"Nousaine"
It's also intersting to think about what a wire "manufacturer" actually
"makes." For example the Tara Labs RSC (a rectangular shaped copper wire
in a
translucent casing) was recognized by a member at an audio club ...."I
know
that wire; we used that to restrap starter motors when I worked at ....."

I've visited Transparent Audio Marketing in New Hampshire and I didn't see
anything being manufactuered there except for network boxes and
terminations.
The "wire" was in an old barn wound on cable spools with New England Wire
and
Cable stamped on them. IOW wire "manufacturers" don't make wire. At best
they
terminate them.

I'm guessing that companies such as Monster Cable may not even have to
warehouse cables but simply have them drop-shipped from the manufacturer
directly to the vendor from the manufacturer/packaging house. It's all BS
but
technically brilliant marketing.

You are right; most wire is made by a few companies for the many who
market it. For many years I bought wire from a wire company owner who freely
stated that all his wire was made by one of the large wire manufacturers.
Sometimes he had a standard product imprinted with his name; sometimes he
specified the conductor material, gauge, configuration, and insulation. I
am sure that the others do about the same. I have no problem with that.
Outsourcing applies to far more than wire. I recently sold a $2,000 KEF
subwoofer. The carton said "Made in China". Is it a good subwoofer? That
should be determined, not by whether it was made in the UK or in China, or
how well it is marketed, but by its performance.

Wylie Williams
The Speaker and Stereo Store