When you're shopping for replacement IEM cables these days...

[Fun Size Nick]

...only the finest snake oil will do.

Those are Hong Kong dollars. For reference, $4800 is about US$610, $13,800 is about US$1760, and $18,000 gets you around 2300 shiny US dollars.

Needless to say, you can buy a whole lot of earbud for that much coin...

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I want that purple cable up top in a badway

 

[s0c9]

I bought an after-market cable (not one of those shown above) for my A8's a couple of yrs ago from Brian Gotoh (BTG-Audio - Headphone Repair and Custom Cables) for ~$85. It was the Starlight model IIRC.
Looks a LOT like the cable above - but black. Straight jack option (not right-angle like most), sheathed , etc. VERY solid, very well built and still going strong. Custom built, so I had a delivery lag of about 6 weeks. But...
WAY better than the thin, cheap factory cables. I went thru THREE of them (~$35 ea + S/H) over the same time frame prior to that.


PS: I have zero affiliation with BTG Audio, other than being a one-time happy customer.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I'm running a tz cable fever audio mmcx upgrade cable it was $56 and it is awesome a big upgrade over the stock ones I got one in copper finish and in all black.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

I bought an after-market cable (not one of those shown above) for my A8's a couple of yrs ago from Brian Gotoh (BTG-Audio - Headphone Repair and Custom Cables) for ~$85. It was the Starlight model IIRC.
Looks a LOT like the cable above - but black. Straight jack option (not right-angle like most), sheathed , etc. VERY solid, very well built and still going strong. Custom built, so I had a delivery lag of about 6 weeks. But...
WAY better than the thin, cheap factory cables. I went thru THREE of them (~$35 ea + S/H) over the same time frame prior to that.


PS: I have zero affiliation with BTG Audio, other than being a one-time happy customer.

Paying for durability I can dig. Good to hear you've had such good longevity compared with the old cables - I'll keep that in mind if I ever have problems with mine. I like that they seem to be fairly low profile, many aftermarket cables that I've seen are enormous!

 

[walterw]

i gotta have the "golden samurai", that name just screams "quality"

also, what are these even for? they're all T/R/R/S, will they even work as IEM cables and what buds do they fit?

 

[s0c9]

i gotta have the "golden samurai", that name just screams "quality"

also, what are these even for? they're all T/R/R/S, will they even work as IEM cables and what buds do they fit?

Looks like they fit any of the 2-pin removables! IOW, the non-CMMX connector type.
The 3rd ring is superflous...

 

[Fun Size Nick]

i gotta have the "golden samurai", that name just screams "quality"

also, what are these even for? they're all T/R/R/S, will they even work as IEM cables and what buds do they fit?

They had a mix, some are for 2-pin and some are the round Shure type that spins annoyingly...actually, if my eyes don’t deceive me, I think the $18,000 one is for Shure. I mean, why waste money on custom IEMs when you could get universals and put these cables on?

 

[walterw]

Looks like they fit any of the 2-pin removables! IOW, the non-CMMX connector type.

i didn't know the IEM makers had standardized that connector, i assumed everybody's was different.

 

[phangtonpower]

Nothing new...people have been spending on snake oil cables for ever and ever and ever.

 

[s0c9]

i didn't know the IEM makers had standardized that connector, i assumed everybody's was different.

There are TWO main types.. the CIEM 2-pin and the MMCX co-axe style. There are others, but the industry appears to have standardized somewhat (about time BTW)