Cable Costs Relative to System


Since making a spread sheet with my audio system prices, I have been thinking(shocked) about my total investment in cables. My total system retails at $67,000 (Digital and analog front ends included). I purchased all of it here on Audiogon so my investment is about 50%. Of that I have about 10% invested in interconnects and cables and another 10% in Power Cables (Shunyata Hydra included). That's $13,000 worth of wire. I'm starting to question whether it might be more effective to put some of this budget into acitve components. It would take forever to listen to all possible combinations, but would like to hear others experiences with relatively high end systems and cable selection. It would seem to me that the point of diminishing returns would be reached sooner with cables than with speakers and amps. Do most of you follow the 10% "rule" for cabling? How do PCs fit into this rule? Are there any super bargain cables capable of keeping up with highly resolving electronics?
metaphysics
It may come down to how you listen. When I put on David Ott's Symphony #4 or Shostakovich's string quartets by the Emerson Quartet I need to be a part of the music, enveloped by the passion and power of the performance. Polite, nice pretty listening sessions are ok but when one needs to enter another world...the space where the musicians created the magic, nothing I've used comes close to my experience with MIT Oracle interfaces.
I came across these the other day. List $3,400.00 pr, Has anyone had a chance to play with them.

Bybee Golden Goddess "Super Effect" Speaker Bullets

Thanks Don
Aintitgr8, 6-9-07, makes sense in my book - I have $11k in cables in a $25k system and it sounds real to me, and I've heard systems 2-5 times the price with weak cabling that sound ring-ey and artificial.
Just hooked up my new V2.2 Oracles...never have I experienced such a large transformation in sound quality in a system! The improvements are equal to or greater than most component changes.
Well, my system must have some weird "synergies" because the best sounding interconnects I have heard in my system are the $12.00 Dayton ICs from Parts Express. I tried three other brands of IC, ranging up to several hundred dollars each, and not only didn't I hear an improvement, the sound seemed to clearly degrade. I did hear one improvement, however, but that was when I moved my source closer to the preamp and went from a 6 foot to a three foot Dayton IC. I guess I'm either extremely lucky or extremely deaf. Anyone tried these? At such a low cost it couldn't hurt you guys to test out a pair...

System:
Zero One Mercury CD/HD player
Supratek Chenin Preamp
Flying Mole monoblock amps
Zu Julian Speaker Cable
Zu Druid Loudspeakers
Zu mini-method Subwoofer
Home made Belden Power cords