This thread has covered a lot of ground. Do cables make a difference? I've heard it. Is the difference worth it? That would depend on your bank balance. How many times have you sold a customer a control system or display that has better build quality or physically more asthetic appearance when a cheaper system or display would turn on the system and play the DVD and show them a picture that is only a little worse? How about power conditioners or components that cost thousands more and 25% of the cost is the case? Cables aren't any different. You have speakers with sloped baffles to time align the drivers but still have perpendicular speakers that sound every bit as good. As far as price goes, if I applied my own values to my customers I couldn't sell(for example); Krell FPB, Classe, BAT, Levinson, Runco, Fujitsu, McIntosh etc. It took me a while to put aside my own values to sell a customer what they wanted and on some emotional level, needed. They have the money to get that last 2 or 5% of performance. As far as cables go, I think we just don't have the technology to measure what electrical and acoustic parameters affect sound in certain ways. When a speaker designer fine tunes a crossover or when a technician puts the finishing adjustments on a surround system speaker level adjustment it is done by ear. Thats why it is craft and art in addition to engineering. Some things are currently beyond our state of technology, you just have to open your eyes, ears and minds to realize it. Double blind testing is helpfull but not absolute. I and two colleagues went to Infinity to there Northridge facility to audition some of their speaker prior to production. In theit computerized double blind test we were able to determine not only which was which out of three speakers, but the brands and models as well. Go figure. That's my experience, opinion and 2 cents.