WHY CABLES MATTER!

I think there is too much generalization in this thread.  The quality of cabling and power cords must be commensurate with the quality of the speakers, amps and sources.  Eg. $3000 speaker cables do not make sense for a $3000 pair of speakers and a $3000 amp.  Someone may hear a difference but those speakers/amp will never realize the full potential of those cables.  The converse, someone with $50k speakers and $20k amps running Belden wiring will never hear the true potential of their equipment.  There has to be a balance.  Lastly, people react differently when they hear a truly remarkable hi end hifi system.  Some are blown away and then make it their life goal to achieve that sound in their home (me).  Some think it’s nice but too over the top and just don’t care about it (my brothers).  Some don’t see it as a big deal at all and are happy with a Sony boom box (my youngest brother).  

Take my home theater system.  I have a nice Marantz receiver, Monitor Audio Gold 200 speakers and a Sony OLED TV.  It’s nothing like my stereo system.  It’s a good mid fi set up and I’m fine with that.  I can listen to music on it.  It’s not holographic and the clarity is not breathtakingly good like my stereo but it is pleasant enough sound.  Some things trickle down from my stereo system to my home theater system.  For example, the HT system got my Furman Elite power conditioner when I upgraded the stereo to the Niagara 5000.  The stereo sound improved quite noticeably.  The HT system sound improvement I did not notice so much but the TV picture improvement blew me away.  The picture got sharper and the colors brighter.  An amazing change.  I tried to convince friends and family that they need an $800 power conditioner on their $1000 TVs but no one listened to me.  Yes, I have some upgrade power cords on my HT system- trickle down but not anything exotic expensive.

When I got the LHY SW-8 network switch, I ran a 75 foot long ethernet cable to my Apple TV box.  The streaming picture improved dramatically.  The TV picture today looks like a photograph in motion.  I am so taken by the picture that I don’t think about the sound so much.  And no, I’m not going to run a 75 foot long silver plated ethernet cable to my HT system.  Also, I have $400 speaker cables on the HT speakers.  When I upgraded my stereo speaker cables from expensive to very expensive I didn’t put the old cables on my HT system.  It would not have made much of an improvement in the sound of the HT system. Sure, maybe something but not worth the cost of those cables.

Summary:  Cables commensurate to the equipment in use.  Buy good gear but go cheap on cables and sadly, the full potential will never be realized.  Point two:  Get a good power conditioner for your TV.  In this case an $800 power conditioner for a $1000 TV will make a difference.  Ok, my OLED TV cost a little more than that.

"$3000 speaker cables do not make sense for a $3000 pair of speakers and a $3000 amp.  Someone may hear a difference but those speakers/amp will never realize the full potential of those cables."

Why is that?

I said why.

So is  "Cables commensurate to the equipment in use. " your answer?

Basically it seems you don't know the specifics or you read that somewhere.

Doesn't answer my question.

Look, stereo gear comes in differing levels of performance. Some basic 100 w/ch amps can be had for a few hundred dollars these days. They use IC’s, low grade electrolytic capacitors, low grade resistors, inductors, low grade printed circuit boards and wiring. They make music but the distortion and noise levels wash out resolution and detail. Better gear still use op amps but will have better electrolytic caps and resistors, inductors and maybe better grade printed circuit boards. And today’s op amps perform much better than in the past. The best gear uses discrete components, high grade circuit boards, better grade of electrolytic capacitors and some film capacitors- better transistors, or tubes. and better grade of inductors. Now resolution and detail is sufficient to differentiate between the different grades of cables. The top end gear will have more sophisticated EMI and RFI rejection circuitry, silver or gold plated printed circuit boards and top grade wiring, resistors, inductors and film and electrolytic capacitors. Add in some nice metal work and metal boxes for this higher end gear and the prices do get rather high. You get what you pay for- very high resolution, clarity, low noise and detail. Now the best cables and power cords will work together with this gear to provide the ultimate in performance.

Take for example, my Marantz HT receiver. It is a nice 40 lb box that delivers 125 W/ch into 9 channels at 8 ohms. One of my Pass Labs mono amps delivers 280 watts into a single channel. That mono amp is almost twice the size of the Marantz receiver and weighs 110 lbs. I expect it to deliver a much higher level of performance and it does. I also know that the best power cords, speaker cables and interconnects will enhance its performance whereas those same cables would be overkill for the Marantz receiver. I know I would not hear much of a difference on my mid fi system with high end cables- it can’t hurt but it also will not help much.

I hope this answers your question and you are being sincere- not just yanking my chain.