I predict that the $21k recommendation will be scrapped and a new recommendation in the $3-7k range will take its place. Something that actually has a more realistic chance to be added to the shopping cart by BHK purchasers.
Triple Crown Speaker Cable (Pair)
MAP Pricing (Guaranteed lowest advertised price)
[Frequent Flyer Program](javascript:void(0)
does not apply.
Starting from :
$65,000.00
Length
Amp End
Speaker End
Price with selection:
$89,000
I went to The Cable Co and sorted speaker cable by “most likely to make me giggle”. Oh, and this is for 3 meters. Optional lengths available at… you guessed it…
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Siltech “Royal” series are crazy expensive. I use Siltech 770, 550, and 330 in my system except for some power cables. Expensive but manageable compared to the Royals.
OMG!!!
How dare PS Audio make preamps that have synergy with their poweramps!
How dare PS Audio recommend and sell cables by AudioQuest that have good synergy with their products!
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For those that mentioned the cables costing more than the BHK line…
I have a theory that those cables will be recommended for a new line they are working on which includes the hi-end Ted Smith DAC (can’t remember the name) and whatever other next level components they release. The BHK line will become their mid-range line, stellar will remain the entry level line and there will be a new hi-end line starting at $20k and going up from there. Those are the components where the higher cost cables will be recommended. The mid-level recommendation will apply to BHK and the entry level cable recommendations will stick with stellar.
Just my thoughts.
Interesting. I can see the future sales pitch now to those who buy BHK with suggested cables today or before release of ____.
“It’s a relatively painless upgrade, you already have the most expensive items, the cables – now you just need the components!”
(tongue in cheek)
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I cannot speak about cost to performance ratio, but with everything in life, there’s ALWAYS diminishing returns the more you spend.
One thing that has impressed me about AQ was their products actually make improvements to sound, and their demos are real and improvements noticable. I’ve heard that at CES, AXPONA, and my delaer when they had a demo, and at home. Meaning their products WORK as advertised, but how much value is given to each is another story. That’s in contrast to companies like Synergetic Research where they sell you super expensive stuff that doesn’t make difference in sound, and their demos are all fake, and many other companies like that come to mind.
So, AQ does make good stuff, but I would never pay the premium for their highest end products, the best value proposition is in the middle of the pack.
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In general, middle of the road always tends to be best cost for value. The higher up you get the more you’re you’re paying for marginal improvement. It just depends whether that improvement is worth the cost to you. For me it is, but there’s always a limitation placed on me by my wallet. LOL
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To your point, Shunyata almost always recommend their second or third tier products as possibly the customer’s best value point in their line. So does Pass Labs.
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Agreed. I think at the higher end of cables, more money is spent on cable jewelry than thinking about sound quality.
I think that as you go up in a series of cables, for ex., one must have a system that has the sensitivity to understand and process the additional information coming from that cable.
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Good video regarding cable, materials, construction, etc…
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Same with Kimber
Informative and enjoyable video.
I guess there’s no point in jumping into the fray about cable difference when it’s been covered so many times everywhere else, but I imagine you won’t see any official specs here about inductance, resistance and capacitance, because AudioQuest won’t supply the specs nor allow any outside specs to be posted. PS Audio didn’t post specs on their cables, so I wouldn’t think there would be any change to that policy. Companies who post the specs on their products WANT you to know that their products test well, and others who resist any comparisons with similar products are doing it for a reason.
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Reminds me of, when I walk into a car dealership, one of the first questions I’m asked is “How much do you want to spend?”, which is a fair question, but one of the next questions is “How much do you want your monthly car payment to be?”, which is NOT relevant. The amount I can afford to spend each month has nothing to do with the value of the car I’m thinking of buying. Likewise, the size of your wallet shouldn’t determine the amount of money you spend on a cable, only the ability of the cable to transfer an unadulterated signal from here to there. The idea that an extremely expensive cable does something more than that is just preposterous.
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Thanks for sharing.
So glad to see you point this out. At Iconoclast we provide complete specifications and a “test certificate” showing exact LRC values with every cable we ship, regardless of type. There should be nothing to hide and we believe than an informed customer is the best customer.
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Good stuff! You’ve been on my list to try.
I think the main reason why cable manufacturers don’t publish specifications or testing results is because their entire line would test the same, or at least similar enough to be negligible, across a large enough sampling. That doesn’t mean the cables won’t sound different. We all know that what the tests tell you doesn’t equate to what you hear. So, again, it comes down to educating the customer and that education is generally in the form of marketing.
From cable manufactures I see 3 primary marketing formulas:
- Publish specs, specs are king. (hail science!)
- Convince customer the cable will make their system sound the way they always dreamed it was supposed to. (the, we’ll fix your system with this cable attitude)
- Convince the customer that what they have is crap. Doesn’t matter what they have, even our own brand, its crap until you get to the top of our product range. (the bullying method)
There are a couple manufactures who are able to achieve both 1 & 2. It’s rare to see a cable manufacturer use 3 but, of those that do, they generally have the largest distribution networks.
Anyway, that’s my opinion on the matter. It’s fitting this whole discussion started ramping up as I’m about to replace my interconnects (going balanced) and speaker cable (much shorter runs). It would certainly be nice to have a sample box of stuff for testing. But, that appears to only be possible if you make it your full time job. I just don’t have the time to try and source from each manufacturer and then trying to coordinate arrival all at the same time.
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