I am always intrigued by these discussions. I keep hoping to learn something new beyond "I'm convinced" and "to those who naysay," etc. Some kind of useful tidbit...but there really is nothing new so far. There are some mildly flawed studies that compare cheap RCAs versus XLRs in AES. There are also broad claims from authority: some smart guy uses special cable woven from yak hair soaked in silver nitrate, blah blah.
But, critically, if you think you hear changes in the tonality that should be measurable and not just by ABX tests, but with a decent ADC that itself measures well. Just record the DAC output or the speaker output (using a calibrated mic), swap cables, and do a null test by comparing the signal spectrums. It should be evident in those measurements as to why you think you hear a difference.
And competent and scientifically sophisticated cable manufacturers (as well as power conditioners, etc.) would be trumpeting their product measurements all day long if they in fact had any clear measurement differences to promote.
I have seen some research work on people being able to detect sounds outside of the typical 20kHz window, though it seems largely irrelevant to music reproduction, so while there might be yet-to-be-understood science out there, the default intellectually honest posture is wait-and-see while instead focusing on what we know impacts audio reproduction.
In any case, I have a BSEE and MSEE in information theory and signal processing, as well as PhD work in cognitive science and am very skeptical of the ideas and claims made here concerning cables.
Positive claims should be backed by Missouri-like resolve: show me!
