Do expensive cables/wires REALLY make a difference


Im fairly new to the hifi world and just recently purchased a couple of high end peices.my question is this:ive been reading alot about cables and speaker wire,do the expensive ones really make that big of a difference???Is it really worth spending a small fortune on cables?? And is Monster Cable really overrated like ive been reading? Any help would be useful,thank you.
cwby8115
@ Kijanki,, Thankyou, your post was well said, I suppose I would fall in the group of audiophiles that have a resolving system,, and to top things off here, I am a musician,, Arcticmonkey has passion, I have the same passion, just in the other cable camp,, I have grown to realize its good to disagree, but not good to debate, or argue over eanything on audiogon,, Hey, I am guilty of doing just that, I noticed members will not look at you the same as before after that, so, I do my best to carry myself as a gentleman on the gon these days, hopefully, I can gain some conversations back over time, Arcticmonkey is a good dude, cables is not his good conversation, but hey, ask him about his componets and we all are best friends!,, cheers to arcticmonkey.
@Arcticmonkey, do not think of it as "Golden Ears", I consider it "Trained Ears". My hearing is normal, nothing exceptional. This hobby is about learning how to listen, and what to listen for. It's nothing more than time and money spent on trying different pieces of gear and cables that will help you learn to understand and appreciate the differences.
There's nothing special about a person's ability to hear differences, it simply shows that they have put in time and money to investigate this hobby. No one is born with "Golden Ears".
No offense intended, I do tend to be passionate about this subject.

Please don't assume though, that because I disagree with you about this topic that I am a newbie.

I have an ever-changing lineup of speakers but my component's include: Hegel h300, Roksan Radius 5MKII, Paradigm Studio Reference 100's, MacBook W/Amarra, variety of acoustic panels and a bass trap or 2, and I recently purchased a used and slightly marked-up pair of Harbeth 7es2's and I've enjoyed listening to live music on vinyl through them so much I am considering selling both of my speakers and get some Harbeth 30.1's