Speaker Cables? why all the hype for expensive speaker wire?

focker39

... If speaker cables make a huge difference, and there is a range of cable for each brand, why is it I can’t find a dealer that will take the time to run multiple A/B comparisons within the line they carry ...

Perhaps you are at the wrong dealer. There's always the Cable Company lending library if you truly can't gain the cooperation of a good dealer.

I wear hearing aids and I don't much care whether somebody on the internet thinks I should be allowed to be an audiophile or not. 

The best cables come from pre-1980’s Kirby vacuums. I buy them at garage sales when the person says they are broken. If they want $40 I offer them $25 (just want the cable). These things work the best. Better than the $1 a foot stuff and better than the $10,000 cables.

I truly enjoy when people say they hear stuff they never heard before. Nor did the artist or engineer. Have you ever seen the crap at old studios and the garbage cables they used. What you are hearing is something the artist DIDNT want you to hear because they would have included back in 1972. For you guys over 60 what you are hearing with your awesome cables is tinnitus. Go get your hearing checked, your ability to hear highs has gone down the toilet and is declining every year.

Really good (highly accurate/resolving etc.) cables will NOT sound great in a mediocre or average system.  In fact they'll likely make the system sound worse because they will work to expose the weaknesses of the system. The audio system, of which the room is a part, must be relatively matched.  Sometimes dropping in a single, significant upgrade component will deteriorate the sound when the manic audiophile was really looking forward to the breathtaking improvement.  Then, many many thousands of dollars later after said manic person has gone through rounds of upgrading the other components, the sound will have finally noticably improved.  Serious drugs may be required for the breathtaking reaction.

“I think I am hearing things on my records I never heard before and better balance of sound.”

Don’t believe the hype…it’s all relative.  Sounds like you’re happy with the basic cables in your system. Try other cables as you may or stick with you’ve got, at the end of the day; it’s your system, ears and money!