Are audiophiles still out of their minds?

Stevecham,

"I too went down the expensive cables/IC rabbit hole for a few years (Synergistic, Tara, Audioquest, Van Den Hul, Harmonic Technologies and several others) and then found Mapleshade and Anti Cables, the latter brand being what I currently enjoy and for the past two years, have felt zero inclination to "improve."

Precisely my point. There are plenty of affordable cables that will compete with and sound better than these over marketed expensive brands. 

I love the Mapleshade Double Golden Helix Plus, still use my pair, but found in my main system that Transparent Super MM2 sounded much better...don't know that they sound 400% better though...

I felt it would be a tragic waste of my awesome Dali Speakers and Pass Amp to not get the best sounding cable I could afford,  and that would have good resale value...I never thought about what the cables I auditioned cost to develop, manufacture, market and distribute...

DNM Reson satisfied all my IC needs.

One could take a look at their minimalist design and think they are overpriced as well for what they are. 

But thing is I tried them specifically because of their  unique minimalist approach  (something clearly much different than the norm just by appearance) and have found them to sound best overall especially in regards to coherency top to bottom.   So I have dropped a few hundred into these wires that appear to not be much different than your run of the mill 300ohm dipole wire antenna you paid $5 bucks or so for a t Radio Shack in years past and no longer have any real interest in others unless they provide something truly unique for a comparable price.  

Well, they are single strand I believe and some come with beefed up connectors so I suppose that gotta cost something.

Geoff,

"Your negative or unsubstantial results actually don’t match what the majority of audiophiles experience with expensive cables, therefore your contention that expensive cables are not worth the price is unfounded."
--Says you. I know plenty who have had the opposite experience. It's hard not to convince yourself that your mega expensive cables improved the sound of your system after spending so much money on fancy dressed copper wire.  So your contention is unfounded. 

"Two, your contention that blind tests reveal that all expensive cables are no better than cheap cables is either your own puffery and untrue or if you have been involved in a blind test, which BTW I actually doubt, that produced negative results I suggest it is simply an outlier and can be thrown out."
--Not even sure how to even begin on this one.  When did I ever claim blind tests reveal ALL expensive cables are no better than cheap cables? I said there is no correlation. Please look up the definition of correlation if I've confused you.  So anything that goes against your belief is an "outlier"? You're full of yourself.

"Besides the tests you yourself (for some bizarre reason) linked earlier on this thread actually show the opposite - they show that there ARE significant differences among cables as heard by almost ALL listeners in the test."
--When did I ever claim there is no difference in sound among cables?  I have repeatedly stated that I hear differences in cables.  This shows you're blinded by your own biases and not EVEN LISTENING to what I have been saying.  First, I thought you're just a troll.  Now I know you're not even a good troll.

Perhaps you should just take your own advice. "This is just a hobby."  You're losing your cool.