Price Isn't Always Indicitive of Quality or Performance

When price vs quality is debated, the biggest factor left out of the equation is the dealer and distributor markup, which has zero effect on sound quality. Only to be followed by fancy casework and engraving. This is why it's tough, for example, to make most audiophiles believe if they spend $2500 on a Schitt dac they are buying something just as good or better than any dac on the market. The absence of an up to 200% markup on those cables is messing with your mind.

Cables and interconnect performance is highly dependent on your equipment. It isn’t like the acceleration rate or miles per gallon in cars… where you can measure a the rates in both and make a determination. You get different performance with different components.

All silver can definitely be a good thing or a bad thing, For a couple iterations of my system, silver sounded terrible. My system was too far on the detailed / lean side and silver would raise the noise floor and tip it too far to the cool side. Cardas and copper Harmonics were cables of my choice during that period.

Then there are all sorts of geometries, sequences of dielectrics and different isolation methods used which change their performance.

Over the last 40 years of using high end interconnects and such I have intimately learned the sound of six brands: Cardas, Transparent, Wire World, Nordost, DH Labs, and Harmonics. These are well established, respected companies that have a consistent “house sound”, high quality control with good resale value. Through lots of reading of reviews I can evaluate what others will likely sound in my system. This allows me to chose the best for my system without resorting to completely random experimentation. This is my approach. Nothing wrong with other approaches… it is supposed to be a fun pursuit… whatever approach makes you happy.

First off your markups are pulled out of your backside. Please show me a markup of 3000% on a Integrated amplifier. Take the new Cambridge 150. The retail is the same if you are buying from Upscale Audio in CA or Audio Thesis in TX. 

As for your cable comparisons they are total BS also as Audioquest, Synergistic Research both do their own distribution and operate on MAP pricing. 

Really most of the Audio retailers are operating on 40% margins (retail 101) 60% on some niche products. 

Your argument does not hold water. Your SG&A/COGS and MFR cost for moving offshore are suspect also. Quite often when a company opens manufacturing in new plant in a new country, they upgrade their equipment,  making the capitol expenditures to improve processes and the product, that absorbs the labor cost savings from moving to say Mexico or Latvia vs MFR in South Carolina or CA.

Another factor not considered is the volume of sales and manufacturing. We are not talking a can of corn here or a box of nails. For that matter a Ford F150 either. What do you think the annual sales and production quota in for Audioquest to just break even,  I do not know and neither do you. What is the cost of warehousing surplus inventory? What do production runs cost?

Would love to see the modeling you have done to extrapolate your figures oh wait it is right here it is called THIN AIR. 

 Your entire thesis is well garbage.

To a very large degree, the cost of High-End audio is high because it has to be: The companies that manufacture it tend not to sell it in large volume, so their costs—for parts, labor, shipping and overhead, and even sales and promotion—tend to be high, even if only because they can't take advantage of the economies of scale available to more major firms.

Delivering higher performance costs, too. The differences in cost between parts that are good and parts that are just good enough can be tremendous. And there's also the fact that, if a product needs to be expensive, it also needs to look and feel expensive, or people simply won't buy it. That drives prices up, too, and because the cost of entry can seem too high, the very things that are intended to attract them may be keeping potential new audiophiles away.

You should read this 

Please have a great rest of your day. 

The average MSRP markup on goods in CA is 3000%. To compare, Texas's MSRP markup is 300%. So the cost of materials will be higher to make the same product in CA than it would in TX. Synergistic Research and respectively Audioquest, has to charge what they do to maintain living and operating out of CA. But in Latvia?  It is clear to me that the materials, tech and know how isn't that expensive there.  So it can be surmised that the cost of living and operating out of Latvia is less expensive, which means they can offer the highest grade product at a much lower cost than if the same cable were made here in the United States.

@lalitk 

Thank you for your suggestion. I will look further.

Charles 

I believed this to be true darn near with every product.  Cars, washing machines, telescopes, printers...  Especially Audio.  

Price is not Always Indicative of Quality or Performance

LOL.  But if it looks Pretty, I may overlook their shortcomings.