amg56:
The OP asked simply, "Do cables really matter?"
My answer is 100% subjective from long experience. I don’t need to qualify anything quantitatively. This is my personal opinion and my long term investments in equipment and software over many years qualifies me to be able to make this call. Yes, they do matter! That’s my answer to the OP’s question.
Now, ask me a specific question about any of the brands I mentioned and I will be happy to respond, as long as you are willing to take the system and listening room contexts into account and that are acknowledged as contributory to my opinions. There are no absolutes here, only impressions. What I like personally, someone else here may dislike. What I can discern as a difference, someone else could negate and dismiss. Judge for yourself.
Personally, I would never spend $10K on a cable due to the asymptotic law of diminishing returns.
The OP asked simply, "Do cables really matter?"
My answer is 100% subjective from long experience. I don’t need to qualify anything quantitatively. This is my personal opinion and my long term investments in equipment and software over many years qualifies me to be able to make this call. Yes, they do matter! That’s my answer to the OP’s question.
Now, ask me a specific question about any of the brands I mentioned and I will be happy to respond, as long as you are willing to take the system and listening room contexts into account and that are acknowledged as contributory to my opinions. There are no absolutes here, only impressions. What I like personally, someone else here may dislike. What I can discern as a difference, someone else could negate and dismiss. Judge for yourself.
Personally, I would never spend $10K on a cable due to the asymptotic law of diminishing returns.