Для скорости выкладываю эту информацию в оригинальном виде. Надеюсь, что кое-кого она заставит задуматься.
AUDIO CABLES-THE ULTIMATE TEST OF INTEGRITY
There is no subject or component category that has been as revealing of the magazines', and their reviewers', (lack of) integrity as audio cables. In less than 20 years audio cables have gone from an afterthought to a major investment in most systems. The prices have also skyrocketed from less than $ 50 to many thousands for the (so-called) "best".
Simultaneously, the cable companies have slowly become some of the largest advertisers in almost every audio magazine. In return, these magazines have published 'reviews', and "recommendations", of the "better known" (most heavily advertised) brands and models. Meanwhile...
Virtually nothing else has been printed about audio cables by them. (There is one magazine, The Audio Critic, that claims that all cables sound the same. They don't receive cable advertising.) So, one may ask, where is the problem with the magazines' self-proclaimed integrity? They're honest and open, aren't they?
Well, prepare yourself for a totally new perspective about audio cables and the audio magazines:
LACK OF BASIC INFORMATION
I used the expression "cable companies" in the above paragraph. Did you think it was an oversight on my part that I didn't use the word "manufacturer" instead? After all, that is the word that all the magazines (and the 'reviewers') use, or at least imply. I didn't use it for a very good reason: It is not true. What is the truth? That's very simple:
Virtually every cable company you have ever heard of (or ever will hear of) does NOT make its own cables.
Are you surprised, or even shocked by this statement? Don't worry, I was too, and remember, I have been in the audio business for more than 20 years. In fact, I even discovered (from the actual manufacturers) that many cable companies don't even design their own cables. They just choose among different designs, materials, colors, terminations and the overall volume (total length). Then they are quoted a price, and that's it. Some companies may do some custom terminations at their "factory", but that's all the "manufacturing" they'll ever do.
The magazines (and their 'reviewers') know all of this of course, but they make damn sure that their readers don't.
Why do they suppress such basic information from their own subscribers?
The magazines realize that the word "Manufacturer" implies huge initial expenditures and investments of time and money, plus true size and importance. Simply ordering 50 or 100 pairs of cable from some large, 50-year old manufacturing plant, at their normal volume discount, doesn't even begin to convey the same image of scale, the same sense of expertise and commitment, or earn the same amount of respect or prestige, does it? Most importantly, a consumer, knowing this underlying reality, would be hesitant to pay the now outlandish prices on these cables.
AUDIO CABLES-THE ULTIMATE TEST OF INTEGRITY
There is no subject or component category that has been as revealing of the magazines', and their reviewers', (lack of) integrity as audio cables. In less than 20 years audio cables have gone from an afterthought to a major investment in most systems. The prices have also skyrocketed from less than $ 50 to many thousands for the (so-called) "best".
Simultaneously, the cable companies have slowly become some of the largest advertisers in almost every audio magazine. In return, these magazines have published 'reviews', and "recommendations", of the "better known" (most heavily advertised) brands and models. Meanwhile...
Virtually nothing else has been printed about audio cables by them. (There is one magazine, The Audio Critic, that claims that all cables sound the same. They don't receive cable advertising.) So, one may ask, where is the problem with the magazines' self-proclaimed integrity? They're honest and open, aren't they?
Well, prepare yourself for a totally new perspective about audio cables and the audio magazines:
LACK OF BASIC INFORMATION
I used the expression "cable companies" in the above paragraph. Did you think it was an oversight on my part that I didn't use the word "manufacturer" instead? After all, that is the word that all the magazines (and the 'reviewers') use, or at least imply. I didn't use it for a very good reason: It is not true. What is the truth? That's very simple:
Virtually every cable company you have ever heard of (or ever will hear of) does NOT make its own cables.
Are you surprised, or even shocked by this statement? Don't worry, I was too, and remember, I have been in the audio business for more than 20 years. In fact, I even discovered (from the actual manufacturers) that many cable companies don't even design their own cables. They just choose among different designs, materials, colors, terminations and the overall volume (total length). Then they are quoted a price, and that's it. Some companies may do some custom terminations at their "factory", but that's all the "manufacturing" they'll ever do.
The magazines (and their 'reviewers') know all of this of course, but they make damn sure that their readers don't.
Why do they suppress such basic information from their own subscribers?
The magazines realize that the word "Manufacturer" implies huge initial expenditures and investments of time and money, plus true size and importance. Simply ordering 50 or 100 pairs of cable from some large, 50-year old manufacturing plant, at their normal volume discount, doesn't even begin to convey the same image of scale, the same sense of expertise and commitment, or earn the same amount of respect or prestige, does it? Most importantly, a consumer, knowing this underlying reality, would be hesitant to pay the now outlandish prices on these cables.
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