Speaker cable - How much should i spend

[lovinthehd]

$230 is bad but I got mine for $88 the pair at Audio Advisor with hand terminated banana plugs. And I don't think $24 for a well made set of interconnects is way out of line. That said I am in no way interested in moving up the cable chain.
Dave

You still got ripped off on the type 4 at $88 IMO. There is no "moving up the cable chain" with Audioquest except in price or goofy technology (like batteries or litz wires or whatever they put in those goofy boxes on the really silly wires).

 

[highfigh]

And that 10 footer may not reach.

It will if someone has a decent wire stretcher.

Just sayin'.

 

[highfigh]

You still got ripped off on the type 4 at $88 IMO. There is no "moving up the cable chain" with Audioquest except in price or goofy technology (like batteries or litz wires or whatever they put in those goofy boxes on the really silly wires).

Can't forget fancy packaging.

I did a system in 2006/2007 and the "logic" at the time was that the cost of the cabling amount to 10% of the system price, something I always questioned but many people were OK with. We discussed cables between the B&K preamp and Audio Research power amp for the KEF 107 speakers, so I took the recommendation of the rep at one of my suppliers, which I regretted as soon as I saw them. The box had to cost more than the cables and they had a list price of $400. They consisted of three braided wires- one white, one black and one green, no-name XLR ends with translucent white woven mesh over the wires. They made no improvement in the sound over the 25' Audio Technica mic cables I had been using and I offered to return them and get something more reasonable. The customer said "In the grand scheme of things, $400 isn't much".

There's no way in hell I could bring myself to sell AQ cables that retail for $1500 (6' HDMI), $4999 (6' unbalanced audio cable pair with 48VDC battery pack) or $6999 (6' unbalanced audio pair with 72VDC battery pack).

 

[Speedskater]

so I took the recommendation of the rep at one of my suppliers, which I regretted as soon as I saw them. The box had to cost more than the cables and they had a list price of $400. They consisted of three braided wires- one white, one black and one green, no-name XLR ends with translucent white woven mesh over the wires.

That's a darn poor design for a balanced interconnect cable. If anything, they could add noise & interference.

While a good balanced interconnect cable is a Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) made on a big expensive machine by a major bulk cable manufacture.

 

[davidscott]

You still got ripped off on the type 4 at $88 IMO. There is no "moving up the cable chain" with Audioquest except in price or goofy technology (like batteries or litz wires or whatever they put in those goofy boxes on the really silly wires).

Actually maybe since I didn't hear any difference from my Sewell Silverback 12 gauge cables. But they are well made and didn't cost that much more than the Silverbacks or the Cables To Go cables running my second pair of speakers. Anyway the entry level Audioquest interconnects did sound better than some old monster cables that they replaced but the monsters might have been damaged from multiple moves. So yeah I do sort of agree with you especially on the snake oil that is peddled by cable companies on their higher end stuff.
Dave

 

[highfigh]

That's a darn poor design for a balanced interconnect cable. If anything, they could add noise & interference.

While a good balanced interconnect cable is a Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) made on a big expensive machine by a major bulk cable manufacture.

I sometimes make my own, but I can buy cables using Belden cable and Neutrik ends for about $2 more than the cost of parts, so there's not much reason for me to DIY.

I unloaded on my rep after I got those POS. I might have made him cry.