Part 3: How Much Should You Spend on Cables
and Interconnects?

At the top end of the scale, cable and interconnect pricing bears little relationship to the cost of designing and manufacturing the product. Unlike other audio products, whose retail prices are largely determined by the parts cost (the retail price is typically four to six times the cost of raw parts), cables and interconnects are sometimes priced according to what the market will bear. This trend began when one company set its prices vastly higher than everyone else's-and saw its sales skyrocket as a result. Other manufacturers then raised their prices so they wouldn't be perceived as being of lower quality. Although some very expensive cables and interconnects are worth the money, many cables are ridiculously overpriced.

The budget-conscious audiophile can, however, take advantage of this phenomenon. 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.

Because every system is different, it's impossible to generalize about what percentage of your overall system investment you should spend on cables and interconnects. Spending 5% of your system's cost on cables and interconnects would be an absolute minimum, with about 15% a maximum figure. If you choose the right cables and interconnects, they can be an excellent value. But poor cables on good components will give you poor sound and thus constitute false economy.

Again, I must stress that high cost doesn't guarantee that the cable is good or that it will work well in your system. Don't automatically assume that an expensive cable is better than a low-priced one. Listen to a wide variety of price levels and brands. Your efforts will often be rewarded with exactly the right cable for your system at a reasonable price.

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