Are today's interconnects really better?

S23chang: If you keep giving away hints like this concerning vintage gear ( with some basic internal upgrades ) and modern cabling, we won't be able to get such good deals on those "crusty old relics" ( i.e. "old, reliable gems" ) for much longer : ) Sean
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Ooops...Sean..
You caught me :.(
Funny how some things are going backwards

Sean knows I got my Marantz Esotec class A monoblocks back from the shop and they are STUNNING!

When I've had the opportunity to audition different cables, I initially think I hear significant improvements (maybe it's my desire to want to hear improvements or maybe it's just "differences" I hear). But a week later when I revert back to my old cables (whether speaker or interconnects) I find myself admitting that my old cables really aren't that bad. And to gain the small improvement, I have to spend a chunk of change. So I easily talk myself out of the upgrade.
I also think one of the big problems is the huge selection of cables - there's too many choices! There's the big names and then there's the mom and pop shops. It's not easy here in the midwest to audition many cables. And I'm afraid that the perfect cable for my system will be out there and I'll inadvertently overlook it. So I'm intimidated into doing nothing. Pray for me!

IMHO, big or small improvement has to do with everything you got. If your system is not as refined down to microscopic level then you probably can't tell much difference. Think of it as taking picture with a cheap vs good lens. At 2X3 size, you probably can't tell much difference. At 8X10 size, you might seen some difference with focus and color satuation. At 20X24 blow up print, the difference might be so great that cheap lens image quality is blur, grainy, lots of lens barrel distortion, color mismatched.... At that level, you probably couldn't go back to the cheap lens any more. You just need to figure out where you stand as of now.