Why do decent audio cables cost so much?

[gez]

I think the images above are for a submarine power cable - the sort of thing you'd run to an offshore wind farm.

Submarine power cable - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No doubt there's an audiophile out there as I type trying to work out how to fit an IEC plug to a section...

Indeed it is a power cable:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/absqpg/submarine_cable_generally_consists_of_a_lead

 

[rontoolsie]

I think the images above are for a submarine power cable - the sort of thing you'd run to an offshore wind farm.

Submarine power cable - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No doubt there's an audiophile out there as I type trying to work out how to fit an IEC plug to a section...

This makes much more sense...fiber optics cannot carry significant amounts of power.
And it looks like these submarine POWER cables run around $2.5 million per km....or $2500 per meter. STILL only 1/5 the cost of the Transparent Magnum Opus.

 

[gez]

And sharks still try eating them.

I'm able to use less expensive cables for my hi-fi as shark attacks are thankfully rare.

Yes, they had a significant problem with this in the carribean at one time, leading unsurprisingly to a schedule of work to replace them with optical.

 

[daytona600]

Worked on a few Sub Cable system before
Sub cables are nothing the cost is in the cable laying. These cost a fortune & charged per hour and can take a year to cross a ocean

 

[Subito]

Apart from the three big cores, a lot of the metal in this seems to be, uh, not copper. What is it, steel? Aluminum? Both?

The cable lifters for those are pretty chunky too.

 

[Octavian]

One of the smartest and most unconventional cable designers I know of, Louis Motek from Lessloss derides the chase for ultimate purity conductors, describing that as snake oil and marketing BS. Their CMarc cables are based on the bucking coil method using two counter-polarised coils, which results in common mode noise rejection, and uses natural cotton insulation in lieu of plastics. He also avoids the high markups of Distributors and Dealers by selling direct. That's the short version. Anyway, I'll be replacing my expensive Jorma Prime and Statement cables with flagship Lessloss cables in my planned system upgrades.

It might be useful to understand that nothing this Motek character says is important. When one variety of snake oil is substituted for another it is still a lose lose scenario.

 

[daytona600]

Go Big or go Home !

 

[awkwardbydesign]

This makes much more sense...fiber optics cannot carry significant amounts of power.
And it looks like these submarine POWER cables run around $2.5 million per km....or $2500 per meter. STILL only 1/5 the cost of the Transparent Magnum Opus.

Thanks, I was going to ask the OP where he found the $50/metre price.

 

[rontoolsie]

It might be useful to understand that nothing this Motek character says is important. When one variety of snake oil is substituted for another it is still a lose lose scenario.

Oddly enough, shark liver oil is used as an electrical contact enhancer by more than one vendor.

 

[paulbysea]

And sharks still try eating them.

I'm able to use less expensive cables for my hi-fi as shark attacks are thankfully rare.

Kitten attacks are not so rare.

 

[Vinny]

Apart from the three big cores, a lot of the metal in this seems to be, uh, not copper. What is it, steel? Aluminum? Both?

The cable is a power cable, not telecoms. It has to stand being laid from a ship, so high tensile strength, and also damage from anchors, nets and movement due to currents, it will also span seafloor trenches of any depth.

Most modern submarine cables are fibre optic.

With the exception of cables laid decades ago that haven't outlived their useful lives, ALL undersea cables are fibre optic.

Nope, only telecoms cables. The last under-sea copper telecoms cable was laid at least 20 years ago, almost certainly longer. My ex worked for STC/Pirelli and was heavily involved with optical fibre development and eventually large-scale production, and with that came knowledge of under-sea cables.

 

[Joe]

Kitten attacks are not so rare.

Apparently speaker cables are like catnip to rabbits as well.

 

[Joe]

Nope, only telecoms cables. The last under-sea copper telecoms cable was laid at least 20 years ago, almost certainly longer. My ex worked for STC/Pirelli and was heavily involved with optical fibre development and eventually large-scale production, and with that came knowledge of under-sea cables.

Why do they still use cable at all ?... wouldn't it be easier to use satellite transmission ?

 

[paulfromcamden]

Submarine cables were produced for about 150 years just down the road at Greenwich. There's a page here with the history.

History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Enderby's Wharf

All that's now remaining is Enderby House - converted into a Youngs pub!

 

[Barrymagrec]

A worthy end.

 

[Vinny]

Why do they still use cable at all ?... wouldn't it be easier to use satellite transmission ?

My guess would be capacity. Now that they both exist, a lot of financial traffic would go for cable as I suspect that it is quite a bit faster (in financial market terms).

 

[Mike P]

Why are audio cables so expensive?

It's because of marketing.

 

[Mike P]

Don't forget Distributor and Dealer margins.

Indeed but it's marketing that makes the margins possible.

 

[Rockmeister]

I love it when the cost goes up in the hundreds per metre.

A 2m speaker cable @ say £400 and a 3m cable @ £550. ... thus pricing the actual wire at £150 a metre....and that is the cheap stuff.

I also love that people fall for it.

I hate that they do.

It's audio's equivalent of the Brexit bus. The shame of the hobby.

At least the knowledgable poor know that they are the real winners, which is nice.

 

[tuga]

Go Big or go Home !

Giant sea slugs?