Pure sound at a Pentagon price:

"If you thought Monster Cable was bad with its $80 HDMI cables, check out these Pear Anjou Speaker Cables, ringing up the cash register at an astonishing $7,250 for a couple of 12-footers.

If you're the trusting type, you might not want to read this press release from Pear Cable:

Newton, Mass. - September 21, 2007 - Pear Cable Corporation, a manufacturer of high fidelity audio cables for both home and car environments, continues to redefine the limits of what is possible in high-end audio cable design. The glowing review of Pear Cable's new ANJOU Speaker Cable, bolsters the argument for describing the cable as one of the world's best.

Dave Clark, Editor of audio review publication Positive Feedback Online describes the ANJOU performance as being "... way better than anything I have heard..." He goes on to say, "Simply put these are very danceable cables. Music playing through them results in the proverbial foot-tapping scene with the need or desire to get up and move. Great swing and pace--these cables smack that right on the nose big time."

The ANJOU Speaker Cable represents the introduction of a completely new hybrid cable geometry developed by Pear Cable. Drawing upon the best characteristics of several more common cable geometries, the resulting hybrid design minimizes the sonic impact of the cable.

Annica Kjellberg, President of Pear Cable said, "We are extremely pleased that the unique geometry we developed for this cable is getting the attention we think it deserves. The numbers say that it is better, but it is critical to validate numbers with the human ear. This review further solidifies the ANJOU Speaker Cable as a class leading design."

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/speaker-cables/7250-speaker-cables-turn-you-into-a-da ncin-fool-302478.php

Think $7,250 is steep? How about a million to prove the cables are a spiritual experience?

"Pointing out the absurd review by audiophile Dave Clark, who called the cables "danceable," James Randi called it "hilarious and preposterous." He added that if the cables could do what their makers claimed, "they would be paranormal."

While Pear rattles on about "capacitance," "inductance," "skin effect," "mechanical integrity" and "radio frequency interface," - all real qualities and concerns, and adored by the hi-fi nut-cases - we naively believe that a product should be judged by its actual performance, not by qualities that can only be perceived by attentive dogs or by hi-tech instrumentation."

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/calling-bullshit/james-randi-offers-1-million-if-audi ophiles-can-prove-7250-speaker-cables-are-better-305549.php

At 100db it all sounds good to me with the $5.00 speaker wire I used. Got an old silver pioneer stereo and that wire feeds into a really great pair of EPI speakers!

Considering my cat keeps eating my speaker cables, it would be awfully expensive cat food. She doesnt eat power cables, maybe if i wired an old speaker cable to 110, I no longer would have a cat problem. PS the wife adores the cat, so I have to be very careful.

"At 100db it all sounds good to me with the $5.00 speaker wire I used. Got an old silver pioneer stereo and that wire feeds into a really great pair of EPI speakers!"

Yup! Only in my case my speaks are a pair of modded Cerwin Vega's, but the effect is still the same. Who--by any means of logic--would actually spend $7,000 for 12 feet of speaker wire? The salvaged 12 feet of 6-ga. lamp cord I am using works perfectly for me!

This is similar to the whole bottled water issue, I think. You know what "Evian" spelled backwards is?

M'kay.

Oh yes, in re: Monster Cables~

CAVEAT EMPTOR!! I learned my lesson the hard way about four years ago when I purchased a $35 RCA-plug left/right channel Monster Cable for my turntable. Little known fact: the covers on the connectors of those cables can be UNSCREWED!! Yes, with about thirty seconds' worth of effort you can open the connector up and see the connections inside. This revealed a cable with merely the same ~18ga. wire conductor inside, such as I often find packed stock with stereo components, only bulked up with extra insulation to make it appear you are getting more.

A quick trip across town and refund later, and Radio Shack suddenly found itself to be out almost $40 (after tax) and having a complaint filed with its corporate H.Q. in the matter of deception. Then I found myself connecting my turntable with the generic audio cabling that I got free in the box with my most recent VCR.

Moral of the story? Buyer beware!

Most of the discussion on the forums heavy into audio is that the expensive cables don't make any difference, or at least not enough to be noticed. They are primarily a way for high end audio shops to pad the bill when selling a well financed, but unknowledgeable individual.

Remember the old saying: By the time you can afford high quality audio, you can't hear it.

"Remember the old saying: By the time you can afford high quality audio, you can't hear it."

Question:

I purchased my Vega's (Prostax PSX153's, see also http://cerwinvega.com/manuals/pro/CV%20Prostax_Manual.pdf, mine were patched around the oddball Neutrik/RCA connectors to accept regular speaker wire) used from a neighbour in 2005 for $50, to replace a pair of Criterions the foam suspension had practically rotted away on. (The Criterions were my dad's speaks he had since the early 1980s, and became my first *real* speakers in 1999 when he got his new Pioneers.) Would that old adage count in the matter of used high-end speaks purchased for $50?

If I can hear it or not~
When compared to the old Criterions, definately.......

This is absolutely true.

The electrical impact of the cables is very small --even for the cheap ones. It's not the kind of thing even the best ears can really discriminate.

"sonic impact of the cable" is complete and utter BS.

There is a strong case to be made for shielded cables, but only where noise is actually a factor. Most all home environments are not this kind of environment.

The biggest impact really comes from the gauge of the wire. The really tiny cables do impact the impedance of the circuit. For some gear, this could make a difference. --maybe a significant one.

However, it does not take really expensive cabling to address this problem --only the right material in the wire.

True enough about not hearing it. Most people my age have lost a ton. My own frequency response is actually pretty great @ 19Khz. Dynamic range has dropped somewhat, as has ability to discriminate fine detail.

I've been anal about hearing too. The average adult, who has not been careful, really is beneath most of this stuff.

IMHO, the rise of more noisy urban environments, plus a lot of really crappy headphones / earbuds have left us with a whole generation of people, who just really are not gonna care much about audio.

That's why the gear keeps looking cooler and cooler. No other significant differentiation is possible / practical.

Some people with lots of money, like to pretend these make a difference.

What you got here? A wire, an insulator and a couple of conectors, it could be made of solid gold, and wouldnt be worth that much.

I know some radar sets that use gold plated connectors, and they don't cost that much.