What do $2500 speaker cables sound like?

Agree with raising the cables off the floor. I started out with short tea candle holders from Ikea. Real cheap and easy to lay cables on their scalloped edges.

Next I tried some 6" 4x4s and was impressed with the improvement. I remember Pierre Sprey of Mapleshade saying to get them at least 8" off the floor so I went and got some of those 3M stick on hooks for one wall behind the speakers and strung up the extra length on them, about 30" off the floor. Not all of the cable is that high (one section is as close as 8" as it droops-the cables are about 2’ longer than I need).
For the other side, I had to go with a short wire TP holder (25") with an extended handle (for that roll) to use to lay the cable on due to its proximity to the wall heater.

As funny as it sounds, it’s not in the least funny in how it sounds. The clarity is so pronounced that solo voices with acoustic accompaniment sounds so eerily real as to beg disbelief. That goes for all around clarity as well on any recording. The only trade off is getting used to a somewhat lessened lower mid and bass performance.

It seems that the smearing introduced by my synthetic carpet added some heft to the sound in the lower parts. To think that I’ve read of this many years ago (closer to decades) and didn’t take it all that seriously gives me pause. I always thought that my Marantz had that relaxed house sound but with everything I do to clean things up (power conditioning, footers, fuses, and now cable management) the more the sound is not relaxed at all, but just ever so slightly warm off center, but capable of lots of detail and depth.

All the best,
Nonoise

Cable management is not a hoax and cable risers are not cosmetic, even though they could look strange or impressive to someone who is less involved with these things. Both could cost nothing to do but your spare time.
Rising speaker cables off the floor had a positive effect on stereo imaging in my case. Three more power cables to go.

Hey @nonoise 

Any idea what the reason is for needing to have cables 8" off the floor? The need to have them off the floor is due to vibration from the floor from the speakers, which need to be touching to affect the cables. Unless maybe with static electricity from carpets? I just have mine off the floor with little wood trim pieces attached to the back of my credenza or held up by shoeboxes behind it. Why 30" off the floor?

@sokogear,
Not all of the cable is 30" off the floor. I tried to depict the image of longer than needed cable drooping as I hung it, with sections of it at the 8" height off the floor. Not all of it is 30" off the floor. 

As the crow flies, one speaker is about 4' from my integrated and the other is about 2 1/2', while my SCs are about 8' in length.

The thought of static electricity ran through my mind as well. It's only on the synthetic carpet in my apartment that I can build it up to the point where I'll shock myself, so it stands to reason it may have been interfering with the sound of the cable all this time, acting as an additional layer of unwanted dielectric. Who knows? 

All I care is that it sounds much more convincing.

All the best,
Nonoise