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November 23, 2008 - 2:10pm
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Where is a good place to buy audio cables
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How about a dealership that will allow you an audition before you part with your money?
Yeah- I will buy cables and the like without hearing them ONLY if I already have a number of similar products from the same company, or if it's so cheap I won't be too put out if I don't like it. Bottom line is but with your ears first.
http://www.usedcable.com/
If you've purchased a lot of you equipment from the same dealer it only makes sense to talk to them about cables too because obviously they are familiar with the electronics and what might work well with that equipment.
I agree. I have bought stuff from them and they are very good. Their parent The Cable Store also has a good selection of new cable.
If you're looking for inexpensive cables that have good reputations try anticables and bluejeans cable (both available online).
however do keep in mind that cables might be the major profit center for a high end store.
The mark up is generally much higher than other gear so look for steep discounts.
X2 on the bluejeans and anti cable.
I replaced 3,000 speaker cable with 100.00 anti cable and never looked back.
Offer some proof please and define "much higher".
Although I'm an inexpensive-cable kind of guy(mostly - I'm always open to being persuaded), I've got to agree with what Jan is implying. That is, cables probably aren't marked up at a higher percentage on the retail level than other items. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some incidence of this, but as a general rule I doubt it. Otherwise, another cable store could lower the price and still make a profit, unless you're asserting unfair trade practices by retailers.
That said, retailers make more money when the customer buys more expensive stuff. That is, if the mark-up on everything in the store is %50, the store makes more when it sells a $1,000 item than when it sells a $100 item. Unless the markup on the high dollar cables is significantly lower, they'll make more money selling them to you.
But stores always have an incentive to sell you more expensive stuff -- this isn't unique to cables. So you could make this argument (that a retailer wants to sell you a more expensive X, because they'll make more money) for anything.
According to Robert Harley
Very often, a cable manufacturer's lower-priced products are very nearly as good as their most expensive models. The company prices their top-line products to foster the impression of being "high-end," yet relies on its lower-priced models for the bulk of its sales. When shopping for loudspeaker cables and interconnects, listen to a manufacturer's lower line in your system-even if you have a large cable budget. You may be pleasantly surprised.
http://www.hifirotation.com
Offer some proof to support this statement please. This is Harley writing this? I'm afraid this sounds like conjecture. Are you, or he, saying the low end cables from a company such as Nordost or Cardas don't suggest "high end"?
That is a direct quote from Harley's book on High-end audio systems and I certainly trust his knowledge to make this statement. There is no reason to pay an arm and a leg for cables but if it makes some people feel good well you know what PT Barnum said...
I cannot speak to audio, but I was a purchaser for a large computer reseller and the markup on cables was WAY higher than on PC's or other major gear. We would take a $2 cable and charge $12. On a PC we might get 5%
That sounds about right. All businesses have some items that have a higher markup - e.g., drinks/wine in restaurants. Lots of labor/skill goes into the food, but the margin there is lower than in the wine - typically marked up 300-400% in restaurants.
I guess it's too obvious to mention Audiogon, duh? I bought my Audio Tekne cables from 'Gon, and am very happy with them.
I bought my Cardas cables from a Cardas dealer because I wanted to fit them with BFA termination, which I prefer over other connectors & for which Cardas doesn't charge extra... so the cables came directly from Cardas.
As for lower priced cables sounding almost as good as the higher-priced ones? I haven't heard top-of-the-line Cardas, but I have the Quadlinks, and they're pretty fantastic for the money. BTW: I can definitely hear the difference between these and the Twinlinks, which are one or two rungs down on the Cardas ladder, so I can only imagine the difference between the lower price Cardas wire and the higher priced ones to be substantial. I'm sure there's a price-performance sweetspot for many manufacturers, the value leaders, and I guess Harley is talking about those...