"We audiophiles often shoot ourselves in the foot with our own stupidity."I certainly understand how that appears to be true but it is a value statement that only the buyer can resolve based on their own system, tastes and wallet.
I had a manufacturer once tell me about a new component they had released,
"I made the mistake of not pricing it high enough."Thus raises the often debated question of whether the price of audio gear should be based on manufacturing costs (as many like to point out when arguing against high priced gear) or sound quality relative to other gear in a similar price range (which is an argument for purchasing high priced gear).
At the end of the day, manufacturers decide which niche of the market they are after and manufacture and price their gear accordingly. The market decides whether they chose wisely or poorly.
I jumped out of the cable game a long time ago and have found the WE wire to sound excellent as speaker cables and power cables in my system. I was less impressed by the Belden wire used as ICs, instead choosing to use a high quality/purity copper-in-cotton wire that I have found to sound very good.