why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

Mapman, actually he didn't try any expensive cables. I trust no one here actually thinks that $1K+ speaker cables are expensive. Hint: they're not. That's kind of entry level at this stage of the game. Now, if he said he tried $10K speaker cables and preferred the ones he's got then maybe we'd have something to talk about.

Hey Taters ....as has been brought out in this thread ; cables were No#1 with speakers a close second. I am experiencing this right now. I had the same cable manufacturer in my system for close to 20 years. I have / had pretty much their top of the line .....I recently auditioned another cable manufacturer goods and who some consider them as ''high fi'' or middle of the road, ( but have been around since 1987 or so ) came out with a new top of their line series a few years back and is making me change my whole approach to my system .....it finally sounds like real music .....and they are about 50-60% less on the retail side than the that they are replacing. Just goes to show - it is all about system synergy

It's always about system synergy starting with the room.

Wires come last once all the rest is tuned in.

If things are tackled in the right order biggest fish first then finding the right wires should not be nearly as hard.

If things are off to start with only so much to gain out of different wires. You could end up spending money on wires that would have been better served elsewhere before.

"He figures it cost 20 percent of retail to build a speaker. So for an example. If the Alexia retails for 52k than their cost should be around 10k. I would say that is a very big markup from manufacturing to retail."

He's just figuring. Only Wilson knows what it costs them to make a pair of speakers, and they're not going to tell anyone, including they're dealers. Product cost is the single most guarded secret in any business. If someone in a company that has access to that info tells you what they pay for something, they're lying. It could also be a scam like the auto industry and invoice pricing.

Are you trying to tell us MSRP isn't real?
Now I've heard everything.