@bdp24 Gear that adheres to the AES48 standard do have some audible sonic differences with various types of XLR's. The thing is if you are not too anal about it you can get 95% there with much lower cost pro cables. Even for those small differences someone may chose the lower cost cable based on sound preference alone. However. I am all for people spending money on audio gear and finding happiness.
I am rocking cheap 15 foot Benchmark XLR between my Benchmark LA4 preamp and 2 Benchmark AHB2 monos. They are AES48 compliant. I have tried 'better' consumer XLRs on these 2 and I could not hear a worthwhile difference.
With other non-AES48 compliant gear I have found 'better' cables to be preferred by me. Such as non-Benchmark sources to my Benchmark LA4 pre-amp I use Audience AU 24 SE XLRs over Benchmark XLRs