Thanks for your response. Yes, it can be fun.
Cool about you zeroing in on the occ/ohno cable. I completely understand your interest. It is really fascinating to zero in on subtle differences in the materials and isolation techniques. I spent a lot of time noting the difference with earlier systems of mine with different formulas of copper. My systems at that time we’re high resolution and mostly solid state. Copper was usually the best solution. As my systems evolved, then silver coated copper struck the right balance.
I have to say that my experience has been that as components get better one can move up on the metal scale. The very best cables I have heard are Nordost Odin 2. Heavy silver. Upper end Nordost are incredible… lower level not so much. The Nordost Odin 2 are just frighteningly good with the right components. But the average cost of my components is $20K and the Odin 2 interconnect $17K… after a week… I had to yank them from my system as they were starting to sound too good.
I guess what I have learned is that you work with and carefully differentiate the materials / technology that works with your current system and close variants. As you move up in the compliment of components to really high end stuff the components require greater neutrality to sound the best. This is why the upper tiers of Transparent, Nordost, and some of the other brands exist. I use almost all Transperant now. I remember connecting a set of Transparent speaker cables (and Straight Wire interconnects) to my system thirty years ago and clasping my hands over my ears in horror… but in my current, much better system… the same interconnects sound great. So, it all depends on your current system.