Are expensive cables worth it?

No, you're not crazy -- you are right on.

A bottle of wine in some of the high-class night clubs of NYC would run above $200 while in liquer stores it's $20 max and ordinary italian or french restaurant would sell it probably for $40.

A class may be higher but the content is the same.
Whoever visits the high-class clubs probably doesn't care whether it's $200 or $20...

Marak's analogy is well-stated.

Consider the success of a cable maker such as Signal. No-nonsense, well-engineered, great sounding cables that work for many/most of us. Last word in resolution? Probably not. But you cannot deny the impact of guys like Frank which he well deserves. 775 xactions, 100% positive feedback. Element, VH, MAS and LAT all dovetail into this category as well. Bettercables, blue jeans cables, homegrown, etc.

If you DIY cables, the aroma of snake oil is overwhelming, at least to this probocis.

Buy recordings, they, at least, all sound different and some are actually quite good! "Subtle" is code for "non-existant".

IMHO, very few things in the audio world is worth it. But niether is a 60K car. When you look at the price of some cables it's hard to justify. I have found in audio that for the most part you get what you pay for up to a certain limit. When I upgrade hardware and cables usually paying more has bought me a cleaner, quieter, richer sound. I try upgrading one component at a time so as to make sure that I can hear / percieve the difference. The best way to tell if something improves your system is to work with a dealer that will loan you the gear or cables. I find that when you are not committed to something you can be more objective because you have nothing to lose. When I've purchased something I pretty much had to acknowledge that it was an improvement or admit that I made a mistake or was taken. I really appreciate the establishments that allow you to take something home and hear it in your enviroment. With that said usually a 1K cable will present something in your system that a 100.00 cable won't. Providing your system is at the level that subtle changes can be appreciated. In other words if you have cheap components adding expensives cables will not make much of an improvement. If you have high quality gear not just expensive, good cables should make a difference. One last thing, now that most systems don't provide bass / treble adjustment besides tuning the room the only other way to tune the system is with cables. So if your system is dull or bright by carefully matching cables you can acheive the desired sound. If we all stop buying expensive cables will the prices come down?