Why Do Cables Matter?

I'm trying not to get drawn into this discussion but I can't help myself.  So as someone who has been fortunate to buy some higher quality gear I will share some of my experience.  I are an engineer not a professional stereo reviewer but I will try to communicate the contributions I have heard from the various cables.

Power Cords:  1st preamps and amps- as I moved up the line of power cords the two main things I heard were blacker background.  It's not about sticking my ear to a tweeter and listening for noise.  It is something else.  In a dead quiet room the first thing I noticed with a better power cord was just quiet.  The music comes out of nowhere without warning.  The second thing is the sound.  Bass is firmer and edges on the highs are smoother.  It took some pretty expensive power cords to experience this level of change.  Mid grade power cords not so much.  When I upgraded the power cord on my DAC I immediately noticed the grain in the highs was gone.  And I am using a tubed DAC.  I'd say the DAC was impacted the most with a better power cord.  Some songs that were bright sounding to me, causing me to turn the volume down were now much more pleasant sounding.  

Speaker Cables- I'm trying to remember what they did for my system.  I think it was mostly better clarity and bigger soundstage.  Bass got tighter too, but I will get to this in a minute- the interconnects affected the bass too.  Power cords and speaker cables are enough to start inducing goose bumps.

Interconnects:  I am using all XLRs so I cannot speak to single ended designs.  When I upgraded my cable from preamp to amps the bass changed completely.  I thought it was great before.  Suddenly, the clarity was like crystal.  What I thought was a kind of fuzz in some low bass guitar notes tightened up so that now I can hear the strings.  It was a startling change.

Networking:  This is a technology that is far from mature and so many people have experienced varying results with a nearly infinite combination of components.  In my case, as I said earlier, the network cables impact the sound.  I did not buy super expensive ethernet cables (well, I have an AQ ethernet cable going into the music server) but I got some $35 Pangea ethernet cables to go from modem to router and router to network switch.  These cables have silver plated Cardas wire in them.  They improve the sound of bass when streaming music and added clarity.  I probably could not tell the difference in sound between CD and streaming now.  They are very close.  

Cables are the icing on the cake.  So you could eat the cake without icing but it is not nearly as good.  Probably the most frustrating part about cables is the almost infinite choices and the inability to try more than just a handful.  After all, it takes hundreds of hours for some cables to settle in.  In fact, the new power cords on my amps got so bad sounding in the 50 hour range I could not listen to the stereo at all.  I just had to let it play low and walk away for a day or two.

Mogami is a smart choice for quality and value.   I'd keep those and change anything else if needed.

People who own the really expensive stuff and still find it lacking assuming its well set up look to whatever else they can at that point to make further tweaks. Wires are a prime candidate. The logic is you have expensive stuff and don’t want to skimp on the wires. Wires can make a noticeable difference in the sound in many cases, like seasoning in soup, but not always and cost may or may not be the reason.

For most people I would recommend get the major components and their integration into the room right first and cost is NOT the primary factor for that. Bigger rooms will cost more in general, that’s the only rule. Mogami wires are always a perfect choice. So are most any commercial grade balanced interconnects if an option. If you must play around from there, so be it. If that involves throwing more money at the wires, more power to you. To each his own.

I own the expensive stuff and I did not feel it was lacking- at least not until I tried some upper tier cables.  I don't see it as tuning or tweaking.  It is refining.  The music is there, the detail and the soundstage is there.  Its more like polishing the mirror to get a clearer, sharper picture.

One other thing I'll add that I thought of.  Cellos and Bass violins sound like they are there now.  Before it was mostly a cello like sound.  Now, all the nuances and resonances of the cello are present- even when streaming music.  I stood 10 feet in front of a cello player in April and listened closely to all of those nuances.  For all I've spent that gives me a lot of satisfaction.  I think the lower registers are the toughest sounds to reproduce correctly which requires both room, electronics and cables to all come together.  Speakers help a lot too, of course.

Accolades to my wife who has patiently permitted me to round out my system with some nice cables.  (She got some benefits from it all too in the form of things she likes.)  

@tonywinga ... Interconnects: I am using all XLRs so I cannot speak to single ended designs. When I upgraded my cable from preamp to amps the bass changed completely. I thought it was great before. Suddenly, the clarity was like crystal. What I thought was a kind of fuzz in some low bass guitar notes tightened up so that now I can hear the strings. It was a startling change.

And 3rd down on your list too. Some try it, some don’t - yet strive to debate it more. Hilarious posts by those debating something they’ve never actually tried before.