What most important in the sound of your cables?

I too burned out on trying cables 10 years ago when I went through the "process", it's very fatiguing. The problem is finding one that doesn't rear it's head. Too fast, lean, warm, bright, detailed, not detailed enough etc. The best cables and the most important attribute to me is the one that least alters the signal, the "first do no harm" rule. How does one know? You never absolutely do but through experience you recognize the ones that do it less.

A bit over a year ago I found the cables that did this for me at a higher level than my then reference Stereovox. It only came about through the urging of a friend to try them collectively. A local dealer has been touting and using them for years. When I put them in the system there was a notable improvement in coherence and a removal of an added warmth that I didn't realize was there to the extent it was, subtle but noticable. What was most notable was the improvement of the timbre and a greater sense of the performance of musicians. I don't sweat it on what I may be missing through a "better" cable, there is always different. These are good enough, they meet the most important criteria of "natural" I've come across to date.

If you have a system that requires a "tone control" there are many out there. These cables are NOT for you but to try ONLY if you are completely satisfied with everything else you have in place. Sorry Jmcgrogan, I couldn't help myself, forgive me but it is my experience and belief that many cables are designed with that in mind. The best ones ARE transparent, DO sound natural and most importantly don't bring undue attention to what they are suppose to do, pass the signal. These are the Omega Micro line for me. I'm sure there are others as well and if I find one equal to these there is a good chance I would switch out because these thin ribbons are quite fragile and VERY fussy.

"getting the tone is of course a must and given, however, The presataion and everything else set within differentation to give a holographic image of reality is 90% short commings of most cables but a few world class select few!"

Agreed except that the importance of correct timbre and tonality is precisely where most systems I hear are not accurate and there seems less interest in this to some listeners. I suppose the reason why is many feel this an area where there is less of an issue. What I hear at live performances that is strikingly different than most audio systems is the tone/timbre and pitch of instruments. The best cabling will reveal how true this is in a well sorted high performance system. Soundstaging and imaging will fall in place to the extent the rest of the system is capable of resolving what's on the recording with the best cables and therefore IMHO shouldn't be the emphasis but seems like it generally is in these discussions.