How good does my system have to be to realize an improvement with cables?

Or put a different way How would you know if your cables are your weakest link?

Start with the cheapest Best Buy cables and if the expensive ones make no difference, then job done.

It is pretty easy to spend more than 10% even doing DIY cables, on gear that is not super expensive. I must have spent over $1000 on cables an ICs between the wire and the ends in the last couple of years… and that was for DIY cables. Easy to do ~$40-50 on a DIY IC, and more if one is using silver wire instead of Mogami or Cardas etc. wire.

Usually I have found that moving the speakers a few inches makes more of a difference than I have noticed with cables.

I’d likely buy BlueJeans if I did not have a soldering iron.

Wouldn't that $200 be better spent on a better component? 

Bingo!
We have a winner.

Thanks everyone for the input.  My biggest issue is I don't know what I don't know.  I'm budget cable all the way and it still sounds good to me, so considering buying a cables that cost more than half  of what I spent on my amp causes me pause.

I like the concept of the used the route but counterfeit looms as they are selling for more than the ones from China with the same look.

There are sooo many choices and feedback from all of you and the logic of how you made your decision is of great value to me. 

Cheers

OP,

Yep, you got it. Hopefully you take the complexity as a challenge and enjoy getting the most out of your system through listening and learning. That is what drives most of us.

I am sure over my lifetime I have spent over a thousand hours, testing, evaluating and reading about different cables. They have made major contributions to the overall sound quality of all my systems. To calm down the harshness and high frequency tipped sound when my components were inexpensive and now to be incredibly transparent to bring through the full capability of my outstanding components.

agree that 50% of component cost for cable probably doesn't make sense...some manufacturers sell their own demo or refurbished cables for reduced cost, so you're getting used without counterfeit worries...though another recent thread discussed how good some obvious counterfeits sounded..(obvious, as in $5,000 cable selling new for $50 )...remember, trying cables to improve your system can be fun, and doesn't have to cost anything to try 

I am totally “out experienced” here.
I probably only have 40 hours all in, with determining what to get, ordering it, physically making the cables, and the time I needed to work to get the funds… but I figured if the studios that are recording and mixing are using Mogami and Cardas by the kilometer(s), then if I use the same I should not loosing a  lot… Any loss would already be gone before I got the album.

However most of those studios are probably on XLR now, so maybe consider selling you gear and getting the XLR based gear, which is less fussy with cables.