Favorite cable brand.

Thanks @cromaudionut I like the blue jeans site and I like that schmitt cable site posted earlier in this discussion by @bob540. They tell you how the cable is constructed and charge reasonable prices based on that. This sitehttp://diyaudioprojects.com/Power/power.htmis interesting because it only contains six cable construction projects, hinting to me that for people who look at the available source components, that is about how many basic variations on the theme there are. This is an approach to the cable topic I would love to see an in-depth article on in one of the audio sites.

Where I started and where I am today.

Monster Cable
AudioQuest
Kimber
DIY. Wire and plugs from Michael Percy and Ron Welborne
Back to Kimber
Canare, various.
Clear Days IC both single/balanced and speaker cable with Shunyata PC and Hydra
Nordost
WyWires, with still a couple Nordost and Supra Cat8. Fairly happy where things are with cables and rather spend money elsewhere in the system. Also some power cables for digital equipment from VH Audio, Kimber 8TC and Canare balanced cables that I also use to mic my drums.

Favorite today?
WyWires

Wywires

First off, your system and your ears are what matters.  Try before you buy and stop trying to outsmart everyone...it is way to variable to use isolated objective parameters of a cable as a definitive solution.  As for all the arguments regarding cables are cables...for the most part, they are often more similar than different but not without discernable performance variations.  For this reason I tried both Transparent cables and MIT many years ago to hear what a “ more than just cable” design could offer.  MIT has been the clearly superior performer for my ears, especially with their more recent offerings.  Once you hear what they can do in a properly matched system, it is virtually impossible to do without them!

XFinity?TeeHee