"How to choose the best sounding interconnect between pre-amp and CD player" Without getting on the IC of the month club merry-go-round where you could/may spend thousand of dollars looking for the smoothest, most accurate, and most musical, how can the selection process be made easier.??
Unfortunately, I don't see anyway to get around personal listening. You'll probably get plenty of reco's, but no one can tell you what will work best for your tastes with your equipment. Especially since you don't even seem to know what you are looking for. From my experiences, musicality and accuracy are mutually exclusive, meaning that as you gain more of one you lose more of the other. Are you looking for more warmth and musicality OR more speed and resolution? You can try to balance them the best you can, but you lose one as you get closer to the other end of the tonality spectrum.
If you are like most others, you are looking for a cable that balances accuracy with musicality with your equipment and your ears. You can try any recommendation that you get, but you still won't know if it's the "best sounding interconnect" unless you try them all. Call The Cable Company, they might be able to help get you started in a general direction.