I have read posts about this all over the place.And I have added my 2 cents to this one, but I should clarify my experience. Way back when I was in retail, it took the various sales rep's along time to convince me to sell "cables" They kept giving me fluff about how it will make the systems I sold "sound" better. Then one day a smart sales rep told me I should be selling cables and wire because it is profitable and they are better than the ones in the box (better connections, shielding etc)No BS, and a good enough reason to start selling. I have been doing strictly custom systems for the last number of years and the wire&cable issue was never really a big deal anymore, yes I install "better" cables in my systems (not name brand, nor are they expensive) BUT!!! I have recently installed one of the most expensive home theaters north of the border (over 2 mil) obviously in this range the equipment is very esoteric high end, not all items were sold by the company I work for, deals were made etc etc. During the installation I had speakers worth over 80k a pair hooked up to amps that were worth about 50k ea and alot of other gear in the same leauge, even the sub was about 60k. So to get things working we hooked up the system with temporary wire and cable (old stuff from the clients other high end theater system).Things sounded good (as one would hope they should), but once the wire and cables the client purchased arrived and were installed, holy crap, what a difference. It was like a completely different system. Now I am not some "audiophile" in fact I am more of a videophile, but I know what I and the others that were helping me heard. I would guess that the kind of power and current or whatever that the speakers needed and the amps delivered in this case played a role in why the cables could possibly make a difference, and maybe someone could shed some light on this. I have tried to hear the differences before on modest systems (5k to 50k range) and told the rep's they were full of it, monster this to trib that or wire world and the like, I couldn't hear any difference, or justify spending 1000's on wire and cable, but when I heard this ultra high end system with the top Kimber Kables hooked up, it was suprising. So, I keep reading that the wire and cable doesn't make a difference, but in this case it did. Any one that might have an explaination, I would love to hear it and so would many others I am sure. (just a side note, the room was designed and built to be acoustically ideal for the equipment being used, and all measurments were within the expected ranges)