Cables: real, and not always worth it

My verdict on cables has three parts. The difference is real, it is not always worth the price, and it grows with the resolution of the system.

Do cables make a difference? Yes. The comparison that convinced me was the crudest one, Amazon Basics against Transparent, in my home, on my Wilsons, in my own time. Is the difference always worth the price tag? No. Some prices in this market are astronomical, and the sound does not climb with them.

The third part decides the other two. On a $2,000 setup, save your money for better speakers or some room treatment. On a $100,000 reference system the cable stops being an accessory and becomes part of how the system is voiced. In between, keep them in proportion: no more than 10% of a $5,000 system, 12% at most of a $10,000 one.

None of this is faith. I am frugal by nature, and a $20 cable that matched a $3,000 one would be the best trade I ever made. On a revealing system it never matched, and that is the only reason the expensive one stayed.

Real, not always worth it, and dependent on the system. Anyone who gives you only one of those three is selling you something.