you missed the point. a $4.00 xlr cable will work fine. in fact it has. ive had the same one on my pkg for 4 years. it was always bending at the input point. but it never fritzed. i simply didnt like the looks of cables running everywhere. so getting the cables i wanted was more of a luxury item for me. not really necessary but i just wondered if i was the only person that didnt like the way these cables fit in. the real test of ted's cables will have to be proven over years. i already had some guy tell me that the glue or resin used to make these type of cables will erode the metal in the cable sooner. i guess only time will tell. but for now, im happy with the clean look my bag now has. and im always trying to save a few dollars on some parts when lectro sMQV's are costing me $1300 a piece. and i own 6 of them. so at the time i first posted , $30 for a cable seemed high to me.