Cables, just as important as a hi end component?

I use cables to get the final tuning on my system, I don't think there is a hard budget number for cable expenditures. I use the cable my system needs and that is often an affordable cable. 

You get what you pay for, but price is not a perfect indicator of overall quality.  You don't have to spend big on cables in order to get high quality performance.  If you want state of the art, that's a whole other situation.  Cables make a difference, but it's more along the lines of holding back a system rather than elevating one.

Been saying for years wire is every bit as important as any other component. The essential components of a high end system are source, amp, speaker, and wire. Four equally essential components. My rule of thumb, 25% on each. 

The thing is, the correlation between cost and sound quality is entirely hypothetical. There can come a point where for example with a Townshend F1 you can spend 5X and not have much to show for it, ditto Tekton Moab. That kind of thing. But in general yes it is penny wise and pound foolish to have a $30k system with $300 wire. Nuts. But a lot of guys still have yet to figure this out.

Nope …. Not necessarily …..

(1) High end prices on cables are no assurance of any audio performance improvements or system synergy.

(2) the improvements and benefits of cables are entirely system dependent in the 2nd part.For example, uber high-end Harbeth speakers expressly say just buy good wire but don’t overspend.... In fact, their own head honcho guru and chief designer expressly preaches that cheap 79-strand speaker wire is all you need you even with any of their speaker models including their $24K top end 40.3 standmounts.

(3) The effects of your own bespoke listening arena’s bespoke warts and compromises can - and usually will - adversely trump any improvements of an expensive cables array. Identical systems can sound entirely different in different listening rooms.

(4) Unfortunately this is the kind of generalized posture as one for which you will never get any satisfactory buy-in. For a start you have omitted the kind of music that one likes, , and widely differing basic tastes in sound…= one size NEVER fits all. What sounds “good” depends upon a very subjective taste and someone else’s subjective conflicting taste may not be yours.

FWIW. I am an “audiophool” with a $40K+ 2-channel system with my NORDOST cables comprising ~ $4K therein. And I even have expensive HARBETH speakers too, BUT I don’t belong to the cheap as you can go speaker wires believer cohort either.

My full $$$ NORDOST cables loom did step up the audio performance in MY system in MY bespoke room (… emphasis added …) …. BUT …and its a big “BUT”…. I would never preach that same mantra as a generalization , full stop.

About 50% of the forum readers will likely always disagree with the pro-cables types , Fine with me …

OP, I take your point as that it is wrong to "cheap out" meaning cut corners on quality given a fair amount of care and expenditure elsewhere. The amount of money might not be a lot. I know some expert speaker makers who are fine with relatively inexpensive wire, but it's not because they've cheaped out but because if they don't hear a difference with a cable, there's no reason to waste money there.

An "audiofool" can be someone who spends a lot or a little, but the common denominator is that they don't learn to listen.