Best interconnects & speaker cable? I don't get it

Sounds like you make good sense to me.
As you can see from systems shown on here, many folks are quite wealthy and need not concern themselves about cost.
As you say, just different circumstances.

I was just reading through a different thread and found a good example of the point I was trying to make. I know some of the people on this thread saw it because some of you responded with posts of your own.

"I am not arguing whether a certain cable is worth X amount of dollars, but what the cables actually sells for in the market.

Some threads on the cable forum can go on for pages and pages, where the participants kind of keep to them selves the purchase price. When asked, the usual answer is " contact the manufacturer/company". It seems they dont want to hurt the company by telling the truth, or they believe they were the only ones that got that "special price" But who are we kidding?

I know i can do some homework by finding how much the cables sell for second hand, but some brands dont come on the market much. These products often discussed among members, but no much turnover second hand. Even when they do the info is confusing. A case in point. A power cable i am looking at says MSRP is $5750, Selling 2350 or make offer. Looking on Google another seller was selling 5 months ago with MSRP $2750, selling $1200. What the F"

I really don't mean to offend anyone, but I couldn't think of a better example than this real one from the other post. Its clear from reading this post, and some of the others, that people are spending a lot of time and money going down this type of path. I my opinion, I don't see what any of this has to do with audio. There's no goal, or problem to solve. Nothing about audio to focus on. Its like day trading stocks; get in at a good price, and get out at a good price.

Again, I just want to clarify that I'm not telling people what they should do, or that my way is better. I just find this a very interesting trend that may hurt, as much as help with equipment selection. But I could be wrong.

There's always going to be a faction that conflates price with performance in any hobby you care to come up with and it's not a means to any kind of ends to speak of, audio satisfaction wise.

You're right to point it out and the confusion it engenders.

All the best,
Nonoise

The single most incredible cable improvement I experienced was very recent, replacing an old monster sigma retro balanced IC ($1000 10 years ago) with a used Tara Labs The One ($2,400 used, new, figure $3,500). It was as if I got a new bass amp (cable goes between bass amp and crossover). Hands down, a deaf man could hear the improvement.

Very reasonable observations here. Concerning cables, I just don't obsess over them after going through the "process" years back when I was looking for something that "worked" in my set-up. I settled for some quite expensive cabling that provided what I needed and ended the desire to keep looking, that until quite recently when I changed speakers and a few other things, but basically the same set-up.

Broadstone I agree completely that if you can't discern a difference, it just doesn't exist. Which is to say that you more than likely haven't had in your system cabling that offers a subjectively qualifiable difference. You certainly have a system that can differentiate between cables. Comparing cabling in a given system can be an exhausting endeavor as many offer little or no substantive improvement over long term listening, at least in my experience.

The way I audition cabling is two fold. First I listen short term, back and forth to determine if I can hear a difference. If there seems to be a difference is it a qualitative improvement or is it just different? If it seems to be a slight improvement then I will leave it in the system for several weeks. After time you kind of get used to things as they are and wonder if indeed you are kidding yourself into believing that things have improved. Then you go back to what you were listening to previously to see what happens. Did you lose/gain anything? Are the differences worth what it will cost?

I remember listening to a set of ics in my system years back that clearly, I mean to anyone with average hearing, could hear the difference. Everyone there (4 people) clearly could. The clarity was just astounding yet conversely they were the most amusical cables I've ever listened to and quite expensive. Each ic I added to the system increased the clarity and added to my irritation. I never could figure out what was going on. Cabling is one of the most nebulous components of an audio system. I agree with Elizabeth. On a final note cabling should not be a tone control but often I suppose thats what most of them are. There are quantum elements of an electrical signal as well as the other known factors of inductance/capacitance that will affect what we hear. Of that I am convinced but what IS going on? What I have discovered most recently are cables that have revealed to me what is possible in that they offer a coherence to the presentation that I had previously never before heard. Is this to say they are better than my long term reference. In one very important way, yes in that they are the first cable I have listened to where there is a clearer more natural detail without the tonal coloration I was hearing. Music seems to be happening in real time more like you hear live on the best recordings. I would say that it is on the order of a component change. I feel quite confident that you would certainly hear it too. I "discovered" these cables when I heard them in a friend's system so profound was the improvement. Our systems couldn't be more different yet the similarities in what these cables yielded in his system and mine were just unmistakable. Funny thing I just recently invited him over and "tricked" him. I put one pair of my old reference ics in the system to replace the new ones and he IMMEDIATELY picked up on it when he walked in the door.