@jsautter In my world people who believe in unbelievable things are called fools.
The point of that (in kind) response is simply to point out that there is no foolishness at all in deciding not to pursue something that does not make sense and has no credible science behind it ($24 000 interconnect), especially not based on the recommendations of unknown people on the internet. The fact that you have to attack and insult people who don’t share your views is pretty telling in my opinion.
I use live and extremely rare rattlesnakes to connect my DAC and pre-amp and the results are wonderful. And if you doubt that but haven’t tried it you are a fool, right? Or maybe just a "tourist"? Maybe you’ll claim that’s an ad absurdum argument since certainly no one uses rattlesnakes. But have you tried the $24,000 cables mentioned by the OP? Do you doubt at all that they are worth every single penny? If so....again, the word "tourist" seems to fit.