"Why don’t my $500 speaker cables sound 500 times better than lamp cord?"
Who can say? For all we know you might have $500 lamp cords. And trust me, if you don't, you should. It makes all the difference in the world.
"Why the hell does $500 whisky taste 500 times better than lampcord-priced whisky?"
Again, it depends on the lamp cord price. $500 whiskey should not taste any better than $500 lamp-cord-priced whiskey.
You've got to give Erik more to work with here.