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#1
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$1200 for speaker cables?
http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html
How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? |
#2
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$1200 for speaker cables?
Actually, $1200.00 may be considered moderate by todays
standards. Speaker cables can easily run into 5 figures in cost. No, I can not afford, nor hear the difference, between a good quality cable, and a super high-end big-dollar cable. And, of course, you can add some esoteric cable elevators - little porcelain cups with a 'U' shape on the top to lay the cable in, thus elevating the cable off the floor. The "golden ears" run out of breath spewing accolades on the wonders of improved clarity, space, etc, produced by raising your speaker cables a inch or so off the floor. Sorry. I don't get it. No, I never actually auditioned cable elevators... /jim Alan Browne wrote: Louisiana Audiophile wrote: How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? There are those who defend these "wonderful" cables but I rely on the opinion of a friend of mine who is an electrical engineer, audiophile and musician. I rely on him 'cause I can't hear the difference. And it's the hearing that counts. Others will reply to your/this thread that people with the right ear can discriminate. So either it is hokum or they should only be bought by people who *can* discriminate. Of course, nobody who has plopped out the cash for these things would admit that they cannot discriminate the difference. MHO. Cheers, Alan. |
#3
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$1200 for speaker cables?
In article , Louisiana Audiophile
says... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? First of all it's hard to call any amp in the $1,2k range (especially adcom) decent and secondly $1,2k can't buy you even the cheapest pair of some manufacturers cables. -- "Transistors can be made to sound like tubes, digital can be made to sound like analog, and cables can be made to sound like no cables. You'd almost think we live in an age of miracles." -- Art Dudley, July 2003 |
#4
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$1200 for speaker cables?
On the subject of high-priced cables, here is something I
found fascinating. Today, on Amazon.com, I searched for "SACD" in the category "Electronics." There were 136 items listed. Of the 20 highest priced items (more than $566 each), 19 were audio cables! The exception was a $999 Onkyo SACD player. Four sets of audio cables carried by Amazon were priced higher than that Onkyo, their most costly SACD player. This is not a tweak shop, it's one of the largest online retailers. Is cable mania spreading, or is it just wishful thinking on Amazon's part? Mike Prager North Carolina, USA |
#5
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$1200 for speaker cables?
Dalibor Bauernfrajnd wrote:
In article , Louisiana Audiophile says... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? First of all it's hard to call any amp in the $1,2k range (especially adcom) decent Amps in the $1.2K range can be decent. There, that was easy. -- -S. |
#6
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$1200 for speaker cables?
Dalibor Bauernfrajnd wrote:
In article , Louisiana Audiophile says... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? First of all it's hard to call any amp in the $1,2k range (especially adcom) decent and secondly $1,2k can't buy you even the cheapest pair of some manufacturers cables. How did you come to the opinion that it's hard to call any amp in the $1.2K range decent? What is the magic number? $1.3K? $2K? $10K? |
#7
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$1200 for speaker cables?
In article SbC2b.261773$YN5.180862@sccrnsc01, Yoan Paquet SbC2b.261773
$YN5.180862@sccrnsc01 says... I'm not sure if some people can discriminate between good quality cables and extremely expensive ones but by experience, I can say that there's a major diferrence in output quality on my speakers (JLlab Cobalt 806) using standard cables ($2/feet) and good ones like Cardas for example that cost me about $200 for 16 feet. In store, I was not able to hear the difference between the Cardas cables and cables selling for about $800. Agreed, same opinion here. You can't hear %$#& in the store because you're not familiar with the system, the room and lost of other variables that count. However, in my system, after listening to it for a month; i can clearly hear a difference if a move a picture from one wall to another and not to mention cable swaps, especially if the models are completely oposite sounding (kimber vs. vdH for exmpl.). Nice speakers, btw! I got some 706's -- Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. ICQ: 138579247 |
#9
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$1200 for speaker cables?
In article ,
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote: On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:21:07 GMT, (Tim Westmoreland) wrote: (Louisiana Audiophile) wrote in message ... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? They are probably charging this much in order to recoup some of the R&D costs spent on development. Excuse me? Since all cables sound the same (and properly conducted R&D predicts that they will), just what 'development' is involved here? Ummm; I'm pretty sure that was written with a very nice touch of irony. Don't let the "debate" rob your of a sense of humor! |
#10
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$1200 for speaker cables?
(Stewart Pinkerton) wrote in message ...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:21:07 GMT, (Tim Westmoreland) wrote: (Louisiana Audiophile) wrote in message ... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? They are probably charging this much in order to recoup some of the R&D costs spent on development. Excuse me? Since all cables sound the same (and properly conducted R&D predicts that they will), just what 'development' is involved here? Trial and error? Those long-term listening sessions add up, and time is money, you know! Besides, Intro to Electronics textbooks have gotten really expensive since you were in school. bob |
#11
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$1200 for speaker cables?
"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
... On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:21:07 GMT, (Tim Westmoreland) wrote: (Louisiana Audiophile) wrote in message ... http://www.audioconnect.com/html/sky.html How in the world can a pair of *cables* cost the same as a decent pre-amp/amp combo (e.g., Adcom)? Or is this just marketing thinking that "if someone wants to blow this kind of cash, we'll give him something to blow it on"? They are probably charging this much in order to recoup some of the R&D costs spent on development. Excuse me? Since all cables sound the same (and properly conducted R&D predicts that they will), just what 'development' is involved here? Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering There must be a fair amount of investment in marketing. Of course, some producers are likely to be luckier than others, and hit a gold mine after only one try! But others must agonize for months or even years: Light emitting cables? Water jackets? 18 9's copper? Or silver? Or platinum?! Full-page advert? Which 'zines? What kind of website design? Who to write the white papers? Which shows to attend? Which dealers to hit? What ancillary components to use? You want to sell $10,000 cables, you'd better have $100,000 or more in electronics -- hardly a minor cost. I imagine, too, that considerable interpersonal skills are necesary to convince dealers to take on your line and to convince consumers whom one might encounter that you are the real deal. Ever since I made a pair of interconnects out of magnet wire and Radio Shack RCA plugs (thanks to Art Dudley!), I've been out of the cable game. But let us not lose our respect for those in the high(-end) wire game! Curt Simon |
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