Most cable manf. have many more cost than just the cost of cable. If you are a Kimber or Cardas you have cost associated with equipment and research. Since we are not talking about a product that is going to sell millions over it's production life the cost of this overhead has to be spread over a smaller number of products sold. The end result is a product that cost very much more than the materials involved in production. I'm not going to argue over the particulars of the Granite Audio cables because I know nothing about them.
One thing though...just because a material is inexpensive (ie. the cable) does not necessarily mean that it isn't effective. I use PVC (gasp!) coated cable on power cables that cost me about .80/ft in quantity. It works wonderfully... I use a Pass & Seymour 5266-X which I buy for around $5 in quantity and the Schurter 4300.0603 IEC is about the same. I have about $20.00 in parts for each cable I make and maybe 45-60 minutes in labor (I've gotten much quicker than when I started). If you count labor (at $35) as part of the equation the cable cost is up to let's say $55. I also have had to buy tools and I have certain amounts of time in acquiring materials (purchasing) and shipping product. On top of that for every cable I sell I spend a certain amount of time (like now) interacting with customers. Let's add $10 just to grab a number out of the air (for most manf. who don't build cables in their basement and garage the cost is MUCH higher). Let's adjust the cost up to $65. Now if I want to make any money basic business 101 says that I have to sell it for more than I payed for it. :) If I sell through a dealer he/she has to make their penny also. Let's guess that the standard mark-up is to just about double the price. I should sell my cable for about $130.00 to the dealer and the dealer will probably double the price once more. Maybe on the order of $260.00 for my cable that cost $20 in parts. This is sobbering to people who only see the price of the cable. People start screeming rip-off! but it really isn't. If someone is charging too much people shouldn't buy them.. If a manf. is making too much money competition abounds and other people will start making cables to compete and hence drive price down. We live in a society that has more and cheaper high quality products available than anytime in history. Why bitch about it? If you want to build your own cables go for it... There is a learning curve and you will make some mistakes. If you put some time into it and have the necessary tools available you can build the same cables cheaper unless you count your time. If you count your time.. you will find that you are paying much more for that cable you built than if you went out and bought something... You will also have a better chance of not ending up with a dud if you buy a built product. If you like to experiment and DIY you can end up with good stuff but you really have to work at it. Most DIYers have more money in their system (accounting for time) than the people who buy their equipment retail.
One thing though...just because a material is inexpensive (ie. the cable) does not necessarily mean that it isn't effective. I use PVC (gasp!) coated cable on power cables that cost me about .80/ft in quantity. It works wonderfully... I use a Pass & Seymour 5266-X which I buy for around $5 in quantity and the Schurter 4300.0603 IEC is about the same. I have about $20.00 in parts for each cable I make and maybe 45-60 minutes in labor (I've gotten much quicker than when I started). If you count labor (at $35) as part of the equation the cable cost is up to let's say $55. I also have had to buy tools and I have certain amounts of time in acquiring materials (purchasing) and shipping product. On top of that for every cable I sell I spend a certain amount of time (like now) interacting with customers. Let's add $10 just to grab a number out of the air (for most manf. who don't build cables in their basement and garage the cost is MUCH higher). Let's adjust the cost up to $65. Now if I want to make any money basic business 101 says that I have to sell it for more than I payed for it. :) If I sell through a dealer he/she has to make their penny also. Let's guess that the standard mark-up is to just about double the price. I should sell my cable for about $130.00 to the dealer and the dealer will probably double the price once more. Maybe on the order of $260.00 for my cable that cost $20 in parts. This is sobbering to people who only see the price of the cable. People start screeming rip-off! but it really isn't. If someone is charging too much people shouldn't buy them.. If a manf. is making too much money competition abounds and other people will start making cables to compete and hence drive price down. We live in a society that has more and cheaper high quality products available than anytime in history. Why bitch about it? If you want to build your own cables go for it... There is a learning curve and you will make some mistakes. If you put some time into it and have the necessary tools available you can build the same cables cheaper unless you count your time. If you count your time.. you will find that you are paying much more for that cable you built than if you went out and bought something... You will also have a better chance of not ending up with a dud if you buy a built product. If you like to experiment and DIY you can end up with good stuff but you really have to work at it. Most DIYers have more money in their system (accounting for time) than the people who buy their equipment retail.