Most Important, Unloved Cable...

there are definitely some loose minus signs floating around...

Isn’t this thread a thinly disguised and deliberate attempt at trolling?

It starts off with an appeal to authority and then goes on to aggressively attack those who do not hear any differences; "cognitive dissonance" and "hearing for crap" and "should exit the hobby". Basically if you can't see the emperor's fantastic colourful clothes then you are stupid....

Did Doug forget his meds this morning or a little too much coffee?

Shadorne, you are correct; the last sentence was rude and should have not been typed. Apologies to the community. 

My comment regarding cognitive dissonance is sincere. I had serious doubts about the efficacy of the aftermarket Ethernet cables, and frankly, had I not so much experience with cables I likely would not have tried one. I have heard so many wild swings in performance from cables that I have learned through actual use not to discount potential of any wire to change a rig's sound. I hold that someone with good ears (no hearing impairment), good gear and a good room (not noisy) should be able to discern differences between cables typically. 

FYI, my engineer friend now has $2,500 in cables in his rig. He is ecstatic about the changes to the sound and he no longer laughs when I talk about things such as aftermarket Ethernet cables. He will be euphoric to find how economically he can upgrade the system for an outsized performance improvement. I do enjoy him wrestling with the cognitive dissonance, which is something I think most audiophiles who work with cables experience. I have to learn and relearn not to let doubts stop me from exploring, or else I bypass very good things in terms of the system and enjoyment of the hobby. :) 

As far as an appeal to authority, yes the authority is me. I have done both ABX testing and comparisons sighted, so unless someone has done both I think they are weak in challenging myself as an authority. :) 

I believe Ivor Tiefenbrun(Linn founder) said something along the lines of, " if you haven't heard it, you have no opinion".   That just makes sense, which(to some around here) seems irrelevant.

Yes the Tera Grand Cat 7 Ethernet cables at $11 for two 6 foot cables are said by some to sound better than Audioquest Vodka. The connector is also shielded! I am going to try some. Read some online Aphiles reviews saying this stuff bested the big dollar AQ Vodka. 

Go to Amazon.