry posted this right after yours dynaquest4 

^^^ Exactly it’s only audio....nobody here is saving lives.

I cant see oxygen but Im pretty sure thats what Im breathing....or so i’ve been told.