Audioquest Cables

[Johnny2Bad]

I worked in an electronics retail store long, long ago. Our highest profit margin product was in selling extended warranties. Our second highest, in accessories. Cables, adapters, batteries, universal remote controls, and so on. My employee discount allowed me to purchase items at store cost. Just for illustration, an $80 set of Monster Cable patch cables cost me $16. I'm sure the profit margins on Audioquest cables are similar.

Re: subwoofer placement, yeah, it's probably better to start a new thread to ask about that. This Audioquest thread makes my skin crawl a little.

Monster's success was based on massively high margins for stores and allowing stores to offer, often, cash incentives for employees. Audioquest margins are more like other accessory items, far less than Monster, and in line with any nationally advertised audio product.

Audioquest's less expensive cables are built with fundamentally sound principles that follow known best practices (for that matter, so do the lower lines of Monster cables). I personally would not buy them, as I don't buy pre-made cables, other than optical cables, in the first place, but I would not consider them to be "snake oil". If you are looking at the three and four figure priced cables, that's another matter.

Manufacturers of cable earn high profits based on the length of cable; there is no reason why any fundamentally sound cable should cost more than a few dollars for another metre of wiring. That puts you into a difficult spot for a sub cable, which generally is a long length.

You would get much more value out of building your own sub cable. Even after buying an inexpensive soldering iron and solder, you will be dollars ahead and achieve excellent performance. Due to the length, you should choose a shielded cable to base your DIY effort on. Things like cable capacitance and inductance matter, but they affect high frequencies, not low. So in reality almost any fundamentally sound cable will offer excellent performance.

The Canare L4ES is an excellent candidate, at about $1 a foot. Two Canare F-09 or F-10 connectors will run you about $8. Although I prefer Mogami cables for interconnects (a little more than $1 a foot), the Canare cable has better rope lays (cotton non-conductors that keep the signal-carrying wires in perfect alignment) than the Mogami, which is an advantage in a long cable.

However, if you don't plan on replacing more than one cable, it's more cost effective to buy a pre-terminated example. See below.

" ...
Canare Star Quad L-4E6S Microphone and Audio Line Cable is flexible, satin smooth to the touch, and extra strong. The 4-conductor Star-Quad construction provides excellent immunity to hum-inducing magnetic fields. The high-density braided copper shield provides excellent shielding from RF interference. The internal construction keeps handling noise very low. The 40-strand conductors provide excellent flexibility and resistance to breakage. The satin smooth jacket remains flexible at low temperatures. The low capacitance per foot provides excellent high-frequency response.
..."

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=53

Connectors:

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=3

If you don't want to construct the cable yourself, you can buy them pre-terminated from a number of vendors online. Typical reseller:

http://www.markertek.com/product/sc50rr/canare-star-quad-audio-cable-rca-male-to-rca-male-50-foot-black

(Just change the length to the one you need).

Free shipping, any order. A 10-foot cable assembly is under $20.

 

[rojo]

Monster's success was based on massively high margins for stores and allowing stores to offer, often, cash incentives for employees. Audioquest margins are more like other accessory items, far less than Monster, and in line with any nationally advertised audio product.

Audioquest's less expensive cables are built with fundamentally sound principles that follow known best practices (for that matter, so do the lower lines of Monster cables). I personally would not buy them, as I don't buy pre-made cables, other than optical cables, in the first place, but I would not consider them to be "snake oil". If you are looking at the three and four figure priced cables, that's another matter.

Manufacturers of cable earn high profits based on the length of cable; there is no reason why any fundamentally sound cable should cost more than a few dollars for another metre of wiring. That puts you into a difficult spot for a sub cable, which generally is a long length.

You would get much more value out of building your own sub cable. Even after buying an inexpensive soldering iron and solder, you will be dollars ahead and achieve excellent performance. Due to the length, you should choose a shielded cable to base your DIY effort on. Things like cable capacitance and inductance matter, but they affect high frequencies, not low. So in reality almost any fundamentally sound cable will offer excellent performance.

The Canare L4ES is an excellent candidate, at about $1 a foot. Two Canare F-09 or F-10 connectors will run you about $8. Although I prefer Mogami cables for interconnects (a little more than $1 a foot), the Canare cable has better rope lays (cotton non-conductors that keep the signal-carrying wires in perfect alignment) than the Mogami, which is an advantage in a long cable.

However, if you don't plan on replacing more than one cable, it's more cost effective to buy a pre-terminated example. See below.

" ...
Canare Star Quad L-4E6S Microphone and Audio Line Cable is flexible, satin smooth to the touch, and extra strong. The 4-conductor Star-Quad construction provides excellent immunity to hum-inducing magnetic fields. The high-density braided copper shield provides excellent shielding from RF interference. The internal construction keeps handling noise very low. The 40-strand conductors provide excellent flexibility and resistance to breakage. The satin smooth jacket remains flexible at low temperatures. The low capacitance per foot provides excellent high-frequency response.
..."

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=53

Connectors:

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=3

If you don't want to construct the cable yourself, you can buy them pre-terminated from a number of vendors online. Typical reseller:

http://www.markertek.com/product/sc50rr/canare-star-quad-audio-cable-rca-male-to-rca-male-50-foot-black

(Just change the length to the one you need).

Free shipping, any order. A 10-foot cable assembly is under $20.

Meh, Audioquest's less expensive cables merely provide a means to upsell, a way for a salesman to segue into "What you really need is...." Clearly, Audioquest's focus is not on quality cables at reasonable prices. And capacitance and inductance are only a problem when a maker introduces marketing gimmicks to try to address them -- e.g. Polk Audio's Cobra Cable.

Here are a few gems from the Audioquest website:

Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat dirty, harsh sound. Solid conductors are fundamental toward achieving (insert wire you're trying to sell here)’s very clean sound.

Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground reference requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground plane.

This plug design allows for a connection devoid of solder, which is a common source of distortion.

Solid conductors prevent strand interaction, a major source of cable distortion. Extremely high-purity Perfect-Surface Silver minimizes distortion caused by the grain boundaries which exist within any metal conductor, nearly eliminating harshness and greatly increasing clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers.

It's. Wire. It carries electrical current. As long as the gauge is sufficient for the length and it's properly shielded, it's not that hard to pull off a successful connection. As for solder vs. stamped or welded, the current travels such a short distance that whatever resistance introduced by the solder is negligible. And how many solder points are in the equipment the customer is patching in, anyway? No, I will never recommend even their least expensive cables due to their spurious claims and outrageous marketing tactics. I will oppose them at every opportunity.

For a sub cable, I really enjoy my KabelDirekt cables. $14 for 25 feet is pretty reasonable for a well-made, beautifully finished cable. And it satisfies my OCD by splitting mono signal into L+R (even though I know the amp would've summed a single wire for zero difference anyway).

But I certainly will not fault you at all for building your own cables. I admire a well-executed DIY project, and that microphone cord looks pretty quality.

 

[Pogre]

Meh, Audioquest's less expensive cables merely provide a means to upsell, a way for a salesman to segue into "What you really need is...." Clearly, Audioquest's focus is not on quality cables at reasonable prices. And capacitance and inductance are only a problem when a maker introduces marketing gimmicks to try to address them -- e.g. Polk Audio's Cobra Cable.

Here are a few gems from the Audioquest website:






It's. Wire. It carries electrical current. As long as the gauge is sufficient for the length and it's properly shielded, it's not that hard to pull off a successful connection. As for solder vs. stamped or welded, the current travels such a short distance that whatever resistance introduced by the solder is negligible. And how many solder points are in the equipment the customer is patching in, anyway? No, I will never recommend even their least expensive cables due to their spurious claims and outrageous marketing tactics. I will oppose them at every opportunity.

For a sub cable, I really enjoy my KabelDirekt cables. $14 for 25 feet is pretty reasonable for a well-made, beautifully finished cable. And it satisfies my OCD by splitting mono signal into L+R (even though I know the amp would've summed a single wire for zero difference anyway).

But I certainly will not fault you at all for building your own cables. I admire a well-executed DIY project, and that microphone cord looks pretty quality.

Boy, there are so many things causing distortion in cables according to them that it must be near impossible to get one that sounds right. My system sounds all distorted and I didn't even know it! No wonder some of their finest are so expensive with having to combat all that distortion.

 

[panteragstk]

Monster's success was based on massively high margins for stores and allowing stores to offer, often, cash incentives for employees. Audioquest margins are more like other accessory items, far less than Monster, and in line with any nationally advertised audio product.

Audioquest's less expensive cables are built with fundamentally sound principles that follow known best practices (for that matter, so do the lower lines of Monster cables). I personally would not buy them, as I don't buy pre-made cables, other than optical cables, in the first place, but I would not consider them to be "snake oil". If you are looking at the three and four figure priced cables, that's another matter.

Manufacturers of cable earn high profits based on the length of cable; there is no reason why any fundamentally sound cable should cost more than a few dollars for another metre of wiring. That puts you into a difficult spot for a sub cable, which generally is a long length.

You would get much more value out of building your own sub cable. Even after buying an inexpensive soldering iron and solder, you will be dollars ahead and achieve excellent performance. Due to the length, you should choose a shielded cable to base your DIY effort on. Things like cable capacitance and inductance matter, but they affect high frequencies, not low. So in reality almost any fundamentally sound cable will offer excellent performance.

The Canare L4ES is an excellent candidate, at about $1 a foot. Two Canare F-09 or F-10 connectors will run you about $8. Although I prefer Mogami cables for interconnects (a little more than $1 a foot), the Canare cable has better rope lays (cotton non-conductors that keep the signal-carrying wires in perfect alignment) than the Mogami, which is an advantage in a long cable.

However, if you don't plan on replacing more than one cable, it's more cost effective to buy a pre-terminated example. See below.

" ...
Canare Star Quad L-4E6S Microphone and Audio Line Cable is flexible, satin smooth to the touch, and extra strong. The 4-conductor Star-Quad construction provides excellent immunity to hum-inducing magnetic fields. The high-density braided copper shield provides excellent shielding from RF interference. The internal construction keeps handling noise very low. The 40-strand conductors provide excellent flexibility and resistance to breakage. The satin smooth jacket remains flexible at low temperatures. The low capacitance per foot provides excellent high-frequency response.
..."

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=53

Connectors:

http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=3

If you don't want to construct the cable yourself, you can buy them pre-terminated from a number of vendors online. Typical reseller:

http://www.markertek.com/product/sc50rr/canare-star-quad-audio-cable-rca-male-to-rca-male-50-foot-black

(Just change the length to the one you need).

Free shipping, any order. A 10-foot cable assembly is under $20.

FWIW Audioquest's margins are very high just like monster.

I can get a $99 Audioquest cable for around $10-20 (IIRC) with an employee discount. I'd say that's a pretty good margin.

 

[Speedskater]

..................................
Audioquest's less expensive cables are built with fundamentally sound principles that follow known best practices
.......................................

Are you sure that the budget cables follow good-engineering-practices?
It's hard for me to tell just which one are budget (they all are way expensive) and to tell how they are constructed.
From the ads I see in the print magazines their top shelf cables follow poor-engineering-practices!

 

[Johnny2Bad]

FWIW Audioquest's margins are very high just like monster.

I can get a $99 Audioquest cable for around $10-20 (IIRC) with an employee discount. I'd say that's a pretty good margin.

A $99 cable is not a budget cable. Are you sure your employee discount is based on dealer cost? Many manufacturers offer deep discounts to staff members. If you need a manager to sign off on it, it's probably an employee discount, sometimes called an "Industry Accommodation" price. Same price offered to reviewers.

I know when I was in the business staff could get some products for way below our dealer cost. Distributors want staff to own their products knowing they will say so to customers. I had access to all the invoices, I know what we paid for inventory.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Are you sure that the budget cables follow good-engineering-practices?
It's hard for me to tell just which one are budget (they all are way expensive) and to tell how they are constructed.
From the ads I see in the print magazines their top shelf cables follow poor-engineering-practices!

Good engineering practice means you build a cable that is constructed to minimize RF noise, triboelectric noise, EMI interference, has low capacitance and low inductance. Taking Audioquest's least expensive cable as an example (Tower), we see:

Solid Long Grain Copper conductors -suitable for audio use
Air-filled Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation -foamed PE is an excellent dielectric material; air is a perfect dielectric. The dielectric material affects cable capacitance
100% shield coverage -although Audioquest uses buzzwords to describe it, it sounds like foil, which is the only shielding that can offer 100% coverage, and is sound engineering practice to reduce EMI infiltration
"ASYMMETRICAL DOUBLE-BALANCED GEOMETRY" -pretty much describes a coaxial cable
Cold-welded connectors -using Cold Welding is a known accepted practice and in engineering circles is considered superior to soldered connections

Despite the liberal application of buzzwords, all of the above are accepted and recommended engineering practices for an audio cable. And this is their least expensive offering.

As I said, I wouldn't buy them, but certainly they can't be called "bad cables". They are fine.

I specifically said in reference to "top shelf cables" as you put it, " that's another matter."

I honestly don't understand this forums obsession with cables. There is no reason to rewrite the current literature on the subject ... a proper cable suitable for audio use is backed by volumes of research and reputable cable manufacturers offer good products.

Canare & Mogami (made in Japan), Belden (USA), and Gotham (Switzerland) offer bulk cable that, with just these four manufacturers, represent at least 99% of all the cable used in recording studios, sound stages, colosseums, recording studios, radio and TV remotes. Even the NFL uses Mogami in their NFL Films mobiles.

There is no reason to re-invent the wheel. You literally cannot listen to an audio recording, a radio or TV broadcast, attend a concert, or watch a movie that was not made with cable from one of the above four manufacturers. These installations are designed by experienced engineers. Ask yourself if they would spec a cable that does not meet sound engineering practices.

Would they buy Audioquest cable? Probably not, but there is nothing in the spec of the least expensive offerings by Audioquest that would scare them off. They just don't use pre-terminated cable often, and when they do, they use cable assemblies using one of the above four manufacturers for the wire component.

 

[Speedskater]

Good engineering practice means you build a cable that is constructed to minimize RF noise, triboelectric noise, EMI interference, has low capacitance and low inductance.

With regard to analog interconnect cables:
Capacitance and inductance are opposite sides of the same coin. both can't be low.
While low total capacitance is nice, inductance doesn't matter. For a digital cable the capacitance/inductance ratio determine the cable's impedance.

Taking Audioquest's least expensive cable as an example (Tower), we see:
Solid Long Grain Copper conductors -suitable for audio use

The copper used by Belden, Canare and Mogami in their conductors is just fine.

Air-filled Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation -foamed PE is an excellent dielectric material; air is a perfect dielectric. The dielectric material affects cable capacitance

To an extent this is true, but so what?

100% shield coverage -although Audioquest uses buzzwords to describe it, it sounds like foil, which is the only shielding that can offer 100% coverage, and is sound engineering practice to reduce EMI infiltration

Yes, it sounds like a foil shield. But a foil shield is best at very high radio frequencies (RFI) and poor at low (EMI) frequencies that are more important for audio cables. A foil shield is terrible when it comes to Common Impedance Coupling noise. An unbalance interconnect should be a coax with a heavy braided shield.

"ASYMMETRICAL DOUBLE-BALANCED GEOMETRY" -pretty much describes a coaxial cable

I don't recall ever seeing a coax described that way. To me it suggests something other than a coax.

 

[rojo]

I honestly don't understand this forums obsession with cables. There is no reason to rewrite the current literature on the subject ... a proper cable suitable for audio use is backed by volumes of research and reputable cable manufacturers offer good products.

The important point is, what makes a cable manufacturer reputable? In reference to Audioquest, you hinted at the answer to this yourself:

Despite the liberal application of buzzwords...

It's the buzzwords. The technobabble. Our obsession is not just with cables. It's with marketspeak. It's with helping other consumers understand what they are buying, and whether it is a worthwhile value. I concede that "worthwhile value" is subjective, and I have no problem for the most part with people buying decadent gear. But claims that a more exotic cable can somehow improve clarity or perform functions one might expect from a less expensive DSP -- claims which the occasional shill or zealot brings to our forum and attempts to spread as gospel, that's where we exert vigorous opposition.

... all of the above are accepted and recommended engineering practices for an audio cable. And this is their least expensive offering.

I don't think this is in dispute. I don't dispute it anyway. You obviously know some stuff. But the thing that makes Audioquest's least expensive offering not worthy of consideration is that it's Audioquest who's offering it. They have, what, 25 or 30 different models of RCA interconnects? That's at least 24 - 29 ways they're screwing somebody.

Canare & Mogami (made in Japan), Belden (USA), and Gotham (Switzerland) offer bulk cable that, with just these four manufacturers, represent at least 99% of all the cable used in recording studios, sound stages, colosseums, recording studios, radio and TV remotes. Even the NFL uses Mogami in their NFL Films mobiles.

This is quality information. This is why I enjoy your posts.

There is no reason to re-invent the wheel. You literally cannot listen to an audio recording, a radio or TV broadcast, attend a concert, or watch a movie that was not made with cable from one of the above four manufacturers. These installations are designed by experienced engineers. Ask yourself if they would spec a cable that does not meet sound engineering practices.

It seems Audioquest reinvented it dozens of times. At least, that's what their literature and their shills would have their customers believe. And that's my point.

 

[Pogre]

I was going to type up something similar, but you put it a lot more eloquently than I would have.

They have, what, 25 or 30 different models of RCA interconnects? That's at least 24 - 29 ways they're screwing somebody.

Now that just cracked me up!

 

[panteragstk]

A $99 cable is not a budget cable. Are you sure your employee discount is based on dealer cost? Many manufacturers offer deep discounts to staff members. If you need a manager to sign off on it, it's probably an employee discount, sometimes called an "Industry Accommodation" price. Same price offered to reviewers.

I know when I was in the business staff could get some products for way below our dealer cost. Distributors want staff to own their products knowing they will say so to customers. I had access to all the invoices, I know what we paid for inventory.

Length of cable wasn't specified, but that isn't manufacturer accommodation at all. Go online and order. That's what it came out to be.

Mark up in cables is insane. If most people knew they would never buy one from a retail store again.

 

[lovinthehd]

Whether the low end cables of any audiophool cable company, whether that is Audioquest, Kimbre Kable, MIT, etc are actually decent if discounted enough, that doesn't alleviate their overall damage to the market with their bullshit with the "higher end" cables catering to those with less brains than money.

 

[highfigh]

Well its not only in audio things, I used to work in sports retail when I was studying and some of sport equipment and clothing also have 400% markup.

There's not much that allows someone to mark up by that margin in the audio industry, these days. With Internet sales and the need to come close to their prices, which are often listed by people who A) aren't authorized resellers, B) make false claims about the gear, C) list it at/near/below actual dealer cost and D) don't even have it in stock so they can bait & switch people into something else, this business has become a huge PITA and time waster. Also, a lot of stuff sold on Ebay and Amazon is sourced from rummage sales, store closing sales and liquidation auctions and therefore, the warranty is void because it isn't sold by authorized resellers. There are many people who are PO'd at manufacturers when they have problems but they need to make sure their dealer is a real one, not some DB who snares people who only care about the price.

I wanted to sell a particular brand of marine audio and when I looked online for their top model, I saw that it was being offered for about $25 over dealer cost, BEFORE THEY HAD EVEN COME INTO THE COUNTRY! I called my distributors and they had no idea of this and when I called the national sales manager, he said they were aware and working on the problem. This was a pure bait & switch tactic where they take peoples' money, sit on it and when the customer becomes tired of waiting, they offer something else, saying that the original item was back-ordered.

Internet sales has renewed the need to remember the saying "Caveat emptor'- Buyer beware.

 

[highfigh]

Length of cable wasn't specified, but that isn't manufacturer accommodation at all. Go online and order. That's what it came out to be.

Mark up in cables is insane. If most people knew they would never buy one from a retail store again.

Markup on SOME cables is insane- usually the ones with the story to tell.

Length of cable and features need to be included- the difference between two AudioQuest cables with batteries (72V vs 48V) is $2000, all because of the two extra batteries and the larger battery case. The 72V version lists for $6999.99 and the 48V was $4999.99 and no, that's not a typo. I saw the dealer price sheet and was appalled that anyone would actually sell these and call them a serious audio dealer. This falls under 'eye gouging'. They can defend it any way they want, but I think it's disgusting and absolutely dishonest.

 

[eljr]

FWIW Audioquest's margins are very high just like monster.

I can get a $99 Audioquest cable for around $10-20 (IIRC) with an employee discount. I'd say that's a pretty good margin.

with all respect, the price you get a product for with an employee discount is in no way evidence of anything except the companies employees discounting policy

 

[panteragstk]

with all respect, the price you get a product for with an employee discount is in no way evidence of anything except the companies employees discounting policy

Sure it is. Depending on the company the employee discounted price is still above what the company paid for the product. Sometimes it's exactly what the company paid and in the most rare case it is cost minus 10%.

Either way it shows how much markup there is as well as how much the cable in question actually costs to make.

Heck, on our terminals it told us exactly how much cost was on every product we rang up.

 

[Pogre]

Whether the low end cables of any audiophool cable company, whether that is Audioquest, Kimbre Kable, MIT, etc are actually decent if discounted enough, that doesn't alleviate their overall damage to the market with their bullshit with the "higher end" cables catering to those with less brains than money.

I completely agree. Their marketing tactics take advantage of our susceptibility to placebo. They muddy the waters with hocus pocus and audiophoolery. I've no doubt the golden eared folks who buy into this audiophoolishness can hear a difference, even if it is imagined, though in objective testing there has been no correlation of these subjective claims.

Not gonna lie, it does make my blood boil a little when a company peddles their wares under the guise of science with technical language and fluffy superlatives to dupe those who fall for it. I could easily have gotten sucked into it myself had I not done some research. They're very convincing to the uninitiated. I mean, isn't that outright lying to the consumer?

I will never, ever suggest to anyone they buy cables from companies that claim to defy the laws of physics with their magic audiophool cables. Not even if they're competently built and reasonably priced "entry level" cables. It just opens the door to their mumbo jumbo bs and then they try to convince you to spend a few grand on a cheap piece of wire that probably costs less than $10 to make.

 

[eljr]

Sure it is.

with all respect, I was not debating you, I was telling you.

Your thought process is no more than a logical fallacy.

Sure it is.Depending on the company the employee discounted price is still above what the company paid for the product.

This is wholly untrue as pointed out by another poster in the thread.

Sometimes it's exactly what the company paid and in the most rare case it is cost minus 10%.

What on earth do you base this on? and when you say company, which company? The manufacturer, the wholesaler, the retailer?

Either way it shows how much markup there is as well as how much the cable in question actually costs to make.

I am speechless. How does an employee discount show the cost of production?

Heck, on our terminals it told us exactly how much cost was on every product we rang up.

I get the feeling you are basing these comments based on your personal, likely limited experience working in retail. Am I correct.

----------------------


Here is something I don't get. When the audiophools, as this site refers to music enthusiasts, make statements that are fallacies, all erupt. Fair enough.

yet they never call out others out of audio for the same sins.

Irony, no?

Or limited understanding?

---------------------------------

Please understand, there is simply no direct correlation between employee discounts and cost of goods sold. I am not kidding, I am not debating.


Employee discounts are different in every company with cost of goods not the only consideration when setting discount policy.

 

[eljr]

Not gonna lie, it does make my blood boil a little when a company peddles their wares under the guise of science with technical language and fluffy superlatives to dupe those who fall for it.

fair enough however I do have to ask,

what other industries upset you the same and do you challenge them with the same disdain on message boards ?

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Meh, Audioquest's less expensive cables merely provide a means to upsell, a way for a salesman to segue into "What you really need is...." Clearly, Audioquest's focus is not on quality cables at reasonable prices. And capacitance and inductance are only a problem when a maker introduces marketing gimmicks to try to address them -- e.g. Polk Audio's Cobra Cable.

Here are a few gems from the Audioquest website:






It's. Wire. It carries electrical current. As long as the gauge is sufficient for the length and it's properly shielded, it's not that hard to pull off a successful connection. As for solder vs. stamped or welded, the current travels such a short distance that whatever resistance introduced by the solder is negligible. And how many solder points are in the equipment the customer is patching in, anyway? No, I will never recommend even their least expensive cables due to their spurious claims and outrageous marketing tactics. I will oppose them at every opportunity.

For a sub cable, I really enjoy my KabelDirekt cables. $14 for 25 feet is pretty reasonable for a well-made, beautifully finished cable. And it satisfies my OCD by splitting mono signal into L+R (even though I know the amp would've summed a single wire for zero difference anyway).

But I certainly will not fault you at all for building your own cables. I admire a well-executed DIY project, and that microphone cord looks pretty quality.

All I can say is nobody can take advantage of you without your permission. No-one can "upsell" you without your active participation. Just buy the cheapest Audioquest® cable, if that's what you want, already, and walk out of the store. If that is too much for you, well, I don't have anything to offer for advice.

What is a Duramax®? What is Coca-Cola®? What is meant by "Let's get ready to rumble?"(™)? Companies use unique names, terms, even sounds (the NBC signature sound, the Tarzan yell, the two notes plus jail cell door closing that signifies the TV show Law and Order, are all trademarked sounds) to differentiate themselves from others in the market. What is a High Definition® amplifier, exactly, and why can only Audio Research® use it on or to describe an audio product? Surely Audioquest® can do the same by using unique names for the features that others incorporate into an audio cable. And they do.

What about "OHNO Continuous Cast Copper", aka "OCC"? Well, it's not trademarked anywhere; anyone can claim to use this form of copper (even if it's not actually OCC). So why would Audioquest, who want to differentiate themselves from others, use it?

What about the cosmetics your girlfriends buy? Talk about an industry neck-deep in Snake Oil. But so what?

This is all basic, and I mean very basic, consumer education. Learn it or spend a lot of money until you do..

It's irrelevant if someone buys battery-powered cables, just as it's irrelevant if someone buys a miliion dollar McLaren®. If you won't buy either, what do you care?

You can rant and rave about the products in the marketplace until you are speechless, but it won't change a thing. Consumers need to educate themselves, and there are thousands ... probably millions ... of companies actively trying to part you and your money.

That does not change the fact that an inexpensive Audioquest cable is perfectly suited for the job it's designed to perform. The mere existence of expensive offerings in the catalog doesn't change that, and is a clear attempt to cloud the OP's question. Nor does it obligate you to buy a high-dollar cable to satisfy a simple task.