How Big of a Difference?

I was not a believer in speaker cables, power cords, etc.  However, I worked with a very knowledgeable sales person at The Cable Company.  I ended up spending $4,000 on power cables, speaker wires and digital cables.  I was amazed by the sound quality after adding a $700 power cord to my ARCAM AVR550 and purchasing Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level One speaker cables for $1,500.  I was amazed by a significant change in detail.  I could hear cymbals in greater detail.  At first voices sounded harsher, but things settled down after I had put a few hours on them.  I thought people were crazy who believed in buying expensive high grade cables.  Carbon Miller was a big help because he told me to think of cables as components.  The first thing you should do is get rid of those cheap noisy speaker wires and purchase some better speaker cables.  The Cable Company has a library with cables you can try before making a purchase.  I think you will be amazed by the sound quality.  This service to try cables first certainly is fair.  Don't listen to those who preach expensive cables are a waste of money,  If this were the case cable manufactures will be out of business.  You have nothing to lose by at least trying them first.  Ask for Steven and tell him I sent you.

You will get the full range of opinions on cables in this forum so I'm going to add my experience to the chaos.

When I test interconnects (RCA or XLR) I use a control to diminish Expectation Bias. I have two CD players (Marantz SA8005 and PS Audio PerfectWave transport + MK. II DAC) that sound virtually identical. The way I test a pair of interconnects is to listen to both players with the same CD, establish the sonic baseline, replace a pair of interconnects, and listen again to see if I can hear a difference. Thus far I haven't found a pair of wires that sounds significantly better or worse. I even bought a pair of silver RCA interconnects for several hundred dollars because audiophiles swore that silver had a different sound. Nope - they sound the same.

Regarding speaker wires, I have compared audiophile speaker wires against 16 gauge zip cord and I thought I could hear a small difference so I stuck with the fancy wires. I would like to have the opportunity to compare them in a blind test someday - I suspect that they might sound the same under those circumstances. The expensive wires are much nicer and I like looking at them which makes my whole system sound better (that was only a partial sarcasm).

I have two pieces of specific advice. 1) Blue Jeans Cables are the standard in my experience for well made affordable cables. They actually test the wire they use to optimize the characteristics of the cables for audio use. They are also very well made. If you go with Blue Jeans you can be comfortable that you have wires that will not harm the sound of your system. 2) If you want to experiment with cables it is important to buy used so you can resell them if you don't hear a difference. There are lots of used cables on the various used audio sites. You can also work with Usedcable.com who has a great selection and a workable return policy.

The most important factor in listening to cables is to manage Expectation Bias. It has been proven over and over that we hear with our eyes and brain more than our ears. If you are told (or you believe) that a certain cable makes the treble sound clearer, you will hear that effect when you listen to it. However, if you then participate in a blind test you will find that you cannot hear the difference between that cable and another one. There is a huge body of research on this phenomenon.

I am not anti-cables and my view is that if someone hears a positive difference between one cable and another (or lifting then off the floor) then that is all that matters. The difference is real for them. The point is that you have to trust your own experience and be careful to not be swayed by the manufacturer's and other audiophile's claims regarding how a cable sounds. If a $1000 interconnect sounds better than a $50 interconnect then by all means buy it if you can afford it. But for someone starting out in this hobby a healthy skepticism is important because spending big bucks on cables will not buy you nearly as much sound improvement as spending that money on speakers and other gear.

I always wondered about the improvements from cables but never (not yet) went down that road.

My biggest unanswered questions are on “power cables” Are these more like a “device” than just the correct quake cable?

And what about the approx. 100’ of romex cable in between your service panel and Gigi rig?

Do the high end power cables somehow eliminate those cheap, solid core copper lines?
These are sincere questions …not trying to be a wise guy.…

I am not anti-cables and my view is that if someone hears a positive difference between one cable and another (or lifting then off the floor) then that is all that matters. The difference is real for them. 

This is pretty much how we get to alternate truths,
(If we assume that there are not multiple realities.)
 

Differences in cables, even those costing megabucks, is subtle at best even in the most resolving of systems in dedicated listening rooms IMO and IME.  

I’d suggest buying from a dealer that has a return policy with little to no restocking fees to see if you hear a difference in your system in your home with your ears.

Good luck and enjoy the crazy ride.