I think that some amps are MUCH more load senstive than others. This makes some cable changes VERY noticeable if you have an amp of this type. The only one that i've ever seen really dwell on this type of "measurement" though was Moncrieff of IAR. All of the other mags and reviewers basically just measure the output impedance of the amp and judge by that whereas Moncrieff told you straight out if the amp changed sound with different cables. Obviously, if you have an amp of this type, you might have to do a LOT of cable swapping to find the perfect match for your specific amp / speaker combo.
I also think that some speakers tend to minimize differences in cables due to their loading characteristics. I have a friend that has some speakers and has never been able to tell any major differences in speaker cables. Before you go off about a "low resolution" system, he has very well respected "audiophile" speakers that at one point in time were the "darlings" of many well respected reviewers. The rest of his components are no slouches either. To top it off, he has acknowledged that various interconnects definetly DO have different "flavours" to them, so he is not "deaf". I don't think that this is just an "amp related situation" with him, as he has used a half dozen different amps with these speakers and always experienced the same thing.
Personally, i have experienced some rather drastic differences in speaker and interconnect cables. This is most noticeable when you have a very carefully voiced system and you change cables in it. Not only are some of the differences NOT subtle, they are over the top noticeable. Since many of the different "flavours" that cables present may be system dependent, i typically try them in a couple different systems before passing final judgment on them. Quite honestly though, i find that if a cable does not work at least reasonably well in one of my systems, it does not work well in any of them. This is true even though these systems are all quite varied in terms of component make up, sonic signatures and tonal balances. They range from large multi driver towers in my HT system to mono-blocks driving omni-directional single driver units, a small tube amp driving horns, mid sized SS amp driving monitors, multi amped electrostat's, etc.... As to cables that don't make the cut, I guess that junk is junk, no matter how hard you try to disguise it or try to get it to blend in. I will say that some cables that initially come across as being bright and hard can be "softened" by "burning them in" on some type of cable cooker device. Sean
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