Cable curmudgeon

My system, being what it is, is very adequately served by inexpensive cables. A big issue for me has been bad connections between components and cables. As long as the contacts are all good I get the sound I want for cheap! My latest upgrade was changing my HDMI cables out to a couple grades above basic. I was getting frequent signal dropouts where the sound would just turn off and the picture would go black for a few seconds at a time. I assume that was also from intermittent contacts. If I just slightly wiggled and HDMI cable it could cause a dropout. The new HDMI cables seem to have solved the issue.

As for hearing differences with cables, I think some equipment combinations are particularly sensitive to cable parameters. That sort of "revealing" characteristic is a nuisance to me, basically a design defect, although a defect for one can be a feature for another. I don’t see any evidence that basic, serviceable inexpensive cables are the cause of any meaningful destruction of information in the audible range. They’re not doing anything wrong. They’re just failing to act as a remedy.

I wouldn’t use Mac gear to assess any cables.  

Interesting concept recommending cables with no regard to how they interface in a system.

Let me add a little more perspective here.  I wouldn’t use colored components with rolled off highs to assess any cables.  I worked for Magnolia and heard more than my fair share of Mac/B&W D3 combos, and they simply gloss over too much detail to be useful in accurately determining the subtle yet critical differences between cables.  Whenever a customer wanted to hear the differences in cables I deferred to other more neutral and transparent electronics so the differences could be more readily heard. 

I wish I didn't hear the difference in cables - then again I appreciate the impact.

If you feel the same or different - I hope you enjoy the music!

If you ask this forum which cable is best you get multiple options. 

There is no one answer as people like the one they currently use but are always looking for a better one. 

This tells me that there is no one best cable or people would tend to generally gravitate to a specific brand. 

Let the opinions continue. 

@vanson1 isn't your statement true for all audio equipment - turntables, speakers, amplifies, preamps. phone stages, streamers and cassette decks?

I view everything is a compromise based on criteria and a high impact criteria is cost.