$10k Speaker Cables??????????????

Yep, the high end cable racket.  Always something to behold, and one of the more depressing aspects of the hobby.  But once manufacturers found out how much people would actually pay for fancy cables...the sky has not been a limit.  And everyone and his mother wants to get in on those margins...even speaker, amp and other manufacturers have dabbled in selling cables.  Great for business.  Not so great for the credibility of audiophiles and the hobby in general.  Ah well...

There is something fairly awe-inspiring about the sheer ballsiness in high end cable prices.  It's almost like watching manufacturers dare themselves (and the public) to keep going one better.  "Ok, unbelievable move there...and someone bought it!....but I can top you!..."

ricmci,

You pay what you want to pay. Nobody is forcing you to write a check or hand over your credit card.

I don’t see the point of your replies.

No one is arguing that anyone here is being forced to buy super expensive cables. And of course there are people out there willing to spend that money on cables. That’s why they make them, obviously.
But what’s the matter with someone else expressing the opinion: "I consider this a poor value, and wouldn’t spend MY money on it"? Further, if the products are charging super high prices based on dubious claims for their efficacy, that’s worth commenting on too.

The whole mantra some people raise that "look, SOMEONE will buy it, so that’s what it’s worth" is just so superficial. Sure, there will always be people who will pay high prices knowledgeably for products.  There will also be suckers.    This is why it’s good to be able to distinguish truth from fiction.  After all, people will pay a lot of money for rhino horns thinking they cure things like cancer:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino-horn-cost-300-000-because-viet...

D’ya really think all there is to be said about such phenomenon is "well, if someone’s paying for it, there’s nothing left to say?"

cleeds,
I generally agree with your point.
Blind tests can be tedius...and difficult.  So one really has to have the motivation to bother with them.  That's why I've only bothered doing them occasionally.   Some gear lends itself to more easy blind testing than others.   Virtually no one could do a truly controlled blind test of speakers in their home.   Though crude versions are kind of fun.  My pal once had me do a blind shoot out between some Spendor BC1s (as I remember) and Quad ESL 63s and it was surprisingly closer than I would have thought to tell them apart when I didn't know which I was listening to.  Though I could in fact identify each.

That I performed a blind test this year with a piece of gear was really due to the level of motivation I had - a problem I found really vexing, between my new digital server vs the method it was replacing. 

Frankly, though, if it were easier and I had access to the right gear and circumstances to test a wide variety of gear, I'd do a lot more blind testing, just out of curiosity.
(And if I were making/selling cables...you can bet I'd be doing blind testing before concluding I had something for which I felt comfortable charging lots of money!  But, hey, apparently that's must me....)

I think P. T. Barnum has something to say on this.

Was he an audiophile?

No, but if he'd been around today, he probably would have sold cables audiophiles ;-)

Indeed n80.  If one wants to get a sense of to what degree goeffkait understands blind testing, all you have to do is read what he keeps writing about it ;-)