I can only say I wasted some 25 years by not believing that cables make a significant difference :-( I have physics and electronics background and I thought that with rather small lengths, acoustic frequencies, and smallish voltage/current, all non-faulty cables should sound the same -- be a commodity. I am kicking myself now for not even experimenting once! Long story short, I first replaced stock w/ thick Monoprice: significant positive difference already! This year I replaced everything with Audioquest in the price range $41 to $450. Again a definite positive improvement, eg. in tonality. Even AQ Tower more the tonal difference that impressed me; perhaps I should stay at that level.
That said, I am quite angry with audio cable companies for creating 'ladders' of tens of progressively more expensive cables that I believe are designed to squeeze money from perfectionist audiophiles who yearn for that elusive "step up".
This week I got a good beyerdynamic 1.4 m balanced cable made of OCC N7 copper, made in Korea: $100, no nonsense, ultra simple packaging. In contrast, my AQ Colorados came in a pretty large beautiful box, complete w/ an etui (that I have no use for), but that enhances the image of top-class, luxury good. They sound *minimally* better than BJC RCAs.
Last thing: I simply don't know why cables do sound different. Our ears are EXTREMELY precise instruments, that's for sure.
That said, I am quite angry with audio cable companies for creating 'ladders' of tens of progressively more expensive cables that I believe are designed to squeeze money from perfectionist audiophiles who yearn for that elusive "step up".
This week I got a good beyerdynamic 1.4 m balanced cable made of OCC N7 copper, made in Korea: $100, no nonsense, ultra simple packaging. In contrast, my AQ Colorados came in a pretty large beautiful box, complete w/ an etui (that I have no use for), but that enhances the image of top-class, luxury good. They sound *minimally* better than BJC RCAs.
Last thing: I simply don't know why cables do sound different. Our ears are EXTREMELY precise instruments, that's for sure.