[Red Dragon Audio]

Evil.

What a good little face.

anyway, Bruce is quite right that things have gotten out of hand.   But if they are willing to shell out the big bucks for fancy looking cables with wild technologies behind it so be it.  

Why would someone spend $300k on a ferrari when they can drop $33k on an EVO viii or STI and get 95% of the performance?  LOOKS/status.

Why would someone spend $40k for a diamond ring when they can spend $4k and get a Moissanite from me which will get more compliments because it's better.  STATUS.

Why would someone spend $40k on Transparent Speakers cables when they could spend $400 and get awesome cables?  LOOKS/STATUS.

Personally I don't care if folks are going to spend $40k on speaker cables, $75k on a turntable and $300k on speakers with $350k amps.  Hell keep up the spending.  It does in fact allow these companies to further their R&D which in turn will trickle down the line of equipment.


I have heard $40k speakers I would consider if I were rich though Bruce....I would just wait for them to come up used on audiogon for $15k and snag them...maybe.

What was this post about?


 

[satfrat]

What was this post about?

    Ohhh, about a year 7 a half old cable review from the evil one himself,,,,,,,, PEZ!      Regards, Robin

[nathanm]

If you actually need to TELL someone what you spent on something in order for them to think you're cool (and consequentially envy you) you are probably wasting your money.  If the fact that you spent a lot of money on something is SELF EVIDENT then you're in the clear!    That is why you should spend your money on cool, sprawlingly large turntables with lots of external belts and motors and vaccuum pumps going every which way.  That will get you tons 'o chicks, not cables!  

[Jay S]

I don't agree with all the examples of status-related spending.  Sure, expensive cars aren't necessarily much faster than cheaper cars, but sometimes the driving experience can be very different.. and I don't mean status.  The aural and tacticle sensations (via steering wheel, pedals, plus general handling cues and sensations transmitted by the chassis during hard driving) as well as the quality of material can be significantly upgraded.  If you aren't driving on a track to minimize lap times, the extra $$ isn't really worth it but you need to expect to pay a premium for driving enjoyment.  And, yes, I've driven cars with a wide range of prices.

[brucegel]

Nice little brainwashed consumers...isn't there something more important to think about like how gigantically ignorant we have all become?

[srclose]

There is little question that there is some association and a significant association between quality and cost.  Whether sewing machines, cars, wine, computers, watches, televisions, furniture and so on.  Make a BMW M5 for the same cost as a Neon.  Make a Bernina for the same cost as a Singer.  Make an Athlon 64 and Radeon X800 for the same cost as a Duron and STB 4400.  Make a Thos. Moser chair for the same cost as a Kincaid.  That doesn't mean that you can guarantee quality by spending money.  You can spend just as much on a commercial Kitchenaid range as a Wolf range, but that doesn't mean you purchased the same quality.  Throwing away money is not that difficult.  Just because you can spend ridiculous amounts of money for junk does not mean that spending a lot of money for something is necessarily foolish.  The question is one of value, the cost/benefit ratio.  And that involves how much an individual is willing to spend to attain a certain level of benefit.  So assuming that you have been able to sort through which items are actually worth the additional cost, then the question is how much can you afford to spend and how much is the marginal increase in quality worth to you.  If I had $500,000 to spend on a stereo, and a $5,000 cable was 10% better than a $1,000 cable, then that might be worth it to me.  Should it be?  Who knows?  I won't be confronted with that particular question.  Is it inherently wrong for someone to spend that much money on a cable?  Not for me to decide.  If that $5000 cable was inferior to a $500 cable then that was a waste.  Poor research/buyer effort, limited access to objective information, and/or vendor misrepresentation?  Caveat emptor.  I'm not criticizing someone for paying $30 for a Cuban cigar rather than $3 for a Roi Tan.  I'd hate to think someone spent $30 for a Roi Tan, because they were trying to buy a great cigar.  No sympathy for someone who paid $30 for a Roi Tan because they thought it was cool and would make others envious.

[brucegel]

WELL SAID...Heres the unfortunate truth however.Virtually no one has the time to waste on comparisons of various components and without sounding too paranoid the industry has created too many choices at every price point to weed out winners and losers and if you think that magazine reviews and reviewers are paid to do that for you I gots terrible news for you brothers and sisters.It really is a babel of towers and nobody gets out alive.We are living in a horrible time of capitalist decrepitude and I will not embalm myself with the difference between thos.moser spindle rockers and home depot plastic doppelgangers.I don't need a 30.00 cigar to feel good about the long and winding road to this very moment of breath taking I managed to traverse nor will a 12,000 dollar cable do that.My family still loves me with kondo amps or bose radio just the same.The parseing of this and that material thing by its perceived value is just where the babble tower wants you to be...going round and round that mulberry bush hallucinating all the live long day.You must admit the bleakness before you can work to mitigate its power on you.One more thing before I go out to dinner with my wife and spend 250.00...just kidding,No one has done an analysis of how many people are spending millions of dollars via the web on audio gear based solely on others opinions as opposed to actually hearing for themselves...I actually don't want to know as it would be too horrifying.Have a pleasant night one and all.

[tom1356]

Make a Thos. Moser chair for the same cost as a Kincaid.  

I have a full Thos. Moser diningroom set. Guests love it but don't want to pay the price. It would be nice to be able to reccomend a substitute. How much cheaper is the Kincaid?
By the way if you like fine furniture get ahold of one of Moser's catalogues. Lots to look at.

[Gordy]

Have you given the new Bottleheads a try?  They are relatively inexpensive with silky highs and a truly tight bass...  

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/cable/bottleheadcable.htm

[srclose]

[/quote]By the way if you like fine furniture get ahold of one of Moser's catalogues. Lots to look at.[/quote]

Unfortunately I have a catalogue, but none of their furniture.  Great looking stuff.  Wish we had a bunch of it.  The Kincaid line is very broad as I remember and a lot less than Moser.

[dado5]

[/quote]I don't agree with all the examples of status-related spending. Sure, expensive cars aren't necessarily much faster than cheaper cars, but sometimes the driving experience can be very different.. and I don't mean status.

Dude, you could not be more correct.  I had the privalage of driving both a Subaru WRX(it had a different name in Ireland) and a Honda (accura) NSX back to back when I was in Dublin a few years ago. Both cars had nearly identical off the line acceleration specs (5 1/2 seconds or so to 60mph) but the difference behind the wheel was night and day.  Overall the WRX felt cheap and ragged compared to the Honda. Specifically, there was a feeling of being on the edge of a 180 spinout at the take off  with the Subaru while the NSX was sticky as road tar in August.  Simply no contest.  And this does not even touch on clutch/shift perfomance, steering feel, engine sound feedback or anything else. The Subaru simply looked, felt and sounded like a pretender next to the Honda. To be fair, the Subaru was a 2001 model (brand new at the time) and the Honda was a 94 with 32,000 on it.  I am sure the Subaru would have smoothed out a bit after 10 or 15K, bit still I doubt this would have made a great difference.


Just my experience-

Rob[/quote]