cable manufacturer conversation

[mboldda1]

if you had a chance to sit down over a couple of beers and have a conversation with a cable manufacturer what would be the one question you would ask him?

[dragan]

Depending largely on who they are, something along the line:
How do you sleep at night? Or..
How do you live with yourself?

So much for having a beer.... Oh well...

[mboldda1]

i did not start this thread to create debates or for fun.  the reason i ask is that i do reviews on cables and would like to get legit questions to the manufacturers that cable purchasers wanted answered.
i asked on some other forums and the thread was locked after a couple of smart answers.

[dragan]

i asked on some other forums and the thread was locked after a couple of smart answers.

Not surprised... Many people are pissed.. As you can see from other forums, cables are a touchy subject.

From the sonic standpoint, I value cables quite bit and know better then to say they're irrelevant,  but will never ever be able to swallow pricing of some. Know enough or nothing at all, pure science or snake oil, in my opinion, there simply is no justification. Thus the questions I posted. Don't you ever wonder?

This aside, here is what I'd ask:
How do they test? What are the electronics used? Do they do custom matching to your system? Burning-in make a difference? What determines the choice of termination? Ever try liquid shielding? Solder or not? Silver vs copper? Stranded vs solid core wire?

Many many more...

[topround]

I think most people know cables make a difference.
It is the pricing that will produce the most questions, most of us know what is involved and that paying those exorbitant prices may make some feel good but those in the  know feel bad.
I know there may be alot of research(playing with other manufacturuers cables) to come up with a combo that works, but most can't imagine paying as much as a component for a pair of cables, when someone went thru the trouble to design a piece of gear for the same or less.

In the wine world , it costs about $3 to produce and bottle wine(manytimes less!)I have  had great bottles of wine that cost $50 to $200. Are they worth it? Actually yes..to me. Did it cost that much to produce them.?  No!   But the market will determine the price. If no one bought that bottle, the price would drop..dramatically.
we determine the price of those cables

So I guess my question would be less how they came up with the cable,.... I quess I would have no questions,I already know the answer.
Play with cables..come up with a combo that works,..and charge a bundle..sounds simple to me.'
The hard part is coming up with a combo that works, and that must be worth something.
Let the market bear the true value, makes the most sense to me.

Mike

[hometheaterdoc]

I would argue the wine example a touch when it comes to smaller vineyards and how they do things on smaller parcels... the costs for low yield parcels can be a touch more than $3... 

but your point is well taken in regards to a lot of stuff I've seen in the cable world.

my question would be about metallurgy and why they settled on this mix?  Why did they settle on this design?  What kind of sound are they looking for?  What systems did they use to test their cables?

[BobM]

- What is different about their cables from their competitors?
- What is different from the bottom of the line to the top of the line?
- How do they justify their pricing? Why are their expensive cables so pricy (other than "because my competition prices at this level too")?

[mdconnelly]

I think you can ask qualitative questions all day long and never get answers that anyone will be comfortable with.  I'm with Shane, ask them quanititative questions about the components and construction of their cables and how they see those factors affecting the resulting sonics.   What does their cable have that differentiates it from the other hundreds of cables vendors out there. 

It might take a 2nd beer to get them to be sufficiently specific.  If the cable was truly engineered, the person should be able to provide a precise description on what they did and why they did it.

Hey, I can build a cable but it'll be based on the recipes of numerous others coupled with the cost of the materials and my time to do it.  But that's not engineering - that's a DIY hobby. (but I'll tell you all about it if you buy me a beer or 3) 

[richidoo]

I want to know, "What (exactly) is in that Alumiloy anyway?"

For any other brand the only thing that matters to me is, "Do you have a 30 day money back guarantee?"

Any other information is hyperbole. But the hyperbole is what draws me in, but I won't bite unless I can taste first.

[_Scotty_]

I am probably the odd man out here,I only have a couple of questions for any cable mfgr. Can you build a shielded cable that sounds like an unshielded cable and have you seen any correlation between the resistance an alloy has to the sound of a cable constructed out of it.Commonly available  gold copper alloys are 10 carat and 14carat gold. A higher gold content would drive the price straight up. Electrum is an alloy of gold and silver with a 20% to 40% silver content. I would ask them how these alloys differ in sound from pure gold and pure silver. Sterlng silver is the most common copper silver alloy being 92.5 % silver and 7.5% copper.
I guess I would also like to know if they have pulled the raw wire they use off the shelf as it were by using the commonly available alloys or if they paid to have non-standard alloy formulations made up for their applications.
Scotty

[Carlman]

I would ask how they test including methodology, equipment, and room.
Do you use 1 system/room or 2?  Why only 1?  Why did you choose the test equipment and room you did?

I don't expect an answer about the material used but I'd ask about the test scenario(s)...

[rollo]

 I would ask for their specs and what they mean related to the sound. Thats it the rest is in the performance.
  As for pricing. When the Gurus of Audio have ascertained that cabling should be 10% of system cost, they all jumped in. Ya know $100,000 system well needs $10,000 worth of cabling. The problem in a nut shell.


charles

[etcarroll]

For those with a range of product, what is the point of diminishing returns in their line, and why should the average consumer buy 'higher' than that point?

[JBryan]

I'd simply like to know why so many cables are offered without relevant specs (capacitance and resistance per ft/m would be an obvious start). Information that would make it much easier to match them up with an existing system. Also, please ask each interviewee to dispel at least one cable myth then we can put aside so many foggy concepts and have real cable arguments.