$20 XLR cables that sound good

You have just experienced what I have spent thousands in the past 30 some odd years to learn: there is no need to spend thousands on cable to get great sound.

Absolutely. If anyone is experiencing challenges and huge differences then (after checking simple things like contact, grounding and cleaning up your power) consider to get rid of the non-performing gear at one or both ends of the wire. The simple fact is that well designed, well built and well matched gear does not need thousands of dollars worth of wire to sound good.

Jafox,

My view point is that well designed, well matched and well built gear should not be a victim of slight differences in cables. I know you disagree with this approach to equipment selection but from my perspective we simply disagree on what is a "well designed, well matched and well built" gear. I don't subscribe to the princess and pea philosophy - I expect my gear to work despite a pea underneath twenty mattresses. I know you think the sound of my gear will be awful from your perspective but I value repeatability and robustness in products under a variety of conditions and loads and levels. I value these aspects equally as much as the sound quality. I would not be happy with a "princess and the pea" type product just in the same way I could not handle a speaker that required my head to be in a vice like position to get the perfect imaging - I like and expect a large sweetspot - I even expect to be able to stand up and have it sound substantially the same (why I prefer a far-field position).

I can tell a HUGE difference between different XLR interconnects on this system.

I don't question your observations but this would drive me nuts...how do you know that you have solved the problem? How do you know for sure that $100 or $1000 or $10,000 is enough to spend on IC's. I mean if a different wire makes a HUGE difference then how do you determine that you are getting the best out of your system...I mean there are literally hundreds if not thousands of IC's you might try?

Jafox,

You are correct that I have a lot of respect for paper or the science behind our systems. This may be my problem (from your perspective) - no worries at least we know where we both stand. I just cannot see how a wire should make a significant or huge difference unless there is some unwanted or unintended interaction between the equipment at one or both ends. I just don't see why it should be necessary to spend thousands on a wire (my original post on this thread).