I love seeing articles like this with high end gear that us mere mortals could never afford. Although I agree that there would be almost no reason for most people to purchase these cables, even if they could afford them, I'm glad there are people that can, and therefore companies willing to research and produce these. I'm not that familiar with Transparent Audio, but I am with MIT Cables. The technologies in their high end products constantly trickles down to lower series, including their AVt series, which is in a price range I can afford. I was amazed at the difference that pair of these relatively affordable MIT speaker cables made in my system over my previous cable, which was already a few levels above 'zip cord'. So I agree, $33k is crazy. But I think there is a nice balance somewhere :)

I used to ahve the top of line Transparent cables in my HT and 2 channel music system Maggie 20's, CJ, Meridian 4k projector, Estoteric CB, Sony Blu Ray and a Linn Sondek turntable but about two years ago I needed some cables and interconnects for my bedroom system and decided to go w/ Better Cable a local company. I loved their stuff and decided to try it on my other two systems. I found their proudcts more neutral, and detailed and enjoyed the difference they made over the Transparent stuff. I sold all the Transparent and purchased a two cases of Pol Roger Winston Churchill and a new Perazzi o/u for sporting clays. My local dealer who carries Transparent came by w/ some Opus products to try recently. We changed the cabling listened and watched in both systems and then changed back. We both preferred the Better Cables. I could afford redoing both my systems with Transparent no problem but my dealer wouldn't let me. I save almost enough to get the gf the new RR vert.

Placebo anyone?

"High-End"(grossly over-priced)cables. The biggest scam in the history of consumer electronics!

Somebody please put that network box of TR cable in X-Ray machine. I really want to see what're inside.

I am sure galileo from synergistic research is more expensive , and more sophisticated cable.

Argi, I don't see Galileo on the Synergistic Research website. Is that a speaker cable or what?

When cost is no object perception is reality. I'd love to do a blindfold listening test between my Canare bi-wire speaker cables costing $60/100lf and these wires on my REVEL system. What's in the black box, Scott?

The black box is the "network" that Transparent claims to compensate for the filtering characteristics of all cables. I don't know the specifics of this network, and I'm sure that Transparent would not tell me. I suspect it's some sort of LCR (inductance-capacitance-resistance) circuit, but I don't really know. One could argue that perception is reality in any case, cost no object or not. Or perhaps reality is perception...

Check out Nordost Odin cables, I'm pretty sure those are ultra expensive and MIT has some costly cables you can check out too.

How can anyone reasonably think that adding any kind of network or circuit to a wire is going to make it perform "better". Ah well, "A fool and his money"!

Another example in a long line of charlatans who think inserting a little buck and a half worth of parts doohickey in line with their cable gives the product a more mysterious look while increasing the impression of it being more technologically advanced than it really is. I'm sure Transparant Audio's CEO also has P.T. Barnum's mug proudly displayed somewhere on his office wall for inspiration.

100% Pure snake oil.

I'm reminded of the fable,The Emperor Has No Clothes. I would be willing to bet with the greatest of certainty that in a truly blind test no-one can consistently hear the difference between a fifty dollar pair of cables and a five thousand dollar pair. It would make a great Myth-busters episode.

If you search AVS forum you'll find a thread where mikel couldn't tell the difference between his Opus speaker cables and $400 Monster cable.

Unless you are using coat hangers as interconnects, it is impossible to hear ANY difference between ANY two cables that are even slightly more than adequate. Example: your car has sensitive processors must have clean signals from the very noisy engine compartment and guess what? Given a simple and consistent approach to grounding and the use of decent materials cars are able to send signals all over a hot noisy environment without any noticeable interference. Thus, save your money. As for Corey, what f-in research? I mean really, what research? Name ONE double blind test that shows some exotic cable can even consistently beat a 12 AWG extension cord when used as a speaker cable. This BS about dielectric and purity is garbage, and I really wish Wilkinson would call these companies out. I mean really, journalists keep telling us about their public service as the fourth estate and then kowtow to various advertisers. Want some respect? Call these companies out, simply have them put up or shut up.

Further, Open that B&W speaker you paid thousands for and look at the wire inside. What did you find? High quality stranded copper wire with a common insulation of teflon or plastic, terminated with crimped insulated slip on connectors that aren't even gold plated. No elf made super duper nano particle made under water while weaving a basket for starving children in Darfur wires. Look at what is inside the machines themselves and then decide how much you should spend on interconnects. Since the speaker companies don't use anything special before the cross over, what makes you thing that the ten feet before that is really all that important? (So long as you have the AWG to carry the load without significant resistance, the signal doesn't give a crap. I LOVE the idiots who spend $300.00 for a power cable for the four feet from the wall outlet to the back of the machine. Because, your 4 foot $300.00 Cable will make up for all the noise from the transformer to your house and through the wall.

Joe, not all speakers use ordinary wires internally. For example, the Rockport Arrakis uses Transparent Audio cables internally. I have not participated in any double-blind studies of sound quality as it relates to different cables, so I can't say from personal experience that exotic cables do or do not make a significant difference. I tend to believe they don't, but I'm not going to report that as fact, nor am I going to "call these companies out" based on my belief alone. And based on my degree in physics, I'm not as convinced as you are that things like dialectric and other electrical factors are meaningless. I can assure you that I'm not kowtowing to any advertisers here. My goal is to highlight "ultimate" products, no matter who they come from. In this case, Opus cables are certainly "ultimate," at least in terms of price, which is the only reason I included them here.

I'm with Joe Dokes on this one. As a professional within the AV installation industry in the UK I come into contact with AV cables every day and I believe there is a very definite ceiling where the extra cost far outweighs the "performance benefits". There are two issues here - firstly none of manufacturers provide any test data to support their claims as it is entirely subjective and impossible to quantify; secondly the differences as they may or may not be are most likely entirely unnoticeable to 99.9% of listeners. And what about interference, especially with speaker cables? If it was so critical then why is speaker cable not twisted pair like data cable? Noise rejection in Cat5e is superb and if you use stranded cable it is not that different in csa from micro speaker cable. Ultimately the argument is not that there isn't a difference but that the difference is hardly noticeable and probably not worth the exorbitant cost. My advice - save your money and have a nice holiday instead. Mu

I advise everyone reading this thread to check out the articles on cable "snake oil" sellers at Audioholics.com, beginning with the following: http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/top-ten-signs-an-audio-cable... The gist of the articles, which include lab tests, is that many exotic cables alter the sound in similar ways as tone controls do, and that that is a bad thing. There are very subtle differences in the sound of cables, but anyone spending tens of thousands of dollars on cables is a fool, IMHO. Spend the money on better speakers and source components. A couple of years ago, I sold my expensive MIT speaker cables and replaced them with a good-quality non-"audiophile" brand (Blue Jeans cables). The sound improved slightly and I saved a lot of money. On the other hand, I now have a Lessloss power cord and, contrary to everything I would have thought, the improvement in sound quality was dramatic--same tonal balance as before but with more

Dunlavy used to connect his speakers with cheapo radio shack speaker wire, but he had a set of incredibly expensive wires in plain view when magazine guys came to listen. He knew if he ever told them, they would downgrade his products. He said they refused to submit to blind tests.