I think there are three problems with this debate.
1. No one here is going to change anyone's mind
2. Anyone who spent hundreds or thousands of $$$ on cables/interconnects is NEVER going to admit he may have overspent or made a mistake or suggest that maybe what differences do occur with expensive cables were clearly not worth the money.
3. The "placebo effect" is real yet completely ignored...i.e.. "if it is supposed to sound better, it will."
Frankly...I like the quote from this tester who himself uses "upgraded" cables:
"
I use Analysis Plus, AudioQuest, XLO, and Zu Audio cables in my home system," he writes. "Does this mean you should spend more on speaker cables? Not really. Which cables offer the "best" sound for your system (and to your ears) is impossible to predict and has nothing to do with price. An expensive cable might sound worse on your system than cheap cable. Or it might sound better.
"The important thing to remember is that even if it does sound better, it's such a minuscule improvement that pretty much anything else you can do will have a greater effect on the sound. Moving the speakers, for example, or getting a different DAC, or a different receiver. Heck, even getting a bookcase and some curtains will do more to affect the sound than new speaker cable."
Above quote from: Steve Guttenberg who has worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Steve currently reviews audio products for CNET and works as a freelance writer for Home Theater, Inner Fidelity, Tone Audio, and Stereophile.
