I have found the technical reasoning is thrown out the window in this hobby. I am an IEEE and there is no reason for why pc's ic's and speaker cables sound so different (better and worse than others).
There are plenty of technical reasons that they sound different - an equipment problem, poorly matched gear, poorly designed equipment, ground loops, contact resistance on a mechanical quick connect and many other mundane things. No need to resort to new undiscovered science. Indeed some cables have networks in them and undoubtedly they shoudl sound different. Some ic's have high capacitance and will not perfom well, particularly in long lengths, when used with an underpowered preamp (changing the ic or getting a better built preamp is a valid solution)
I agree that to throw technical reasoning out the window and fiddle around until you get things to work is often the most practical and sensible approach - I use it myself! Sometimes it so difficult to get to the root cause of a problem that is is not worth the effort or expense: often electronic test gear costing much more than the hi-fi system itself may be required and a simple connector contact problem is not always easily reproduced.