DO CABLES REALLY MATTER?

I think I may have commented on this before.  I really do hear a difference in phono interconnects.  I have a medium priced set  of Verastar Silver Stream phono interconnects and can definitely hear a difference between them and say a generic brand by MCM electronics.  I use xlr cables every where else.  They go under my floor, over the river and through the woods.  Question:  I have many feet of xlr cables between my preamps and power amps.  If I switch to a higher quality, do you think I will hear a difference?  Subjective question I know. I am using a set of Transparent MusicLink Supers, but have a simple extension, to increase their length.  I’ve read that when using balanced cables, quality doesn’t come into play that much.  What say you?

I use a seven meter set of XLR between my Brystom preamp and my amp.                             
I have used in the distant past: Kimber PBJ. Then for many years a Kimber Hero 7m.Then I tried a Cardas parsec, which was a total fail sound wise, and I returned it. Then I made some home made ones with Kimber bulk wire. And finally I jumped and bought a pair of Kimber KS1116 ($3,200) The Hero were decent, good bass in particular, but rather grainy and not nearly as transparent as the wires after it Can really hear the grain in the wire compared to more expensive cables. (but if you did not know, it seems fine) The Parsec 7m (only) was thin sounding, glorious treble, but thin mids. For a month I put up with it 'breaking in' finally I returned it for a refund.     
Then I made my own. Still not full sounding. I used those for two years, until I finally had the extra cash to buy a $3000 IC pair.I am pretty sure the KS1116 is the last IC I will buy, The KS1116 is a good strong midrange, clarity is great. Detail. most natural sound. . lets me hear a lot more in tiny other changes I make to the system. With enjoying that long KS, I bought a few other shorter ones (less money) to use. Now I have four 1.5m pair around the system. I still like the 1m Cardas Parsec and for the money it is a good cable.   
So for me there was a difference in the sound with XLR. I kept a one meter Cardas Parsec XLR, and I have to say it (and the Parsec RCA) imparts a interesting tiny pearl like edge to the notes. Particularly noticeable on piano. even now I try to keep one Parsec in the chain. to give that little touch. even though it is not as clear as the Kimber KS.

@elizabeth ,

In another thread, you mentioned that you live in an apartment and that you move every 10 years.

On your history alone, that’s quite a bit of changes to have a quantitative opinion on any one device in the audio chain. Most of us live with our components/room for our lifetime. This is a basis for a recommendation that holds "more water".

BTW, I have always thought that your moniker is a personal familial way of honoring a close family relation.

slaw, amazing you still have the same components you had when you were (what age 12? 15?( 15 years old? Seems must be,since you value it so much. and say it is so important.. and you still stay in the little room you had back then too? I would guess so since you prize never changing ANYTHING,ever.
I on the other hand buy new stuff when i want to. And move when I want to.
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Googling moving: " A recent article published by NAHB shows that, based on a long-run calculation that averages mobility tendencies over a number of years, the typical buyer of a single-family home can be expected to stay in the home approximately 13 years before moving out. "
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so my average after becoming an adult on my own, 10 years, 10 years, 17 years, and current 11 years residence is somewhat ’average.I bet you feel really special staying in you childhood room all these years. treasuring and understanding those components you have held on to your whole life. I bet you know them inside and out.
Plus just curious.. From your posts and responses you do not seem the type to go out of your way to annoy anyone. Yet you decided to annoy me? Why? Just to get a response? That may mean you actually are still a 15 year old... Good luck.

@handymann

I would certainly expect that there would be a significant difference changing from cables such as your Transparents, which incorporate a network of unknown design, to just about any non-networked cables. Especially given the considerable length that is involved. I would not want to speculate, though, as to whether that difference is likely to be for the better or for the worse, regardless of the cost of the replacements.

Also, I noticed that you mentioned in a recent thread that you use an Aesthetix Calypso Signature preamp. Stereophile had measured the balanced output impedance of the non-Signature version of the Calypso as being 112 ohms at mid and high frequencies, and 3900 ohms at 20 Hz. The doubled capacitance of the output coupling capacitors in the Signature version will reduce that 3900 ohms by approximately a factor of 2, while the output impedance at higher frequencies is low for a tube-based design even in the non-Signature version. I would expect those impedances to result in less sensitivity to differences among long balanced cables than many other tube-based designs. But there are of course other unknown component-dependent variables involved (for example, whether the cable shields are connected to circuit ground or to chassis ground in the preamp and the amp, and how those grounds are interconnected within the components), and so I wouldn’t want to speculate beyond that.

Good luck. Regards,

-- Al