Cable Snake Oil Antidote

@rodman99999 

measure exactly the same, can sound so different

"If it measures good and sounds bad, -- it is bad. If it sounds good and measures bad, -- you've measured the wrong thing." -- Daniel R. von Recklinghausen, HHScott

An awful lot of gear has appallingly bad phase response beginning with the power supplies all the way through the loudspeakers and most listeners are oblivious!

Phase response is almost never measured. Component variations may affect phase response more than frequency response. The ear is very sensitive to phase, less so to frequency.

@geoffkait - There’s a lot that is known, but- like I said, " Thus far, there’s no known metric, for most of the subtleties that wires and fuses can out...". No one has actually observed photons, in a conductor, either. And- like you said, " Nobody has stepped up to the plate and answered the burning question, “Do photons have mass?” Electrical Theory is called such for a reason. There are a few, "Laws" regarding electricity, but- still much that is theorized.  https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/162993/flow-of-electrons-in-electric-current and http://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/quantum.html Often, the more you learn, the more you learn you were wrong: https://www.mi.mun.ca/users/cchaulk/eltk1100/ivse/ivse.htm

@ieales- Wouldn’t it be nice, if phase anomalies were the only problems/issues, that we had to address, in out efforts for good sound? Again- So many variables.

rodman99999
@geoffkait - There’s a lot that is known, but- like I said, " Thus far, there’s no known metric, for most of the subtleties that wires and fuses can out...". No one has actually observed photons, in a conductor, either. And- like you said, " Nobody has stepped up to the plate and answered the burning question, “Do photons have mass?” Electrical Theory is called such for a reason. There are a few, "Laws" regarding electricity, but- still much that is theorized. https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/162993/flow-of-electrons-in-electric-current and http://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/quantum.html Often, the more you learn, the more you learn you were wrong: https://www.mi.mun.ca/users/cchaulk/eltk1100/ivse/ivse.htm

>>>I’m afraid this should be filed under Whatever.

@rodman99999 
Yes many, many factors contributing to the final sound.  Someone I read recently compared putting together a good audio system to cooking.  With many ingredients in the recipe, it's their combined interaction that determines the final taste...good or bad.  The character of one ingredient in isolation from the others isn't a reliable predictor of the end result.  

One other "analogy" that might be relevant to the differences some can hear with wire changes:
I've heard it said a mother can recognize the cry of her infant from a chorus of others.  If that's actually true (no idea), might there be a parallel in the subtle (or not so subtle) differences some hear changing wire, or fuses or [fill in the blank] in systems they are very familiar with?

Couldn't resist...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc7jWFwuTo8