why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

Best to sweep this discussion under the rug . We don't want to hurt cable sales .

Funny that Tara Labs would come up....that is one of the other cable manufacturers that I have owned and experienced and they make some awesome stuff.  What get's my gander up is the likes of Analysis Plus or Nordost...non musical in my book!

I think one of the biggest reasons that people cannot hear a difference in cables is that their equipment is not resolving enough. .Whether it is an amp or speakers .. etc.
For many years i could not ever hear a difference in digital cables . I changed to a different  amp  , and i could then hear differences.

I completely agree!  Note that if you HAVE spent mega-bucks on interconnects or speaker cables, there is not a chance in hell that you (on this forum) would EVER change you mind that THAT purchase must have made your system sound better - even if you cannot hear it.  It is called the audio placebo effect.  If you put out the big-bucks on cables, a better sub a DAC or just about any component, once you get it installed your system WILL sound better.  It is proof positive that, on some products, if you overcharge you will sell more to the duped masses.

Some time ago, I replaced the Kimber (speaker) cables that came with a slightly used pair of B&W 803's with a 10 dollar set of Monoprice cables.  I had no way to do a "blind" A/B test but after I switched them out those 803's continued to sweetly sing...no difference that I could tell.

dynaquest: This statement that attempts to paint a broad stroke characterization of all audiophiles as weak-minded, pliable, easily fooled, etc...and somehow enforce your view of the world and your agenda as a truth that must apply to all is simply not true.  From my side I can personally recount 3 times in the last 11 years alone where (1) I ripped out an entire loom of a highly-thought of brand of  expensive power cords, went back to stock cords and determined the stock cords were more natural sounding and that as the loom of pcs had grown, a mistake had been made that resulted in accumulated house sound.  Same with 2 different iterations of a combination of speaker cables and interconnects from 2 different high-end cable manufacturers at various points. Each time I either returned to stock PCs or to very low-cost interconnects and speaker cables. There were things the low cost approach cables did not give me that I determined to live without and many that I did hear that I liked.
I've also cut into or unwrapped more than a few cables in my time to see what's inside and realize there are a few brands out there that are simply "F-O-S!!!" and pulling one over on many of us music lovers. 

I only 'went back' because I happened to be given an interconnect, a speaker cable and a power cord from one manufacturer that are not inexpensive, but not amongst the strata of audio cables that simply cannot explain their prices in terms of any reasonable markup on cost of goods plus cost of manufacture (and R&D). I stayed with the brand in question as they survived real A/B testing (double-blind) and truly deliver what they say with a high-end, resolving system and a good pair of ears on the receiving end.

I'm not here to give examples of the "B.S." cable choices I've experienced, nor am I going to give the names of the brands that I ripped out of the system or the higher end brand I wound up going moving to in order to promote them.  Like another poster, I am results-oriented; I would never have agreed to go back on the 'spend more/pray for good results" merry go round if I had not heard truly remarkable differences when the cables in question in place and not been fooled in the double-blind testing when they were not. My only purpose here is to tell you that you are wrong about many audiophiles, including several I know well and myself that have all walked similar roads making mistakes and moving past them in various ways.  

Please post your system and share more detail on your journey and your basis for your claims.

All this aside,....Have a Happy New Year!