why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

My recollection from retail sales days is that historically all wires tended to be mostly profit to help compensate for the fact that there was little profit in selling electronics. I doubt much has changed except that more people realize the profit in wires versus other gear and jumped on the bandwagon.

Speakers were the next highest profit margin items in general, usually 100%, not unreasonable in order for a store to be able to make a profit because there was little or non to be had selling electronics.

Just look at the prices of wires at BEst Buy even today and it seems things have not changed much. Nowadays, profit is mostly in services, like in cell phone service as opposed to the cost of buying the actual phone.

If you gotta have it, you gotta have it. Profit margins should not deter you. People have to make a living somehow.

Moderately expensive cables are very inexpensive if you buy and sell used, especially with brands that do not change models very often. Nothing much to debate, we each decide what is worth the cost. But this needs to include resale.

I have no doubt that there is HUGE profit in the minimalist designed DNM Reson ICs that I use exclusively these days. But they are reasonably affordable (on teh grand scale of high end audio things) and I can clearly hear the difference they make compared to the others I have tried so there you go.

Same true with Pangea power Cords I use on pre-amp and DAC except the build quality of these is quite substantial and seems to at least somewhat justify the modest on the grand scale of things cost.

For TOSLINK/SPDIF digital cables, I know of and hear nothing to justify any extra expense, as long as they are of good build quality. Amazon basic models do just fine for practically nothing and at a fraction of the cost of similar wires at Best Buy even.

The jury is still out for me in regards to digital USB cables...not enough data points under my belt yet with hifi USB to say, though I am skeptical great expense is needed for top notch results there.

My experience has been that not only are all wires not created equal, but it matters more or less even depending on the specific type and use. Its hard to predict what will work best or provide best value. Throwing money at the problem is easier sometimes perhaps and may help or not but will almost certainly NOT yield the best value in the end, if that is what matters. Continual trial and error with various more modest cost options (especially if used or via a company that specializes in helping people find the RIGHT wires, not just a particular make/model) is the way I would recommend for most interested in excellent performance but at modest cost.

Taters, you'll never find a consensus in what may be THE most polarizing topic in HiFi. I'm not hear to beat the drum for either camp, but my two cents - Cable costs should be proportionate to the overall system cost. Case in point: Last year I was auditioning new speakers and was listening to a pair of Audio Note AN-E Spe at the local dealer. We started with the the least expensive AN copper cables that were in my price range and it was very nice. If that's all I heard I would have been pleased as punch. Then we swapped in the next step up silver cables and the sound changed measurable (approx 31.56%). I kid, but it was VERY noticeable. Better, worse that's and individual thing but certainly different and more to my liking with increased clarity w/o trading away warmth. Then we jumped to the $$$ silver cables and the sound didn't so much change as you got "more" of everything. Now bear in mind the whole system was $95K+ of all Audio Note gear, which brings me to my second point - System Synergy. You don't put monster truck tires on a Ferrari. You can have uber-expensive gear that simple doesn't work well together. If you've drank the Shindo Cool-Aid (like I have) System Synergy becomes quite important for a myriad of different reason I won't get into here. But because of this they make their own cables designed to mate with their own equipment as does Audio Note and maybe a few others (Terrasonics?) I'm not saying it's the only way to go, but I like the idea that someone with intimate knowledge of my gear purpose building cables to compliment them. I feel if you have a well thought out system you're doing yourself a disservice by not having cables that compliment what you've assembled and I'm not saying they have to be expensive either. If you sat through that same demo with me and you couldn't hear a difference between those 3 speaker cables I'd be suggesting a trip to the audiologist. I know DIY friends that run lamp cord as speaker/IC and they're very pleased with the results. You know what, at the end of the day, screw everybody else, myself included. Just do what makes YOU happy!

"10-26-15: Ebm
Why do people feel they need to buy cheap cables??"
Because they make more sense and largest value per dollar.