I used to think pricey interconnects were snake oil...

the snake oil part is needing to spend thousands or even 10’s of thousands to get a good quality cable.

At the price point you trialed you might want to check out Zavfino Arcadia. IMO a far bigger bang for the buck than AQ

next up from Arcadia is Fusion and that is less than $400

Wire is just jewelry. A more honest assessment is like jewelry you like the look and feel - buy it!

Looks maybe, but kinda weird you'd be buying cables because you like how they feel.