Straight Wire developed a strong following in the USA based upon such innovations as braided non-conductive fiber between the conductor layer and outer jacket of interconnects to reduce micro-phonics. Teflon 10X & Teflon 12 speaker cable and later our TMI/TMC series (matched interconnects and speaker cables) were among the first to use a premium insulation such as Teflon. DuPont was so impressed with our work; they ran a few print ads featuring Straight Wire cables. The use of silver, no lead solder and special termination processes for our individually insulated strand conductors offered cables that not only sounded great — but would last indefinitely due to lack of corrosion. We introduced a LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY before any other company and a unique TRY BEFORE YOU BUY POLICY in the USA that brought us many supporters.

I think back to the mid 80’s when Paolo Nuti and Bebo Moroni of Audio Review (Italy) published THE most extensive technical cable review of that era. They gave us extremely high ratings for our Music Ribbon and LSI (Linear Series Impedance) interconnects. None of the American or British publications took such a technical approach to cables.

Our "WHITE PAPER ON AUDIO CABLES" was very informative by displaying the impedance measurements over the actual audio range on both our and competitor cables.

As our product line grew, we spent countless hours chatting on the phone (internet was not yet developed) with audiophiles around the world about what cables would be best for their systems and made many friends. We received many letters extolling the improvements that individuals thought not possible from merely changing cables.

Which is your opinion about Cable industry in general

I am very concerned about the tendency towards home theater with installers who do a "grave injustice" to their clients. They create a self-fulfilling prophecy by not offering any upgrade cables, even on very high performance, expensive systems. I give the cable analogy to cooking a good meal — materials are like your ingredients, design is like the recipe and manufacturing process is like cooking. Some people do not appreciate fine cuisine — others have never been introduced to it. Some people dream of full bodied red wines like a Brunello (Fine Italian Wine), others don’t care for it. They can’t pass judgment until they’ve tried it.

Many installers utilize cheap polyethylene insulated interconnects and PVC insulated speaker cables that are rated to go in the walls. Many make cables from rolls of cheap, basic coax and neatly tie them down, thinking the real value is not in the materials, termination or design — but in the cosmetics. Many people are getting cables from China that cosmetically look good but have few technical merits. Fancy looking plugs and large diameter doesn’t ensure good performance. The customer is not getting full performance from these "installations" and we are seeing this abroad as well as in the USA.

Perhaps I’m biased because of Straight Wire’s long history (over 20 years) in producing high quality cables and see some newcomers merely re-labeling cables made in China and making false technical claims. We still produce over 70% of our cables in the USA and feel the customer should get what they’re paying for. I find it amusing that many "cable" companies do not have personnel with the hands-on experience of working with specific equipment or combinations of equipment, yet, tell the customer that the cable will improve their system. There have been some articles written over the past decade by people who have not conducted objective research. They label all high end cables as a waste and do an injustice to the end —user by pre-disposing them to not even consider better cables

The "question" of cables prices and the understanding Cable Pricing

I design all cables on a cost conscious basis. By consistently marking up from our raw costs we feel we offer fair pricing and have won many awards as a great value. It’s like shopping for a meal with a budget — if you see a good ingredient for a little more money — you would be foolish not to use it. Many people have commented that our cables are much lower priced than comparable performing cables from others. You can use expensive ingredients in the wrong recipe or cook it wrong and the meal is not satisfactory. It’s sad to say, but some cable companies have poor process control and produce premium cables in such small batches that they have to charge a high price. If the actual cable is manufactured out of spec — it usually has to be scrapped — it cannot be re-worked. Good quality controls, good engineering and economies of scale result in fair cable pricing.

We do significant research up front and do not change cable models as frequently as other companies. Many of our dealers complain we could come out with "more expensive" models or offer them a much higher margin like some of the competitors. I stick to the value principle and "relative" test (mentioned above).Note that our termination costs and cost per additional meter all follow a logical pattern while some Companies do not.

Snake oil and cables manufacturing

This question is difficult because it is hard to criticize other cable manufacturers without casting dispersions about your own integrity. Some cable companies focus more on their marketing than their products. They make claims about conductor purities, secret ingredients or restructuring signals that have little technical evidence to support them. Some companies focus on acknowledged electrical measurements but blow them out of proportion in terms of their actual effects. A cable is a complex passive filter which, hopefully, controls complex reactance (inductive and capacitive) and does not induce derogatory filtration effects onto the original signal.

I’ve learned over the years that most technical cable merits should be easy to understand based upon simple analogies and explanations. Straight Wire utilizes many different types and grades of insulations and conductors on an application specific basis. A signal cable utilizing polyethylene insulation can only achieve certain dielectric (insulation) and dissipation (time release of energy) factors. Many claims of conductor purity can be understood in theory for large diameter conductors. As the conductor diameter shrinks to .5mm and less (most cables), the surface area of each conductor becomes a great portion of the conducting volume. Unless individually insulated in a "clean environment", it is subject to moisture, micro-fissures and contaminants that can drastically degrade its overall purity. Ratings of purity are made prior to handling, insulation by extrusion and other manufacturing processes.

Please refer to the "Cable Fables" section of our website —www.straightwire.com for some more interesting information for cable aficionados.

The future of hifi cables industry and the future of your firm

We are captive to the industry trends of cheapening products for mass-consumer use.

There still exists a market of two channel and premium home theater enthusiasts that we cater to. Component manufacturers of high quality amps, speakers and sources will always have a need for high quality cables. Computer based AV, MP3 and other low end formats do not have the need for high quality cables. Straight Wire has provided cables for internal use and inclusion with Sony high end speakers, Harman (JBL Synthesis) and many high end companies. The noted multi-national manufacturers recognize the need for high quality cable to allow their systems to perform up to their full potential.

Straight Wire’s future is based on improving the entertainment experience via upgrade cables. We believe there are many years ahead for cable companies that offer fairly priced, custom cables with technological advantages and great support for the dealers and consumers.