Question for cable/wire naysayers.....

IF that Audioholics article is the basis upon which naysayers base their denials of sonic differences among cables then they are working with a set of arguments based on false premises.  The article wildly overstates what audiophiles find as differences among cables to invalidate there could be any differences at all.  That article is a "literary turd"!

Hard to argue with most of his positions, but he does note that for a small set of cases, low capacitance cabling is important.

I generally tend to agree with, you know, science and data. But to each their own. 

What the 'science and data' crowd forgets is money. Who is going to fund the studies to show what the measurements are that pertain to sonic differences in audio cabling? There are very few people who even care enough about audio to set up even a rudimentary system instead of a Bluetooth box. Of those, an even smaller number will care about sound quality to the extent that we all do. So there's the market, what company can make enough money from that market to fund this research? Or is NASA going to do it? 

Much of the science and data we have was generated in pursuit of other goals, or in pursuit of a reasonable level of sonic accuracy. Often findings not related to audio have proven useful for us or the companies that make what we love.

So if you're focusing on 'science and data' you very well may miss a lot of great ideas because the money isn't behind them to 'do the study'. Just saying...

When I first started playing with good gear, there was no such thing as a premium cable. (Wasn’t Fulton the first commercial audiophile cable?). I wired my Quad ESLs with zip cord, can’t remember the interconnect, it wasn’t the cheap plastic molded junk, probably made from connectors and wire from a spool by a tech guy.
I’ve been through various cables over the years with various systems and each did things differently. One thing I can say it that there was no "best" in an absolute sense. I do think there is some synergy among various components and the wire has a part in that too, though I understand the objective school.
When I had my Quads and associated gear restored recently for a vintage system, I decided I didn’t want to do fancy "audiophile" cable, so I first used some 12 gauge zip. At the suggestion of a fellow Quad owner, I replaced it with Canare 4S11, which didn’t sound quite as harsh or ’in your face.’ Both were cheap.
I like the fact that a lot of folks here have gotten into the DIY cable thing.
In terms of measurements vs human sensitivity, we were hanging art from picture rails recently, and using a level, some were still a little "off" to my eye. Tiny increment, but I could see it. Maybe the house isn’t level-- it’s from the 1880’s, but adjusted to my liking. I think much is the same with cable- the whole thing is an artifice, creating an illusion. I have good audiophile cable on my main system and feel no need to upgrade or change- I did by ear comparisons with other cable in my system to go with what I have now- I cannot say it is the "best" but it works very well in my system.
Like high priced phono cartridges- the topic of another thread here- I hate paying the tariff, don’t really read the magazines anymore, and think there is so much subjective about all of it- from the listener end to how the source material is recorded, mixed, mastered, to the system, set up and listener preference, that I can safely conclude that both camps are right- whatever works for you, absent proclamations that there is some absolute ’best’-- (though there are synergies where a number of people using a specific speaker seem to gravitate toward a particular line of cable-not sure it is group think so much as finding the same results).

Having been a avid naysayers myself for the better of 40 years (started the audiophile game at age 20) I just recently got converted. Now that does not imply that I think the higher the cost the better the cable. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who loaned my a $4500.00 speaker cable to use in my system. Yes the cable sounded superb and I can easily hear the difference from my usual cable. Music to my ears. Worth the thousands better? Well I don't think so. Better yes but not always. I noticed that some of my older recordings were unpalatable using the expensive cable. I had never noticed that before. Some newer recordings sounded really engaging. It was obvious to me that the cable was revealing pros and cons of the quality of the recording or maybe the cable is more synergistic with my components. All I will opine on is that cables do make a difference good and bad and are overpriced for sure. But then again a dollar for me is a penny for someone else.