Whoops, I meant to write: "I’m NOT trying to convince you otherwise."
(Your anecdote about the a system "springing to life" after changing the Ethernet cable only adds to my skepticism about your other anecdotal experience with other cables. Having seen many debates over ethernet/digital cables, with input from electrical engineers, it seems to me the technical case made for audible differences is weaker than the one for audible differences to be extremely unlikely. But many audiophiles think *everything* makes a difference, which is precisely what can happen when one relies purely on uncontrolled, subjectivity-based anecdote. Our perception can change for various reasons, and when you always ascribe this to an outside cause, it allows people to come up with all sorts of dubious and contradictory ideas. It’s why the world is filled with crack-pot medical nostrums - and countless other wild claims - that have fervent believers).
(Your anecdote about the a system "springing to life" after changing the Ethernet cable only adds to my skepticism about your other anecdotal experience with other cables. Having seen many debates over ethernet/digital cables, with input from electrical engineers, it seems to me the technical case made for audible differences is weaker than the one for audible differences to be extremely unlikely. But many audiophiles think *everything* makes a difference, which is precisely what can happen when one relies purely on uncontrolled, subjectivity-based anecdote. Our perception can change for various reasons, and when you always ascribe this to an outside cause, it allows people to come up with all sorts of dubious and contradictory ideas. It’s why the world is filled with crack-pot medical nostrums - and countless other wild claims - that have fervent believers).