A most entertaining and illuminating thread here. Decided to bi-wire my speakers. Bought some new, high-ish end cables for the purpose. Well, they sound wretched: shrill on top, muddy on bottom, with a vacancy in the middle where all the sweet things live. Vocals sound more mumbled than sung, and all the instrumental nuance and detail I've come to expect in highly familiar recordings has disappeared.
Naturally my first thought was, these cables need a break-in period. Which led me to this forum. Today will be Day Four with the new cables, and again tonight I will play some reference material, listening for improvement. Connections are perfect on both ends. Amp and speakers are tried and true. So I see only three possibilities. One, these cables are simply junk. Two, the break-in will take a while. Three, I am absolutely crazy; my memories of good sound are an illusion, and nothing will happen except my audioneural wiring will adjust to regard noise as music, creating the false impression that the cables have "burned in."
You'll forgive me if I'm hesitant to embrace Explanation Three as some commentary here implies that I ought to.