At that level you need to complete with AudioQuest’s marketing arm. That alone is an intimidating challenge.
Apropos of nothing, on Sunday at AXPONA I was walking down the steps and saw William Low talking with Alan Taffel. I wanted to say hi to Bill and tell him how many of us like his Dragon cables, but it looked like he and AT were talking quietly with each other. Besides, IME AT can be a real diva sometimes. IME. 
Good morning all, good news.
POWER CORDS ARE BACK IN STOCK and available to order on the website.
Here is a recent review from Carl Hruza (www.audioresurgence.com) with a comparison between the Series I SPTPC and the Series II TPC speaker cables. Carl is very detailed and concise in his comparisons. In the end he clearly states that these cables might be the finest quality and best sounding cables he has ever experienced. We have more reviews on the way that I expect to be stellar.
Iconoclast Speaker Cable Review - Series 1 & 2 Iconoclast
Nice review! Congrats.
Out at the farm yesterday evening we had a momma turkey/hen show up with what I think is 8-new babies.
It has to be tough to watch over that many when everything out there wants to eat you! Images courtesy of a great Iconoclast customer, Mark Cuddeback. www.cuddeback.com
I’m not sure if everyone has seen Doug Schroeder’s latest review on the Series II speaker cables. Iconoclast and Galen’s designs continue to receive recognition as giant killers. He sings praises and value. Thank you Doug!!
Here’s what I was able to capture of Galen’s presentation at Axpona:
Master intro! I really hope Galen will some day give a Master Class for peeps with EE and other hard science degrees.
I have all of the above, and I just want to listen. Especially after a day like I had today.
As do I, and I was there for his master class. It made it very clear how many audiophiles are hard science challenged. Maybe explains why it’s so easy to use scientific buzz words to attract buyers in this hobby. Too many can’t distinguish the real thing (our friend Galen) from the fakirs.
all iconoclast?
have there been direct comparisons of the high-ender cables with these kind of data?
You will have to ask Galen about that, I’m just the builder monkey.
I don’t need Galen Gareis to prove to me that I’m scientifically challenged. I’m also allergic to scientific buzz-words, they completely turn me off and all the made up stuff. (Sorry PS Audio, things like “Air Gap” and “Digital Lens” don’t turn me on, but you are not alone.)
So I was looking to replace my XLR analogue interconnects and after reading a load of audiophile cable stuff my head started to hurt. They are basically microphone cables, so I looked at the pro audio press and discussion and the overall preference was for Canare L4E6S Star Quad cable with Neutrik Gold plated plugs. Mark Grant makes these to order and two pairs, 1m and 1.5m, will be here Friday. Total cost £105, about $130.
https://markgrantcables.co.uk/department/audio-cables/xlr-cables/
I did find one small but well known UK cable company that publishes its financials. Their cables are not hugely expensive and a chunk of their sales are to the pro market. It has an 80% gross profit margin. They sell mostly through distributors. Assuming the distributors add 50%, a $1,000 retail cable costs about $110 to manufacture, package and send out. Most of what you pay goes on marketing and administration. Seems to explain why such good value can be obtained from direct made to order from the likes of Mark Grant, Artisan Cables, Dr Sean Jacobs and various others.
Thank you Jeff, for the great job capturing, editing and getting Galen’s presentation up on this site. More audiophiles can see and learn from the “cable master” himself and understand why Iconoclast cables are a must try for anyone who wants a significant improvement in sound quality from their audio system.
These measurements can’t be escaped by any cable, and neither can a cable’s built-in short comings through analog frequencies.
How and where the measurements are changes are no different than speakers. All speakers are supposed to sound the “same” yes? But they don’t. Cable is no different and all cable will have a different voltage “experience” as superposition therom defines. If we shift the time base along the X-axis, the Y-axis voltage value has to change. All cable has time based X-axis shifts built-in. We can alter the amount and where with DESIGN.
Now we need to compare the “better” design to standard fair and see what we hear. Some networks will be impactad more than others based on the speaker’s reactive to resistive load, especially in the low frequencies, and the amps ability to drive reactive loads, the cable plus speaker.
The presentation isn’t about ICONOCLAST, but all cable’s and the physics the designer’s have to work with. Materials may change L, C and R at DC and across frequency (Rs) but it’s all in the spaghetti sauce. Don’t let the “magic” of materials fool you, it all obeys the same physics, just to a different curve across frequency.
That said, no, we don’t test competitors cable’s nor is their a reason to do so. Their cable can not change ours. Better for the customer to just ask why a cable is made the way it is, and see if the answer makes sense. Once you pick the materials, the main story is still the physics as described in my presentation.
The end product can be characterized to open-short impedance and Vp linearity and how this all might impact the analog voltage applied to your speaker terminals.
I’d give myself maybe a "B on the presentation. It’s hard to go from RF to DC and bring everyone along in 45 minutes, about 3 minutes a slide, I had 16 mains slides total. I made it in the 45 minute window but I’d like to be able to more clearly stop at each slide and collect the audience up to the same level of understanding. You need more time to get people to open-up and ask questions to define the gaps that I’ve left at each slide. The point is to educate, not get it done in 45 minutes.
I hope what we have gets it done MOSTLY, but please pass questions along so the gaps can get filled if I use the presentation again and I will, unless the physics changes! I can get anyone to understand this material, it is just a time issue! 45 minutes isn’t enough for everyone is all.
Best,
Galen
Nice job on the presentation Galen, and thanks again to Jeff for posting. Been away from this too long, RLC tank circuit sure brings back memories as does Galens reference to transmission line theory at RF frequencies. I do appreciate his honesty regarding cryo treatment for cables. His comments regarding matching cables to the source and load is spot on, especially with respect to reactive speakers.
The greater part of the cost of a cable appears to be the marketing used to persuade the customer that the way the cable is made will have positive sonic benefit. The only “sense” the manufacturer wants the customer to use is what they have repeatedly rammed into them using whatever marketing route they choose (which may be press, forums, shows, videos, whatever).
How can any aspect of design “make sense” to a customer who does not have anything close to the scientific knowledge to assess it? For example, how could I assess that a mains cable with 10mm conductors will perform better than one with 5mm conductors? Does it make any difference? Common sense might suggest it does, but science may say that 2.5mm is more than sufficient.
I have absolutely no doubt that many audiophiles spend more and more on cables because they think the high price offers some sort of security in quality or performance, and some companies exploit this insecurity by spending more on marketing than fabrication and packaging costs.
I don’t think there is an answer to this.
I think that the point of Galen’s discussion was to purposefully introduce science and engineering into a topic that is filled with buzz words and mumbo-jumbo. No point in watching if you are not interested. The value oriented approach to sales that you mention is what Blue Jeans Cable offers. Big dollar marketing is not a priority for them, clearly.