why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

I have a higher end sound system (McIntosh and Revel Salon 2's). I had a bunch of friends come over and they all brought various speaker cables. High priced down to cheap junk. Fairly scientific, no beer until the test was complete. We did blind testing. We really embarrassed ourselves. A dozen cables from $50 to $1000 and we were all over the board. All I'm saying is perhaps you should test several cables prior to purchasing. You may be surprised at what you don't hear.

Jenner1 seems to have a good point. If the wire in the speaker cabinet is not as good as the the wire from the amp, seems like a waste. I have Revel Salon 2's and I'm sure the internal wiring is is very good, but I really don't know exactly what it is. I don't think it would be very effective to run super, high end cables (external) into good but not high end wiring (internal). Weakest link may be in the box.

So far ZERO people have ’changed sides’, which I agree with. But I do think the discussion (or argument) has its merits. People who are new to the better audio world, and are not set in their ways, may find the information helpful, but also confusing. Hopefully, this will lead them to trust their ears and not someone else in the buying decision.

Obviously the directional arrows on speaker wire is so you know to reverse them in Australia and  Bizarro world. 

Perhaps have a friend(s) over that is a music lover, but not all that knowledgeable about most of the audiophile products such as cables. Switch some cheap cables with the expensive ones. See if it makes these obvious differences to him, you think you hear. When he can’t pick the crap from the shinola, perhaps its time to spend your money elsewhere.