$16,600 on cabling...is that a joke?

[Sleestack]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. When you have the extra cash to burn, it just seems "right" to spend more on cables when you're spending upwards of $30k+ on the other stuff in your system.

I'm not sure about "right," but definitely not wrong. I have to admit, it was a bit of an after thought for me. I had just spent $40K on my 2 channel setup, so spending a few more thousand on cables was no big deal. Much like buying my Billy Bag's equipment racks rather than getting a fully functional rack for $299. I don't believe the Billy Bags materials are going to give me sonic improvements, but they sure look nice and "match" the rest of my system.

On the flipside, I think it is great that people who don't want to spend a lot can get the same performance at a fraction of the cost. Not everyone has or should have the same priorities.

 

[Audiosouse]

Tough to say just where "conspicuous consumption" goes from a pleasant bit of self indulgence to ridiculous frippery. A fuzzy line, but I think the famous dictum about pornography (hard to define, but you know it when you see it) fits!

Now, a Ferrari (since it was brought up) is to my mind a perfectly reasonable bit of self indulgence that I'd treat myself to if only the Universe had seen fit to reward me as I deserved. Sure, my Subaru WRX may perform up to what were recently supercar standards in many respects...but it doesn't have Pininfarina design. Or that 12 cylinder sound. Or those other intangibles that separate the great cars from the merely very good. On the other hand, a lot of the megabuck high end audio gear (not just the cables) strikes me as the equivalent of a gold-plated Ferrari with silver wiring and platinum pistons - ridiculous frippery that does nothing to improve the car and might even degrade it's performance.

What gets me is that the Audiogoners and Audio Asylum inmates seem to genuinely think that all the "gold plating" does make a difference in audio. If they said, "oh, I just think the $2k cables and $80k amp looked cool and I felt like it" it would be one thing. But no! We get the guff about "microdiodes" and "break in" and "midrange liquidity".

Paradoxically, I doubt that they would laugh at the idea that silver spark plug wires and platinum pistons* would improve a Ferrari's 0 to 100Km/h or lap times. What is it about audio that brings out the credulity in some people?

Another thing: except for members of the Lucky Sperm Club, a lot of these folks had to earn their piles 'o' cash the old fashioned way, often in careers that presumably require the regular exercise of logic and critical thinking. Makes you wonder...

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*Yeah, yeah, I know about lightweight forged pistons...gimme a break!

Nice post...it's like you go into my head and Rip out thoughts I'm unable to write so eloquently.

Some of us fantasize about a Subaru WRX!...the universe had seen fit to kick me in the nut sack. It's all relative...Besides, a fancy ride loses it's luster when slogging through two hours of traffic at $1/litre behind a dump truck full of river rock.

Ferrari is for poseurs...Porsche is for drivers! Ever see a Prancing Hoarse with 160,000 Km on the odometer? Me neither. A buddy had a 996 that just wouldn't break. He was afraid to drive his 355 Spyder because high mileage (5,000 Km in a Ferrari) kills the resale and his E46 M3 left him stranded on more than one occasion. He was a Golden Sperm member...that $^@%&*@$$#*!&...I'm not bitter about it though.

 

[Sleestack]

Ferrari is for poseurs...Porsche is for drivers! Ever see a Prancing Hoarse with 160,000 Km on the odometer? Me neither. A buddy had a 996 that just wouldn't break. He was afraid to drive his 355 Spyder because high mileage (5,000 Km in a Ferrari) kills the resale and his E46 M3 left him stranded on more than one occasion. He was a Golden Sperm member...that $^@%&*@$$#*!&...I'm not bitter about it though.

Ferrari for poseurs? C'mon now. I know quite a few people who use their 550s and 360s for daily drivers. Some of them are also dedicated track hounds and professional drivers. Also, if you have been in a 360 Stradale, I would have a hard time saying that are was built for anyone except a true performance lover.

 

[Audiosouse]

Ferrari for poseurs? C'mon now. I know quite a few people who use their 550s and 360s for daily drivers. Some of them are also dedicated track hounds and professional drivers. Also, if you have been in a 360 Stradale, I would have a hard time saying that are was built for anyone except a true performance lover.

Granted the track is their intended purpose, daily driver's they are not. The mileage I've seen on most is proof they end up sitting in a garage as a showpiece or relegated to the boulevard grand prix. It's like locking a greyhound in a kennel! A shame if you ask me.

Porsche drivers, on the other hand, take their cars to work through traffic, then flog them through the twisties on the way to the race track. All purpose sports cars are they. And I believe the mileage they incure is a reflection of their true greatness as such. How many engine rebuilds and brake packages would a 4RE go through before a Porsche needs even one? Three...four...

 

[Sleestack]

Granted the track is their intended purpose, daily driver's they are not. The mileage I've seen on most is proof they end up sitting in a garage as a showpiece or relegated to the boulevard grand prix. It's like locking a greyhound in a kennel! A shame if you ask me.

Porsche drivers, on the other hand, take their cars to work through traffic, then flog them through the twisties on the way to the race track. All purpose sports cars are they. And I believe the mileage they incure is a reflection of their true greatness as such. How many engine rebuilds and brake packages would a 4RE go through before a Porsche needs even one? Three...four...

I think you just don't know enough Ferrari drivers. My friend uses his 550 every day and even keeps a bike rack on the roof!! He has 105,000 miles and rarely washes his car. The latest generation of Ferraris are very much trouble free and very reliable. That was not the case with pre 355 Ferraris.

I know just as many Porsches that are driven by housewives or men who can't drive. They pamper them and use them primarily to come to the country club. Furthermore, you have Porsche Cayennes blocking up evry space at the local Starbucks.

Ferrari has a deep and and storied racing legacy. There are certainly people who buy them just because they want a Ferrari, but there are also plenty of buyers who buy them because they understand how a blip of the throttle can make your heart race. Drive a 360 Stradale if you ever have the opportunity... then come back and tell me they were made for poseurs.

 

[mtrycrafts]

. The latest generation of Ferraris are very much trouble free and very reliable. .

Ah, they are made by Toyota now?

 

[bound4h]

What I find hilarious, is that the internal wiring of high-end speakers is 14-16AWG at best.

So from the drivers to the speaker terminals we have 16AWG speaker wire that costs about $.50 cents a mile, and then from the speaker terminals to the amp we have a set of $23,500 speaker wires that apparently makes the system "stand out" and "blow him out of the water".

Please explain to me how the speaker terminals themselves are able to amplify the quality that was lost by using the 16AWG internal wiring, and then even better, how these $23,500 speaker wires carried that "unbelievable sound" that "blew him out of the water".

I laugh. I laugh in the face financial squandering.

 

[Richard Black]

I quite agree, personally, that kind of amount of money is perfectly insane to spend on cabling for a domestic sound system. But then most of the contributors to this debate are evidently the kind of people whose idea of 'value' is in general based on functional qualities. I suspect most strongly that most of the purchasers of $20000 cables, apart from (obviously) being rich by most standards, fall more into the category of those who find a high price reassuring in itself, a self-certifying guarantee of some intangible kind of quality and, by implication, value. They really, really _want_ to spend a lot of money. All the cable vendors are doing is catering to that market. Frankly, many of said vendors are probably the same kind of person and in a sense believe their own sales pitch.

People spend money on all kinds of things. I've just spent two months working for an opera company run (and quite largely financed) by a rich opera-lover in the grounds of his house. He sinks tens of thousands of UK Pounds into it each year. Is that strictly logical? For the same outlay he could travel business class to any opera house in the world, as often as he wants, to see any opera he wants. But he's keeping people in work and spreading a little happiness.

 

[pikers]

You think it is bad Karma when it pertains to audio cables but not when it pertains to watches? If I recall correctly, you wear a Rolex. Given that you can get a fully functional watch that keeps better time than any Rolex for about $9.99, is it not bad Karma to be wearing a watch that could feed a family of 4 in Africa for 3 years? Stand on your pulpit if you want, but I don't see how your choice is any different.

Furthermore, as to bad Karma, I can't speak for anyone else, but I might spend a ridiculous amount on cables, but I also provide jobs for about 1000 people, donate to many different organizations and provide private educational grants. Whatever bad karma my cables, cars, watches, etc. are producing is somewhat balanced by other apsects of my life. I'm not Mother Theresa, but I'm not Kim Jong Il either.

Moral relativism. Why spend money on anything but bread and water, since everything else is just tasty fluff? Now we get into the issue of spending money on those who can't (won't) help themselves, because we're successful enough to not concern ourselves with our spending? Bark up another tree.

I know some subscribe to that belief (usually while telling everyone else they should give away their income), but it ain't me!