"Arny Krueger" wrote in message ...
"Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com wrote in message

RT,

Found this very interesting article

I'm all for debunking nonsense, but in the guise of doing that I
spotted this howler:

"We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost."

Agreed, this doesn't belong in any factual discussion of audio gear. It
fails on two counts - one being that percentage breakdowns of system costs
are often bogus, secondly because paying $70 for cables in a $1000 system is
like paying about $50 too much.

In fact the interconnects that come with the components generally suffice,
and $20 worth of 12 gauge should suffice for most if not all systems, even
5.1 systems.

In my opinion $10 is the most one should spend on a normal length of
speaker cable, regardless of how much the rest of the system cost.

Agreed for a 2 channel system.

Actually genrleman
I think you are being a little unkind and selectively quoting.
If you read the entire article the says that 5-& % is the absolute
maximum and uses a phrase like "spend as little as is reuired to get
the job done"

He also goes on to say that there is nothing wrong with spending if
you want the aesthestics of a particular cable brand.

The overall feel of the article is the same as your own views. Maybe
the problem is the poor grammar and writing style.?

"Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com wrote in message

RT,

Found this very interesting article

I'm all for debunking nonsense, but in the guise of doing that I
spotted this howler:

"We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost."

Agreed, this doesn't belong in any factual discussion of audio gear. It
fails on two counts - one being that percentage breakdowns of system costs
are often bogus, secondly because paying $70 for cables in a $1000 system is
like paying about $50 too much.

In fact the interconnects that come with the components generally suffice,
and $20 worth of 12 gauge should suffice for most if not all systems, even
5.1 systems.

In my opinion $10 is the most one should spend on a normal length of
speaker cable, regardless of how much the rest of the system cost.

Agreed for a 2 channel system.

Ethan Winer wrote:

RT,

Found this very interesting article

I'm all for debunking nonsense, but in the guise of doing that I spotted
this howler:

"We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost."

In my opinion $10 is the most one should spend on a normal length of speaker
cable, regardless of how much the rest of the system cost.

Interesting eh? Same goes for the rest of the cables. The only reason
I can see for spending more on cables is if I need more of them, not
because I bought a more expensive receiver.

Ethan Winer wrote:

RT,

Found this very interesting article

I'm all for debunking nonsense, but in the guise of doing that I spotted
this howler:

"We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost."

In my opinion $10 is the most one should spend on a normal length of speaker
cable, regardless of how much the rest of the system cost.

Interesting eh? Same goes for the rest of the cables. The only reason
I can see for spending more on cables is if I need more of them, not
because I bought a more expensive receiver.

RT,

Found this very interesting article

I'm all for debunking nonsense, but in the guise of doing that I spotted
this howler:

"We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost."

In my opinion $10 is the most one should spend on a normal length of speaker
cable, regardless of how much the rest of the system cost.

--Ethan

Greetings all. First time reader and poster here so bear with me. I

noticed criticism in my article about my recommendation for 5-7% of

system budget in cables. My statement here was not absolute and was

meant as a maximum expenditure. I believe I commented on this is a

feedback post at the actual interview forum.



I have also discussed this in our Cable Budget Guidelines at:

http://audioholics.com/techtips/buyi...ble_budget.php



For more links to our cable articles, check us out at:

http://audioholics.com/techtips/audi...les/cables.htm



Again, our stance is, we don't condemn high priced exotic cables so

long as the vendor doesn't promote bogus and untruthful claims and the

product performs well. Hey what's wrong with spending high dollars for

a beautifully crafted cable to dress up your system so long as it

measures at least as well as ordinary $.50/ft 10AWG Zip Cord? There

is something to be said about cosmetics after all, else none of us

would buy designer watches.





Best Regards;



Gene DellaSala (GDS)

President of Audioholics.com



"Pursuing the Truth in Audio"

________________________________________________

Where audio and video equipment undergoes rigorous objective and

subjective tests by our staff, ensuring that marketing slogans

aren't the only guideline for your home theater choices.

________________________________________________

Website: http://www.audioholics.com

Forums: http://www.audioholics.com/cgi-bin/i.../ikonboard.cgi

I just don't get any of this "35% of your budget" type thinking. You don't
spend "15% of your budget" on capacitors, or resistors or anything else. You
pay what you need to pay to get the right product. £50 rather than £4 on a
particularly important capacitor may be money well spent. £12 rather than £2 on
phono plugs may make absolutely no difference. Some componants are expensive,
some are cheap. All this "15% of your budget" stuff is pure sales talk to talk
up products and I don't see any engineering reasons why it makes any sense at
all.

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

I just don't get any of this "35% of your budget" type thinking. You don't
spend "15% of your budget" on capacitors, or resistors or anything else. You
pay what you need to pay to get the right product. £50 rather than £4 on a
particularly important capacitor may be money well spent. £12 rather than £2 on
phono plugs may make absolutely no difference. Some componants are expensive,
some are cheap. All this "15% of your budget" stuff is pure sales talk to talk
up products and I don't see any engineering reasons why it makes any sense at
all.

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

Greetings all. First time reader and poster here so bear with me. I

noticed criticism in my article about my recommendation for 5-7% of

system budget in cables. My statement here was not absolute and was

meant as a maximum expenditure. I believe I commented on this is a

feedback post at the actual interview forum.



I have also discussed this in our Cable Budget Guidelines at:

http://audioholics.com/techtips/buyi...ble_budget.php



For more links to our cable articles, check us out at:

http://audioholics.com/techtips/audi...les/cables.htm



Again, our stance is, we don't condemn high priced exotic cables so

long as the vendor doesn't promote bogus and untruthful claims and the

product performs well. Hey what's wrong with spending high dollars for

a beautifully crafted cable to dress up your system so long as it

measures at least as well as ordinary $.50/ft 10AWG Zip Cord? There

is something to be said about cosmetics after all, else none of us

would buy designer watches.





Best Regards;



Gene DellaSala (GDS)

President of Audioholics.com



"Pursuing the Truth in Audio"

________________________________________________

Where audio and video equipment undergoes rigorous objective and

subjective tests by our staff, ensuring that marketing slogans

aren't the only guideline for your home theater choices.

________________________________________________

Website: http://www.audioholics.com

Forums: http://www.audioholics.com/cgi-bin/i.../ikonboard.cgi