Do speaker cables really make a difference ?

I learned early in life that cables do matter. An elementary school friend of mine and I used to make backyard walkie-talkies with two tin cans and some kite string. I found that more expensive kite string sounded better than regular kite string. I never tested to see whether or not the name brand vegetable cans sounded better than the off brand cans. As an adult, I connect my Personas with 12 gauge oxygen free copper wire. That sounds as good as any other wire I’ve tried.