Should I look at consolidating each system to a specific brand and model of cables or is this a fool’s errand?
@audio_is_subjective64 I’m going with fool’s errand.
For speaker cables the right cable varies with the amplifier and loudspeaker. You’ll find tube amplifiers to be more sensitive in this regard. So a specific cable manufacturer may or may not have the right cable for you (and all speaker cables are compromises due to the physics involved, which is why you hear differences). Note that I said ’right’ instead of ’best’.
The better your preamp is at controlling the interconnect between the preamp and amp, the less artifact the cable will have. This is partially a function of the output impedance of the preamp but also the topology. The logical extension of this phenomena occurs with balanced line cables if the surrounding equipment supports the balanced line standard, known as AES48. Passive volume controls are incapable of controlling the cable so you’ll find them to be the most picky about which cable to use.
RCA cables, lacking any kind of connection standard are the most susceptible to changes in materials and construction technique. One rather large problem with them is the shield is often part of the audio path as it is used for the return current which is essential to create an electrical circuit. Noise in the environment can influence the signal as a result. This can be reduced by using a cable that employs a twisted pair for the signal and ground, with a shield around that, tied only at one end of the cable (usually the source end). In this way if noise impinges the cable its less able to affect the signal itself.
You can see that some manufacturers make cables like that and others don’t. So it can be tricky to find everything with one-stop shopping.
