I was a cable guy, but I'm not anymore, to each his own.
I must salute the editorial work and the passion here.
You've reached a point where you have a device that doesn't do everything well, but what it does puts a smile on your face, which is the case for many of us.
A quarter of a century ago now, I sold high-end and very high-end equipment in a chic neighborhood of a large European capital, I had access to all new and second-hand equipment and I had the means of my passion, so I used and abused it and like you, I ended up having cables almost as expensive as the system itself, then one day, on the occasion of a deal in a very small store which specialized in vintage tubes, I took a big slap in the face.
I came to pick up a pair of Jadis power amps at xxxxx € and I came across this guy who made amps on aluminum baking pans and from parts recovered here and there, and the guy said to me "do you want to listen to what you bought? and then I'll make you listen my puppies at 1/10th of the price" (on Altec theater voices all the same) and I left with my Jadis (to honor the deal, but also with a pair of her puppies who sang so much better to my ears.
I sold the Jadis, and since I was still too snobbish, I didn't manage to put his puppies in my living room and I ended up giving them to a friend at the time (when you're stupid, we're stupid), but that day, a seed was planted in my head and little by little I got rid of everything that was now useless to return to the essentials, music, and not the race armament and novelty and after a very long period of compulsive buying and a very large stock of accumulated devices, I started the purge to only keep the devices that make me smile, no matter how ugly they may be.
Regarding the cables, I only kept those that a friend made and now deceased (Litz 700 strands 30 microns per conductor, pulled straight, not twisted) and ordinary cables, of good quality with good connectors.
In short, thank you for this pleasant sharing of an episode of your life, it's always interesting in our world which has become superficial.
I must salute the editorial work and the passion here.
You've reached a point where you have a device that doesn't do everything well, but what it does puts a smile on your face, which is the case for many of us.
A quarter of a century ago now, I sold high-end and very high-end equipment in a chic neighborhood of a large European capital, I had access to all new and second-hand equipment and I had the means of my passion, so I used and abused it and like you, I ended up having cables almost as expensive as the system itself, then one day, on the occasion of a deal in a very small store which specialized in vintage tubes, I took a big slap in the face.
I came to pick up a pair of Jadis power amps at xxxxx € and I came across this guy who made amps on aluminum baking pans and from parts recovered here and there, and the guy said to me "do you want to listen to what you bought? and then I'll make you listen my puppies at 1/10th of the price" (on Altec theater voices all the same) and I left with my Jadis (to honor the deal, but also with a pair of her puppies who sang so much better to my ears.
I sold the Jadis, and since I was still too snobbish, I didn't manage to put his puppies in my living room and I ended up giving them to a friend at the time (when you're stupid, we're stupid), but that day, a seed was planted in my head and little by little I got rid of everything that was now useless to return to the essentials, music, and not the race armament and novelty and after a very long period of compulsive buying and a very large stock of accumulated devices, I started the purge to only keep the devices that make me smile, no matter how ugly they may be.
Regarding the cables, I only kept those that a friend made and now deceased (Litz 700 strands 30 microns per conductor, pulled straight, not twisted) and ordinary cables, of good quality with good connectors.
In short, thank you for this pleasant sharing of an episode of your life, it's always interesting in our world which has become superficial.