What's your investment threshold?

I fully agree with ebm.  I buy the best i can afford.  I do not wish to limit the performance of my components by saving a few dollars on cables.  I consider cables as part of the unit they connect.

I avoid any manufacturer who expects you to buy their products on faith without revealing their construction or specifications.  These would be more marketing oriented. They have more cables in their product line than they can invent names for.  I look for a unified theme or approach for all the cables in a company's line.  They should be able to demonstrate why that design is superior to others.

I favor Analysis Plus who employ degreed engineers and avoid advertising hype.  I also use TARA Labs wide bandwidth designs.  Their construction techniques, materials, specifications and  are exemplary.   I have used TARA cables since 1998.  Their sound in my system is unsurpassed by anything else in my 55 year experience  as an audiophile. 

jsm71, You call it an "investment" ????  Perhaps wife is reading  :)

Surely there's an underlying issue--or sense--of proportionality at work in much of this.  Perhaps--perhaps--plugging a 5K power cable into a 2.5K integrated would make it sing like never before, but then why not just buy a 6K integrated in the first place, and save some $$.  Ultimately, it all has to do with price-point scales within the different component categories.  What's the "right" percentage to drop on speaker cables driving, say,10K speakers.  1K? 2K? 3K?  Get much above that, and why not buy the next model up in the same speaker line, and run it with bang-for-the-buck cables.

jsm71, You call it an "investment" ???? Perhaps wife is reading :)

My wife is fully aware of my audio spending.  She doesn't share my hobby but knows it is important to me.  I've got a keeper.