I had a "below average" experience with the Anti-Cables 6.2 interconnects. While not exactly "budget" they are way more affordable than high end cables it supposedly competes with.
After extensive burn-in I could tell NO difference between the 6.2 cables and a set of pro cable stock no-names I had lying around the basement. It could be my cheap 845 SET at the time wasn’t resolving enough to tell the difference but there’s my data point. Luckily AC is easy to deal with and I was able to return the cables for a refund without any fuss.
One manufacturer I've never had a dud from is Audio Sensibility out of Canada. The founder has a good price source for Japanese OCC copper due to his family connections with the inventor of OCC so they offer best copper in the world (Japanese OCC) at better prices compared to others.
After extensive burn-in I could tell NO difference between the 6.2 cables and a set of pro cable stock no-names I had lying around the basement. It could be my cheap 845 SET at the time wasn’t resolving enough to tell the difference but there’s my data point. Luckily AC is easy to deal with and I was able to return the cables for a refund without any fuss.
One manufacturer I've never had a dud from is Audio Sensibility out of Canada. The founder has a good price source for Japanese OCC copper due to his family connections with the inventor of OCC so they offer best copper in the world (Japanese OCC) at better prices compared to others.