Does creating a loom in cables in a system make a significant difference?

I’ve done it both ways over the years. Initially, it was an ad hoc mismatch based on a very modest budget for mid-fi to entry level hi-fi systems. Frankly, I didn’t know any different back then, and ….with the comparatively modest audio performance capabilities of those earlier budget systems , I doubt that a single array loom of cables would make any big difference in any case,

BUT .,. When I moved into high-end systems with a contemporaneous introduction to high-end cables , …then MY experiences ( emphasis added …,,,) dictate that it does provide a distinct step-up in audio performance to have a same brand AND same model (or better) cables loom.

It’s currently an all-CARDAS CLEAR / CARDAS CLEAR REFLECTION array that superseded an all-NORDOST FREY array.

Budgets matter …it was a piecemeal 2 year migration with all purchases being pre-owned listed on major audio forums. ( mostly CAM…) It was the ICs first, then power cables next, and finally, the speaker cables last.

In fairness, my selection ranking above was actually simple serendipity of available items on the master wishlist just popping up, rather than a rigid plan .

If I was buying new, I would have started with power chords, then ICs, and then speaker cables.

FWIW ..,

Thanks Guys for your input.  I agree with what Charles 1 Dad said.  My ears tell me that I'm doing fine. It was an  expensive route to get where I am in my present system. My instinct tells me that any increase in SQ by building a loom system with one manufacturer (Nordost, Synergistic Research or many of the other respected brands) would not be noticeable to me.  I'll just follow a route that makes economic sense to me (but I won't go cheap) without religiously adhering to one brand.

+1 Charles1dad

A cable loom is a device that bundles them together in a relatively neat raceway.

The idea of your system sounding great with a full loom or a complete mishmash says absolutely nothing to answer the question. Unless you have compared the opposite… there is no information gleaned.

In my fifty years of pursuing the high end, owning dozens of components, and hundreds of interconnects… with slow and methodical convergence on synergy of components and same interconnects and cables is however evidence… although somewhat indirect.

I do have a theory for which I have a lot of personal evidence. But would be hard to prove (like everything in high end audio):

If you consider a sequence of four components Streamer -> Amp or TT -> amp)… each with a different small shortcoming.

To make it simple, let’s say component one rolls off the highs, component two rolls off the low frequency, component three rolls of the highs and component four rolls off the lows. By the time you hear the output has a highly attenuated high and low frequency. This is a pretty strong case for all the same components.

Then apply the same logic with all cables and interconnects. Suddenly the same components and same carefully chosen interconnects become a much more synergistic collection of gear.

The real world is much more complicated… but this really suggests the same everything will provide the best sound.

Of course if a different company produces a much better single component you have to weigh the variables. But if a company produces outstanding components across the spectrum, then they have a real competitive edge.