@daleberlin I wish you luck in your pursuit of the perfect cables for your system. I don't think your post was stupid or uninformed, there's a staggering number of options available and it can be daunting.
- Most will agree that specs don't begin to tell you how a cable will sound in your system.
- Most will agree that any given cable can sound great in one system, and not so great in another.
- Most will agree that the price paid for a cable doesn't directly reflect the sound quality you will enjoy.
- I believe it be conventional wisdom that a more revealing system will exploit the differences of cables more so than in modest systems.
- And finally I think most folks can agree that you will most likely have to try different cables to see what works best for you.
So yeah it can be fun or aggravating, however you look at it. That said I can see the value of a spreadsheet that lists commonly available cables. Perhaps listing price, conductor material, insulation/dielectric, connectors used ,basic electrical characteristics and ideally consumer ratings on key audio metrics. Maybe a pivot table that would allow you to bring up results for cables in a certain price range, that have a specific conductor and insulation properties that you're looking for.
From there research those results a bit more and arrange for some home demos?
Again....good luck and stay safe!