Cable advice

I personally don't think it's that important to have all cables from the same manufacturer (a "loom").  In several of my rooms I have Synergistic Research, Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, Lavricables, Nordost.  All of my systems sound great. All my powercords are Shunyata except for one which is a VooDoo.  All my power conditioners are Shunyata except for one which is Synergistic Research. My choices are driven by price - almost all of it is purchased used from Audiogon or Audiomart (US & Canada) I don't have the inclination (or budget) to  try different cables for a given piece of eqiupment.  I couldn't really really tell a difference between them anyway.  The one exception is that I like silver conductors (with an occasionalmix as in Nordost) in preference to copper - I can hear a difference there and I don't perceive them as too bright.  So, don't fret about whether you have a loom or not. 

The Kama Sutra approach is more fun.

DeKay

About 25 years ago, I asked a gentleman who sells NOS tubes (an individual who most on A'Gon seem to have a lot of respect for) about mixing tube brands in a certain application.  He told me it wasn't his favorite thing, but not as bad as mixing cables.  I asked him what was wrong with that, & he told me (and I am paraphrasing) that if Cable Brand A did one sonic aspect well, but was upstream of Cable Brand B which fell short on that attribute of Cable Brand A, but did a different sonic aspect well, the positive aspect of Cable Brand A was being negated by Cable Brand B's failure to pass it on.

Anyway, that was his logic; he sells tubes so I guess he doesn't have any skin in the cable game. 

I have no qualms about mixing manufacturers for cables. For me affordability has to be taken into account, I will buy "bang for the buck".....but the sound has to be there. I personally mix cables, based on what each company does well and sounds terrific.

I use Morrow Audio for analog RCA and XLR cables, Supra Cables for digital cables (USB, ethernet, HDMI/I2S), Audioquest Vodka for HDMI/I2S, Anticables for speaker cables, Cullen Cables for C7 power cables, and Pangea Cardas copper power cords.

I will soon be replacing the power cables (not sure what with yet, suggestions welcome), and rolling in some Zavfino interconnects for comparison.

It's almost impossible to answer that question; it depends mostly on the cables and the synergy with the system. I have some cables that have a rather strong "flavor" to them; for example one that softens / warms up the sound. If I use just one between the preamp an the active crossover, it adds just enough warmth and depth; if I use it everywhere, it becomes too much, softening the top end and making the sound a bit slow and lacking dynamics. But some cables are close to perfection, if such thing exists, very transparent and neutral; with great electronics (which I don't have) it would probably make sense to use a full loom. I suspect the better the cable / the better the electronics, the more it makes sense to use a full loom of the same cable. In my case I need to play with cables to obtain the right balance.

I'm currently ordering some bulk cable that seems to be exceptional according to some friends of mine, and I will build a full loom because I wanna hear the cable in isolation; but it's impossible to know in advance if I will keep a full loom or if I'll have to mix it with my other cables.