What do audiophiles want from a cable?


What should a high quality interconnect or speaker cable do to the sound of a system? Make it more transparent? Improve the sound stage and focus? Soften unpleasant highs? Tighten the base? Bring out the mids?

To me, a good cable should reveal more of what is on the recording and more of the true nature of my components. So when trying new cables, I look for more detail and accuracy without becoming cold and clinical. This seems logical, and yet after reading reviews and trying a few of the cables in the reviews, I find that the cables that have received glowing endorsements are not especially transparent or revealing. They modify the sound, but they don’t take me where I want to go. I wonder if the reason I don’t hear what the reviewer heard is that I don’t know what to listen for. Am I too focused on cable accuracy and resolution, and not enough on actual sound quality? Or is it just a case of no two systems sounding alike so why trust a review anyway? Thanks.
mward
I think the crux of my question is, am I a good audiophile?  Am I judging cables the right way.  I'm entirely focused on accuracy but not on how they make instruments sound, does a piano sound like a piano, or would I rather have it sound like a poorly recorded piano?  What is the accepted measure?  Would you rather have a piano sound like a thin representation of a piano or would you like cables that fix that problem?  Is a cable that fixes the problem the best cable?
Well, of course, ideal cable should not alter the signal while transmitting it. But that's ideal, so any cable does alter the signal to a degree. The question is how do we want the signal to be altered since we cannot fully avoid it ?
Yes.  If the piano is recorded well and your room/equipment are capable of producing, then the piano should certainly sound like a piano.  Yes, great cables will allow a capable system that is setup correctly in a proper space to more accurately reproduce the sound of a real live piano.  

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I said it before and I will say it again. In my view, cables should be at least one step ahead of the active components. In this case you can be assured that your active components are giving you everything they are capable of.
Cables as tone controls? Not a very good idea, I think, but can it be avoided altogether? I guess not.