On a recent visit to Barnes & Noble, I made the mistake of picking
up a magazine dedicated to serious audiophiles. The technology on
display was amazing. The stereos were sleek and sophisticated. The
speakers were simply incredible. Then I came across an advertisement
for stereo cable. It was almost $2000 per meter of cable. Wow!
To me, a premium cable is a $4 Monster cable from a thrift store. Most
of my cables are entry-level premium cables that I got for $1.01 to
$2.92 at Goodwill. I also have one cable that I paid $12 or $14 for a
Best Buy. To my untrained ear, my stereo sounds great. And, my ear can
remain untrained if training my ear leads down the path to $2000 stereo
cables. It just goes to show that there is no limit to what some
wealthy audiophiles will spend. The rest of us can only hope that the
technology trickles down to mainstream consumer systems at attainable
price points.
I don't want my humble system to sound crappy, but I'm also not going to
venture far from waters inhabited by mainstream consumers. The stereo,
speaker, and consumer electronics companies can meet me at the shallow
end of the pool with systems that cost less than $1000 new for a
complete stereo. They also need to convince me that I need anything
more than my current late 80s/early 90s vintage system that cost less
than $200 total.
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